“Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025 (July, August, and September), according to the initial estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.8 percent.” Ask yourself, was this growth, or inflation? Does it feel like the economy is 4.3% better off than it was last year? Or does it feel like everything is just getting more unaffordable?
Gold, silver and platinum sparkle at all-time peaks
A single ounce of gold surpassed $4,500 dollars this week. In 1971, under President Nixon, the U.S. “temporarily” suspended the gold standard. At the time, dollars were backed by gold, guaranteed by the U.S. government, and redeemable for gold at a fixed exchange rate of $35 dollars per ounce. This equates to over 9% annual growth for 55 years now. One could argue that this is the true rate of inflation. This would mean our 4.3% GDP print is actually negative 5% real growth. When the units we measure value in are constantly inflated, it becomes very hard to accurately measure anything of value.
Letter #1: Notes From The Inside
If you have been reading my content for a few weeks now, you are already aware of Keonne Rodriguez, a 37-year-old American software developer from Florida, who co-founded Samourai Wallet in 2015 to promote bitcoin privacy. He surrendered himself on December 19 to begin his 60-month (5 year) sentence for building open source software. This is his first letter from prison. President Trump is now aware of the situation and is hopefully looking into a pardon. If you care about freedom of speech and privacy, please consider signing the petition here.