It is true that tariffs are a tax on consumers! It is also true that previous efforts by American Presidents to impose tariffs have had disastrous effects on the United States' economy. Why should we think Trump's tariffs will be any different? -------------------------------- SHOW NOTES Support the podcast by shopping at the Truth Quest Shirt Factory. www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public. You will be well-equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! https://www.instagram.com/truthquestpodcast/ https://truthsocial.com/@TruthQuestPodcast https://gettr.com/user/truthquest_pc https://twitter.com/apathyreigns https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-truth-quest-podcast/id1410550126 https://gab.com/truthquestpodcast

The pace with which the news coming out of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is quite remarkable. Making it a perfect topic for a Quick Rant. -------------------------------- SHOW NOTES Support the podcast by shopping at the Truth Quest Shirt Factory. www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com Check out the "Make Government Limited Again" shirt partially inspired by this episode. https://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/doge With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public. You will be well-equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! https://twitter.com/apathyreigns https://truthsocial.com/@TruthQuestPodcast https://gettr.com/user/truthquest_pc https://www.instagram.com/truthquestpodcast/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-truth-quest-podcast/id1410550126

In my book, Pritical Thinking, I wrote that Social Security was doomed from the start. It is nothing more than a government-sanctioned, intergenerational Ponzi Scheme! It is unconstitutional and should be abolished. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not truthful with the American people when he was pushing the legislation that eventually passed. Social Security will be insolvent by 2034. There are other alternatives currently implemented by dozens of countries around the world. Why doesn't the United States adopt one of them?

It is time for us to call the national debt what it is. . . IMMORAL!!! For over a century, it has only gone up! It is a bi-partisan problem. It is the height of irresponsibility; it is willfully and criminally negligent! How else would you describe purposely sentencing current and future generations to economic bondage through rising prices, deflated currency, higher taxes and lower growth? Going forward, we must frame the national debt conversation in terms of morality! Our congressional representatives must be called out for voting for any legislation that increases spending even by one dollar. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! -------------------------------- SHOW NOTES Support the podcast by shopping at the Truth Quest Shirt Factory. www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be well-equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! https://www.instagram.com/truthquestpodcast/ https://truthsocial.com/@TruthQuestPodcast https://gettr.com/user/truthquest_pc https://twitter.com/apathyreigns https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-truth-quest-podcast/id1410550126 https://gab.com/truthquestpodcast

The national debt is a moral issue and should be framed as such! It is a bipartisan abomination! It is willful (bordering on criminal) negligence. -------------------------------- SHOW NOTES Support the podcast by shopping at the Truth Quest Shirt Factory. www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public. You will be well-equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! https://www.instagram.com/truthquestpodcast/ https://truthsocial.com/@TruthQuestPodcast https://gettr.com/user/truthquest_pc https://twitter.com/apathyreigns https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-truth-quest-podcast/id1410550126 https://gab.com/truthquestpodcast

For lack of a better term, the American financial system is a shit show. The debt, the money supply, the inflation, the federal spending are all out of control. I have argued in other episodes that the country is so far gone that the only hope to save America from itself is state secession. Is there an alternative? In this episode, we examine what it might take to save the American financial system. It ain't pretty!

In this episode, we examine a Fed-less society - one without the Federal Reserve. In a sane, Fed-less world, we would NOT have the monopolistic market manipulation of interest rates. We would NOT have perpetual quantitative easing, the monetization of the debt and the inflationary willy-nilly digital printing of dollars. We would NOT have the endless booms and busts and there would be no bailouts! Share this episode with family and friends who do not understand the destructive force the federal government is generally and the Federal Reserve specifically. ----------------------------------------- Grab your Truth Quest Merchandise at The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! Check out the "END THE FED" shirt inspired by this episode. http://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/end-the-fed

We are going to tackle the minimum wage issue with facts, figures, economic laws, and logic rather than, what we usually get - emotional calls for the wage rate increase using illogical arguments that are in direct opposition to economic law. I want to start with a quote by Thomas Sowell from his epic book, Basic Economics that really lays the foundation for this discussion. On page 237 he said: “By the simplest and most basic economics, a price artificially raised tends to cause more to be supplied and less to be demanded than when prices are left to be determined by supply and demand in a free market. The result is a surplus, whether the price that is set artificially high is that of farm produce or labor.”

