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Mike Swanson returns to the show to talk about the state of the economy. He fills Scott in on some of the work he’s done analyzing how economies fare once the national debt-to-GDP ratio reaches a certain height. What he’s found is that serious issues tend to kick in right at the level the US is projected to hit in 2026. He and Scott discuss this and other topics related to the American economy.

Discussed on the show:

• This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff
• Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises by Ray Dalio
• Soylent Green (IMDb)

Mike Swanson provides investment advice at wallstreetwindow.com and is the author of The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite. He also works with the Neopolis Media Group, a group of historians, educators, authors, researchers, and free speech advocates who endeavor to provide original and engaging content, including The Ochelli Effect, and The Lone Gunman Podcast. 

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Scott interviews Hunter DeRensis about the National Conservatism Conference, part of a movement that DeRensis describes as trying to come up with intellectual rationalizations for Trumpism after the fact. Crucially, this new national conservatism movement did not exist to support Trump as a candidate, nor did it foresee or advocate something like Trump’s policies. It has instead emerged as a means to make them seem wise and acceptable by coming up with justifications that may or may not be those that Trump and his populist allies actually intended. More pressingly, the foreign policy of many of those in the movement is backward and dangerous.

Discussed on the show:

• “Dangerous Foreign Policy at the National Conservatism Conference” (The Libertarian Institute)
• The Virtue of Nationalism
• “Who’s Afraid of John Bolton?” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Richard Perle: Thank God for the death of the UN | Politics | The Guardian” (The Guardian)
• “The Danger of A Nuclear Catastrophe Is Greater Than During the Cold War” (The National Interest)
• Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA

Hunter DeRensis, formerly of The American Conservative magazine, is a writer for The National Interest. Find him on his website or on Twitter @HunterDeRensis.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Ben Freeman talks about President Trump’s friendship with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson and what it means for the military-industrial complex. Trump likes to boast about keeping businesses—particularly those related to military industries—open and hiring in the United States, but Freeman explains the reality that these companies do not create any net jobs at all. Scott references David Stockman’s “Great Deformation”, a concept describing the unseen effects on the economy when politicians interfere. For example, rust belt voters see the concentrated effect of a factory in their town staying open instead of going overseas, but nobody notices the marginally increased prices all over the state or the country because an inefficiency was allowed to persist. The same is true broadly of our taxes, which take away a little bit from everything and show up in big projects that people view as beneficial without considering the cost.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Military-Industrial Jobs Scam” (Antiwar.com Original)
• The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America
• “Once More, with Feeling: Our System Is Not Socialism, but Participatory Fascism” | Robert Higgs (Independent Institute)
• “US: Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” | The Scott Horton Show (scotthorton.org)

Ben Freeman is director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative with the Center for International Policy. Read his work at AntiWar.com and follow him on Twitter @BenFreemanDC.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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The great Ray McGovern talks about the real dangers behind the phony Russia collusion probe, namely the near-impossibility of detente with Russia thanks to the democrats’ insistence that any of President Trump’s inclinations in that direction must be based on his being a traitor to America. Scott and McGovern both think the premise is ridiculous, of course, but more importantly it increases the risks of a global nuclear war. McGovern says he would be perfectly fine impeaching Trump, but not for Russiagate nonsense—the real crimes Donald Trump is guilty of involve continuing illegal wars that Barack Obama started. But in order to indict Trump for these war crimes, democrats would have to lay the same blame on Obama, which they will never do.

Discussed on the show:

• “Ray McGovern: DNI Nominee Intent on Getting to Bottom of Russiagate” (Consortium News)
• A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership
• “Matt Taibbi on Russiagate: Press Will Learn Nothing From This Fiasco” (Rolling Stone)
• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
• “7/17/19 Lyle J. Goldstein on the Consequences of War with Russia” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “The Scott Horton Show Archives” (The Libertarian Institute)

Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott interviews Muhammad Sahimi about President Trump’s new sanctions on Iran, which are even stricter than those imposed by President Obama, since they eliminate some of the previous waivers and cover even necessary goods like food and medicine because, even though not technically sanctioned, the financial institutions necessary to broker any kind of deal are not willing to operate in Iran for fear of legal action by the U.S. government. Sahimi likens these sanctions to those placed on Iraq in the 1990s, which the UN estimated led to the excess deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children. Sahimi fears the same will happen in Iran, but it will be seen as justified and necessary.

