The Edifice of Trust is a podcast that provides discussion and analysis of today’s current events from the perspective of America’s Founding Principles. Based on Enlightenment philosophy as espoused by John Locke and economic freedom as described by Adam Smith, the host, Victor Bolles, provides listeners a path toward understanding current events from these timeless principles. Many Americans believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction, the podcast tries to point out a new course that everyone can support.
The Edifice of Trust is a podcast that provides discussion and analysis of today’s current events from the perspective of America’s Founding Principles. Based on Enlightenment philosophy as espoused by John Locke and economic freedom as described by Adam Smith, the host, Victor Bolles, provides listeners a path toward understanding current events from these timeless principles. Many Americans believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction, the podcast tries to point out a new course that everyone can support.
As president Trump flies off to join other world leaders at the NATO meeting in the Netherlands, it is a good time to analyze the nature of that alliance and the necessity of other alliances as well. In this commentary we will address the question of whether we need allies or not and, if we do needs allies, how do we rebuild our network of alliances that President Trump is in the process of destroying?…
Amidst all the chaos swirling around us, all is calm in the eye of the storm. President Trump is at the center of this storm of activity announcing new policies and issuing executive orders while he remains calm and confident. In this commentary we discuss why maybe you shouldn’t be so calm and confident.…
What kind of Post-Trump world do we want to live in? The MAGA-Republicans and progressive left Democrats are in a bitter fight for the vote of American citizens, one side offering tax cuts galore for wealthy citizens and favored industries (funded by massive and unsustainable increases in the public debt), the other side offering an avalanche of benefits for favored identities and favored industries (funded by massive and unsustainable increases in the public debt). In this commentary, we look at what we really need to do to navigate in a Post-Trump world.…
There are many barriers to our goal of rejuvenating America in a post-Trump world. The first step in this rejuvenation effort is getting a government that works so that we have a solid foundation which can support our efforts. The US congress can’t pass a budget, can’t manage our finances and can’t get important policies approved with a bipartisan consensus. In order to get a government that works we must reform Congress. In this commentary we discuss some of the important reforms needed to set Congress on the right track. Link to the Letter to Elected Officials can be found here: https://www.edificeoftrust.com/hidden-documents Link to source material: https://www.edificeoftrust.com/single-post/the-first-step-toward-a-post-trump-world…
Last week President Trump travelled to the M idle East with 60 CEOs in tow to be feted with parades and receptions galore and gifted a 747 airplane to replace his aging Air Force one. But amongst all the hoopla President Trump made a major foreign policy speech denouncing “interventionalists” who tried to impose Western values on Middle Eastern potentates to no avail. His speech asserted his position as a foreign policy realist. In this commentary we look at why his foreign policy may not be as realist as he thinks.…
If we believe that the second Trump administration is the culmination of a vicious downward spiral that has afflicted the United States throughout the 21st century and we want to do something to break out of this malaise then we cannot replicate the same old politics of the past. We must do something different to change the slope of this spiral. In this commentary we look at four critical elements to create a virtuous upward spiral for America.…
You may think it is premature to start thinking about what we need to do after Donald Trump leaves the White House. But it is not! In 2028, it is likely that the MAGA Republicans will nominate a Donald Trump clone and the progressive Democrats will nominate someone even further left than Kamala Harris recreating the divisive 2024 election all over again. In this commentary we will discuss why we need a plan to break America out of its populist death spiral.…
President Trump’s tariff policies are roiling markets worldwide. But there is one Trump advisor who writings provide insight into the president’s thinking. Dr. Stephen Miran is the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the new Trump Administration and he explains why there must be changes in the global trading system. But in this commentary we look at why tariffs are not the economic tools that everybody thinks they are.…
President Trump claimed that he paused the implementation of his tariff program because of yippy investors. But when market fundamentals have become meaningless and trade relations developed over many decades, are thrown out the window, the movements of markets boils down to one thing, whatever President Trump last said. And even worse, no one has any idea what he will say next. I don’t know about you but that makes me pretty yippy.…
Today we are going to continue to talk about the impact of Donald Trump’s new tariff regime on the US and world economy. Or in this case, the lack of impact. Because there is a reason that President Trump’s tariff policies will not recreate the blue-collar manufacturing paradise that existed in the 1950s.And included in this commentary is a chapter from my book, Edifice of Trust (published in 2016), that illustrates that the issues being raised right now are not new and will not be solved by magic bullets but will require a lot of hard work by all of us.…
Commentators are pointing out all the obvious unintended consequences of President Trump’s tariff plan which he plans to announce on April 2nd, Liberation Day. But there may be other consequences in places you haven’t looked. In this commentary we look at the political consequences of a protectionist import substitution regime.…
Academics in the ivory tower have an affinity for socialism because they presume, based on their academic qualifications, that they will be at the pinnacle of power in such a society. They are wrong! In this commentary we will look at where the real power lies.
Do punitive tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China have any chance of slowing the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into the US? Nothing else has worked. But President Trump’s plan ignores one major factor. The insatiable desire of Americans for drugs, even at the risk of their own lives. In this commentary we look at the likely outcomes of this strategy and take a peek at the underlying motivations for punitive tariffs.…
Antifragile is a concept created by Nasim Taleb, author of the Black Swan, to describe the ability to gain and prosper amid confusion and disorder. Certain people thrive in this environment and President Trump is a prime example of this ability. In this commentary we discuss how antifragility is this secret sauce that contributes to America’s greatness.…
Why in the world would two world leaders invite reporters into a meeting to negotiate a vital agreement to end the war on Ukraine. President Zelensky was about as eager to sign that agreement as a tienda owner on the lower east side agreeing to pay some thug for protection against gangs (of which the thug was a member).In this commentary we look at the underlying causes why this meeting was such a disaster.…
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