We are told that protective tariffs are necessary to save jobs. We are told that high-wage countries like the United States cannot compete with low-wage countries like Vietnam and China. We are told that the dumping of products needs to be addressed with protective tariffs. But we are never told the whole truth. Politicians and mainstream news outlets never really evaluate the whole picture when it comes to tariffs. They never explain who really pays. They never ask the question: What about the consumer? Listen to learn the truth about tariffs?

I read and hear a lot about how bad the Federal Reserve is for America. The cries for “Audit the Fed” continue to grow louder. Inherently I understand that government intervention always causes market distortions but trying to explain how the Federal Reserve detrimentally impacts the economy at a level that the average person can understand has proved daunting. But I am going to give it a shot in this episode and the next one. In this episode I am going to introduce you to the Federal Reserve – explain what it is, why and how it was created and explain how it creates money. Episode #28 will be spent looking at the Fed's record over the 100+ years of its existence and argue why it should be abolished. ----------------------------------------- Grab your Truth Quest Merchandise at The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! Check out the "END THE FED?" shirt inspired by this episode. http://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/end-the-fed

In the previous episode, #27 The Truth About the Federal Reserve – An Introduction, I laid the groundwork for this episode. So now that you know what the Fed is, why it was created and how it creates money, let’s look at the results of the last 100+ years since this monstrosity was created. We will discuss the constitutionality of the Fed, how it creates inflation, its impact on savers and people on fixed incomes, malinvestment, bailouts, how it funds the welfare and warfare state, the gold standard, and I conclude the episode with a side-by-side comparison of the current monetary system dominated by the Fed with one without it. ----------------------------------------- Grab your Truth Quest Merchandise at The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! Check out the "END THE FED" shirt inspired by this episode. http://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/end-the-fed

In this episode we discuss the lack of socialist society success stories, the immorality of socialism, Democratic Socialism, socialistic incrementalism in America, and we examine how socialism violates both economic and natural laws.

Today's episode continues our examination of socialism that we started in Episode #31. We will discuss a series of "Questions for Skeptics" that you can use to engage those who believe socialism is a viable social and economic option. We also examine so-called socialism in Scandinavian countries. Then we look at socialism and religion followed by a brief look at the solution to socialism - free market capitalism.

We've all heard the claim - women only make $0.77 on the dollar compared to men! The so-called gender pay gap is front and center of the national Democrats' agenda. Are their claims of a workforce infected with institutional discrimination true? Listen to find out.

When I evaluated the wealth tax I found that, besides the fact that they have been proven to be ineffective, ignore the laws of economics, require us to ignore the track record of the federal government and besides the fact that they are immoral and unconstitutional and their implementation would be stupid, short-cited, punitive, impractical, unnecessary, and a violation of privacy, I see no problem with them.

Most people are aware of inflation. They expect the cost of products and services to go up every year. What these same people may not be aware of is the fact that this perpetual inflation is completely unnecessary. If the United States had a sound money policy, meaning the U.S. Dollar was pegged to gold (on a gold standard) most of the angst around monetary policy, interest rates, the national debt, out of control government spending, inverted yield curve, negative interest rates, and cryptocurrencies would be nothing but noise. In this episode we examine the history of a gold standard. We scrutinize actions taken by FDR, Nixon, the Federal Reserve and their impact on the worldwide economy. The bottom line is, because the gold standard constrains the spending of our overlords in Washington, D.C., they will never willingly revert back to that standard. Unfortunately the United States is in for a rude awakening as other countries have started accumulating gold reserves as a way to diversify away from the U.S. Dollar's reserve currency status.

If you follow the financial markets to any extent you have likely heard the term “negative interest rates.” In this episode, we are going to examine this never-before-in-history phenomenon. We are going to discuss the three ways this ridiculous financial policy manifests itself: on individuals, on bank reserves and on bonds and examine merits of this policy. Hint: It ain't good!

You are likely familiar with the caricature of capitalism. You know the one -capitalism is some nefarious monster that does nothing but squash the little guy like bugs while the billionaires laugh, smoke cigars and sip the finest cognac. The criticisms of capitalism are well-known. Capitalism is based on greed and selfishness. It is immoral. It exploits workers. It is a zero sum game. Under capitalism, giant corporations have too much power. And capitalism is based on competition rather than cooperation. But have you ever examined these claims in any detail? Have you ever considered the alternatives to capitalism?

