Notes in the Margin

U.S. Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting acknowledged they could face "difficult tradeoffs."

Japan is becoming a case study in what happens when investors lose patience with massive deficits.

Pope Leo Wednesday: “In Gaza, cries rise to the heavens from parents holding the lifeless bodies of children.”

James Bovard: Today is the 163th anniversary of the battle of Front Royal, Virginia (the town near where I was raised). On May 23, 1862, almost all the Yankee soldiers in Front Royal were captured, killed or wounded.

30-year Treasury yield spikes to 5.09%, 10-year yield hits 4.61%. 10-yr yield is back at 2005 levels.  

Sales of previously owned homes in April declined 0.5% from March. That is the slowest April pace since 2009. Jobs and incomes aren't nearly as good as we've been told. 

Massie is right, as usual. Most Republicans will vote for it anyway, and continue the US slide into bankruptcy. 

A stagnating economy means fewer vacations and less air travel. Airlines are feeling it. 

The "dark enlightenment" is simply a variation on the technocracy of "sustainable development" or the "great reset." Technocratic control is the goal in both cases. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve just pulled off something stealthy — over four days last week, without fanfare, the Fed vacuumed up $43.6 billion in U.S. Treasurys.