Juggling Dynamite

Former Reagan Budget Director David Stockman on the need to rein in America’s mounting debt. Here is a direct video link.

John Hussman explains the present economic challenge well today in Judging Economic Policy:

“The primary source of failure in the U.S. economy over the past 15 years has been a policy environment aimed at encouraging consumption over productive investment. Those policies have been dominated by the Federal Reserve’s quest to punish saving, fuel debt-financed consumption, and produce an illusory “wealth effect” from financial speculation. The chart below shows the 10-year average of net domestic investment (gross domestic investment, less depreciation) as a fraction of U.S. GDP. If you’re looking for the root of U.S. economic stagnation, there’s your trouble.”

Vegan ultra-athlete Rich Roll appears in the documentary Food Choices (here is the trailer) which is now available on Netflix.

I recently found Roll on Youtube where he shares his journey from addiction to sobriety at 31, and then from toxic food to a plant-based diet at 40, and eventually to becoming an ultra-athlete ‘fittest man alive’ at 42.  His candor is generous and offers inspiration to others hoping to improve their health.  Roll is also a living refute to the common misconception that one has to eat animal protein to be strong and healthy.  Here is a direct video link to a 2013 discussion.

Rich Roll is an author, a podcaster (“Rich Roll Podcast” on iTunes), as well as founder and first person to complete the EPIC5 Challenge. The EPIC5 challenge involves completing 5 Full Iron Distance triathlons on 5 Hawaiian islands in under a week. You can read about Rich’s journey to Ultraman competitor in his book, “Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself”.

Global bonds have tumbled after Republican candidate Donald Trump’s triumph boosted the view that the U.S. government will ramp up spending and potentially widen the budget deficit, stoking inflation. The selloff has been particularly acute in Italy, amid concerns that the anti-establishment wave that propelled Trump into power could spill across to December’s constitutional referendum, where a defeat for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi could threaten political stability.  See Italy’s bonds tumble as Trump win boosts referendum concern.

Here is a direct video link.