As I record this episode in late March 2020, the world is living through the Coronavirus crisis. Recently my wife and I were discussing the toilet paper shortage. I explained that the reason there isn't any toilet paper now is because the stores did not raise the price when they saw a surge in demand. She argued that price gouging during a crisis is wrong and immoral. I tried to explain why it is actually a good thing. Full disclosure: She was not convinced. Hopefully you will be after listening. We discuss some basic economic concepts like: What is a price and how do they fluctuate. Then we dive into the topic at hand - price gouging. This is followed by an examination of pandering politicians and price controls and the morality of price gouging. We wrap up the episode discussing the benefits of price gouging and whether or not these arguments hold up when a crisis is regional versus worldwide.

You have probably heard the term Modern Monetary Theory or MMT thrown around recently. It is all the rage with our overlords in Washington, D.C. But what is it? In this episode we examine the destructiveness of MMT and learn that there is nothing modern about debasing your currency by printing worthless pieces of paper backed by nothing. We also learn that MMT is not a theory but more political propaganda backed by nothing resembling real economics or public policy. Politicians who endorse it or do not oppose it vigorously are willfully negligent! ----------------------------------------- Grab your Truth Quest Merchandise at The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! Check out the "END THE FED?" shirt inspired by this episode. http://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/end-the-fed

Typical discussions about monopolies usually revolve around Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, General Motors, AT&T, Microsoft and even Blockbuster Video. The focus tends to be on pricing and lack of consumer choice. However, when you examine modern monopolies, a disturbing realization occurs: government is the only real monopoly! By its very nature governments are designed to be monopolies in the sense that they are the only permitted providers of certain services: law enforcement, the court system, the DMV, the IRS, etc. The disturbing part of the federal government's monopoly position is how they wield their power. In this episode we examine the dangers of government's monopoly power through the lens of big tech censorship. The national Democrats have discovered that they can circumvent the First Amendment by bullying Big Tech to restrict speech that does not comport with their agenda. ----------------------------------------- Grab your Truth Quest Merchandise at The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! Check out the "END THE FED" shirt inspired by this episode. http://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/end-the-fed

Few obscure, unilateral presidential actions have had more wide-ranging impacts on the United States than Nixon's decision to terminate the Bretton Woods agreement. In this episode, we walk through a brief history lesson on money, banking and currency in the United States and then examine the impact of Nixon’s fateful and negligent decision that has led the U.S. down a road toward national bankruptcy ever since.

When Resident Biden came into office, the economy was set for a rebound as it came out of the Covid coma! All the guy had to do was . . . NOTHING!!! Instead he (or whoever is really running the country) decided to only pursue policies that detrimentally impact the economy. This has resulted in something called "stagflation.” In this episode we examine what that is, when we last experienced it and what can be done to rectify the situation.

The petrodollar system is the monetary policy's version of 'Weekend at Bernie's' as it props up the Dollar as the global reserve currency. This system is a mirage or (better put) it acts as a crutch for the U.S. Dollar. It creates artificial demand for the currency and U.S. assets while providing U.S. financial markets with an artificial source of liquidity and foreign capital inflows. It is only a matter of time (likely months) before the rest of the world says "NO MORE!" and they leave the U.S. Dollar in the dustbin of history. And what makes it so infuriating is it is a completely avoidable, self-inflicted wound. This country, founded by geniuses, has been run by fools and crooks for so long that they killed this once great country.

If you hate privacy, liberty, freedom and anonymity. . . if you hate being left alone, unmolested by the government, then you are going to love this! Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or, in layman’s terms, a cashless society. ----------------------------------------- Grab your Truth Quest Merchandise at The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there will be an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast! Check out the "END THE FED" shirt inspired by this episode. http://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/end-the-fed

After listening to this episode, you will never again be confused or deceived about the concept of inflation. Through the use of two memorable analogies, we explain inflation in an unforgettable manner. -------------------------------------- Please support the podcast by visiting The Truth Quest Shirt Factory: www.TruthQuestShirtFactory.com With each shirt design there is an explanation of what to expect from those inquisitive or brave enough to ask you about it. In most cases there are links to podcast episodes that will further deepen your understanding of the importance of each phrase. We hope you take the challenge of wearing these shirts in public and to family gatherings. Don't worry! You will be well-equipped with the rhetorical tools to engage in conversation and/or debate. Check out our "Taxation is Theft; Inflation is a Hidden Tax" shirt partially inspired by this episode. https://www.truthquestshirtfactory.com/shop/p/taxation-is-theft-inflation-is-a-hidden-tax Good luck! And thanks for supporting the Truth Quest Podcast!