Discussed on the show:

• “Economic Sanctions Will Kill Tens of Thousands of Innocent Iranians – LobeLog” (LobeLog)
• “5/18/18 Richard Garfield on the excess death rate of the 1990s U.S. sanctions in Iraq” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Economic Sanctions, Humanitarianism, and Conflict After the Cold War” (JSTOR)
• “Regime change is the Trump administration’s goal in Iran” (The Washington Post)

Muhammad Sahimi is a professor of chemical engineering at USC, Iranian expatriate, and expert on Iranian and U.S. foreign policy.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Mike Swanson discusses the recent announcement that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates again. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said this is a precautionary measure against a possible recession, of which there have been early signs over the last few months. The dangerous thing, says Swanson, is what happens if there is a recession even after this move—with rates already so close to zero percent, what more can the Fed do? Unfortunately it would probably mean huge inflationary measures that could wipe out the savings of average Americans.

Discussed on the show:

• “Today’s Federal Reserve Rate Cut Marks The Start Of A New Financial Era” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Paradigm Shifts” (LinkedIn)
• Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country

Mike Swanson provides investment advice at wallstreetwindow.com and is the author of The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite. He also works with the Neopolis Media Group, a group of historians, educators, authors, researchers, and free speech advocates who endeavor to provide original and engaging content, including The Ochelli Effect, and The Lone Gunman Podcast.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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David Stockman reminds us how flimsy the “Russiagate” case has been from the very beginning, and that we should really be focusing on how the investigation even got started in the first place. Stockman claims that President Trump’s idea that it would be better to cooperate with Russia rather than continue a new Cold War with them was intolerable to the ruling class, who want America to remain undisputed atop the world geopolitical hierarchy, which means policing the globe and flexing our military might at every opportunity. The Russiagate investigation has been nothing but an elaborate attempt to bring Trump down for other reasons. Stockman dismantles each pillar of the phony case one by one.

Discussed on the show:

• “Not Mueller Time – At Last!” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “5/10/19 Ray McGovern and Bill Binney on the Supposed Russian Hack of the DNC” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “12/13/16 Craig Murray: DNC, Podesta emails leaked by Americans, not hacked by Russia” (The Libertarian Institute)

David Stockman is the ultimate Washington insider turned iconoclast. He began his career in Washington as a young man and quickly rose through the ranks of the Republican Party to become the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan. After leaving the White House, Stockman had a 20-year career on Wall Street. He is the author of Trumped!, The Triumph of Politics, and his history of the financial crisis, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Danny Sjursen explains why President Trump could end the war in Afghanistan if he wanted to. When it comes to foreign policy, the president is basically a dictator, and Trump in particular is pugnacious enough to cover his right flank at all times, just like Nixon was able to meet with Mao in the 1970s. Negotiations with the Taliban have also continued without falling apart, which is a good sign for the possibility of ending the war on agreeable terms. By the same token, Hillary Clinton felt that because she was a woman and a democrat, she had to be extra hawkish, and Scott and Sjursen agree that as president she would not have accomplished what Trump has with respect to negotiations in Afghanistan and Korea.

Discussed on the show:

• “Could Donald Trump Actually End the Afghan War?” (The Nation)
• “A Majority of Military Veterans Think the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq Were a Mistake – Mother Jones” (Mother Jones)

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Tim Shorrock joins the show to discuss U.S. negotiations with Korea and the status of the relations between North and South. Lately soldiers from the North and South have begun patrolling together, one of several important symbolic gestures in the process of reconciliation between the two nations. Recently Donald Trump became the first president to visit the North, and Shorrock thinks his willingness to participate in negotiations, which previous presidents have not, has been hugely important. Unfortunately the democrats have almost unanimously condemned President Trump’s willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un as a personal liking for dictators.

Discussed on the show:

• “Most Dem Presidential Candidates Are Attacking Trump’s Korea Policy—From the Right” (The Nation)
• “The U.S.-North Korean Agreed Framework at a Glance” (Arms Control Association)
• Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy

Tim Shorrock is the author of Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing and a regular contributor to The Nation and the Korea Center for Investigative Reporting. Follow him on Twitter @TimothyS.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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