The Lease of Their Worries
Posted October 06, 2026
By Sean Ring
When a man sells you his truck and immediately asks to rent it back, you inspect more than the tires. You ask why he wants the cash, how long he’ll keep paying, and what the thing will be worth when he returns the keys. Amazon’s proposed $8 billion chip deal deserves the same inspection.
You Can’t Print a Smelter
Posted October 05, 2026
By Sean Ring
The most powerful country on earth can create money at the touch of a button. Building an aluminum smelter takes rather longer. We’ve spent decades enjoying the first convenience while forgetting why we need the second.
Pardon My Financial French
Posted October 02, 2026
By Sean Ring
Jeff spotted an omission. Girard spotted another risk. Willy spotted a sentence that should never have escaped my keyboard. Today, I’m opening the mailbag… and doing a little translating.
For Whom the Debt Tolls
Posted October 01, 2026
By Sean Ring
Washington has spent years ordering the lobster and telling everyone the bill was manageable. In September, the waiter finally arrived. With the 10-year Treasury yield at 5.29%, small companies, landlords, and supposedly safe bond portfolios discovered whose credit card was on the table.
Spend It Like You Stole It
Posted September 30, 2026
By Sean Ring
The Swamp’s year ends tonight. Yours could get interesting depending on where the money lands.
The Pentagon’s Velvet Rope
Posted September 29, 2026
By Sean Ring
Every good nightclub has two things: people with money and a bouncer deciding who gets in. The Pentagon has an enormous amount of the first. Congress has been working on the second. And a handful of mining and manufacturing companies could find themselves inside a very profitable party.
From Athens with Contempt
Posted September 28, 2026
By Sean Ring
America spent decades convincing other countries that its friendship was worth having. Then its ambassador to Greece allegedly explained, over dinner, that their governments were replaceable. Beijing couldn’t have written a better sales pitch. And it didn’t even have to pick up the check.
The Lost Round Trip
Posted September 25, 2026
By Sean Ring
In 1884, a dollar bought roughly what it had bought before the Civil War. Try imagining that today: twenty years after a 75% inflationary surge, the price level had retraced the entire move. America once had inflation that went away.
The Hunt for Red November
Posted September 24, 2026
By Sean Ring
The most dangerous voter in American politics this November may be the Republican who does absolutely nothing. He doesn’t have to switch parties. He doesn’t have to put a Mamdani sign on his lawn, discover a sudden enthusiasm for socialism, or start watching MSNBC. He merely has to stay home. And the first bits of election data suggest quite a few of them may be thinking about doing exactly that.
The Straits Strangle
Posted September 23, 2026
By Sean Ring
Two superpowers guard the gate. The Houthis hold the key.
