Myrmican Capital LLC

Introduction

Ecclesiastes tells us: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Myrmikan Research applies this principle to the subject of credit bubbles.

The ancient Greeks discovered that debt could magnify wealth. The debtor feels richer from the use of the borrowed property, while the lender feels richer from the compounding interest yielded by his claim. Both indulge in consumption more freely. As long as the accumulating claims remain contingent, the bubble grows. But, eventually, someone asks to be paid, and the expanding claims on wealth must be reconciled to tangible wealth, much of which has been consumed.

The first recorded credit bubble popped in 594 B.C. Athens. Threatened with a civil war of creditor versus debtor, the Athenian ruler Solon pulled down the mortgage stones to free the debtors and devalued the drachma by 27% to relieve the bankers. Every credit collapse since – from the Panic of A.D. 33 to John Law’s Mississippi Bubble to the Great Depression and many others besides – has followed Solon’s template of debt default and currency devaluation.

“The natural remedies, if the credit-sickness be far advanced, will always include a redistribution of wealth: the further it is postponed, the more violent it will be. Every collapse of a credit expansion is a bankruptcy, and the magnitude of the bankruptcy will be proportionate to the magnitude of the debt debauch. In bankruptcies, creditors must suffer.” – Freeman Tilden, 1936
And against what is currency and debt devalued? Carl Menger, founder of the Austrian School of economics, was the first to explain that money is liquidity and that gold is the most liquid asset. Thus, gold has served as the reference point of value since the origins of money and is that against which currency must be devalued to relieve debts. Paper promises depreciate.
“The faith is lost. All with one impulse people rush to seize the gold itself as the only reality left—not only people as individuals; banks, also, and the great banking systems and governments do it, in competition with people. This is the financial crisis.”
                           – Garet Garrett, 1932
Myrmikan Research chronicles the collapse of the current, global credit bubble – the largest and broadest in history – analyzing current events from the perspective of Austrian economics and placing them in historical context.

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Monthly Research

Myrmikan Capital LLC

Failing Imperium
February 15, 2024

Deficits to Power Gold Higher
December 15, 2023

On the Other Hand
October 12, 2023

The Missing Piece
September 18, 2023

Two Years to Bust
August 16, 2023

Currency versus Banking
May 12, 2023

Boom!
March 15, 2023

Usury Bites
January 13, 2023

Crypto Contagion
November 15, 2022

The Final Bubble is Bursting
October 18, 2022

Net Worth Craters
September 14, 2022

The New Bancor
August 11, 2022

Gold Mining Valuations Ridiculous Again
July 13, 2022

The Powell Pivot
June 14, 2022

The World Gone MAD
March 9, 2022

Gold also Rises
February 11, 2022

The Bubble is Bursting and Gold is Strong
January 18, 2022

Credit Cycle Singularity
December 15, 2021

Policy Error
November 16, 2021

Inflation Tsunami Just Offshore
October 15, 2021

Real Rates Go More Negative
September 14, 2021

Taper Scare
August 12, 2021

A Scent of 2013
July 12, 2021

The Path to Hyperinflation
May 13, 2021

The Final Pop
February 12, 2021

Sauve qui Peut!
January 13, 2021

Welcome to the Machine
December 11, 2020

The Die is Cast
November 13, 2020

The Fourth Revolution
October 13, 2020

The Slingshot
July 13, 2020

Inflation: Good and Hard
April 13, 2020

Pop Goes the Bubble
March 12, 2020

Leninthink
February 13, 2020

Gold Past $10,000
January 14, 2020

QE for the People
October 11, 2019

The Fed Begins to Ease
May 10, 2019

Instability at the Fed
April 9, 2019

Our Currency and Our Problem
January 14, 2019

Heads or Tails You Lose
October 11, 2018

The First Cockroach
August 16, 2018

Credit Craziness
May 15, 2018

Gold Mining Ghetto
April 18, 2018

End Game
February 14, 2018

Embrace Volatility
January 13, 2018

Return of the Winklevii
December 15, 2017

The Bitcoin Bubble
October 26, 2017

Timing the Crash
August 15, 2017

A True Hedge
June 27, 2017

China Wobbles
May 19, 2017

The Economics of Gold Mining
March 14, 2017

1930's Script Continues to Play Out
December 27, 2016

The American System
November 25, 2016

Correction
October 24, 2016

Waiting for Gono
September 20, 2016

Fraudulent Transformation
July 20, 2016

Credit Engines
May 17, 2016

Dollar Short Squeeze
April 20, 2016

Almost Inconceivable
February 22, 2016

Unambiguously Good
January 22, 2016

Liftoff
December 17, 2015

The Credit Cycle Turns
November 11, 2015

The Gods of the Market Return
September 16, 2015

'ALL WELL,' IS VIEW OF BUSINESS CHIEFS
August 28, 2015

Edge of Chaos
August 18, 2015

This, Sir, is no Dream
July 16, 2015

Yellow shoots?
May 14, 2015

Quoth the Fed: Nevermore
April 21, 2015

Credit Onslaught
March 16, 2015

Treatment or Overdose
January 13, 2014

Winter of our Discontent
December 18, 2014

Lord of the Flies
November 17, 2014

Gold's Relative Strength
October 17, 2014

Bubble Watch
September 16, 2014

Anatomy of Debt
August 20, 2014

Launch Sequence Initiated
July 13, 2014

Debasement of Debt
June 13, 2014

Stocks for the Very Long Run
May 13, 2014

Ukrainian Conflict Bullish for Gold
March 5, 2014

Recovery
February 13, 2014

Tapering Euphoria
February 3, 2014

Clearly Crooked
January 14, 2014

The Taper
December 19, 2013

Gold's Great Depression
December 13, 2013

Stop Yellen
November 21, 2013

Derivatives
November 16, 2013

Flexible Targets
October 17, 2013

The Long Monetary March
September 17, 2013

The Gold Nightmare Ends
August 19, 2013

Gold's Mid-Cycle Correction
July 11, 2013

Consolidation?
June 18, 2013

The Beginning of the End?
May 29, 2013

Taunted a Second Time
Apr. 15, 2013

On the Precipice
Mar. 18, 2013

Capital Miscoordination
Feb. 15, 2013

Print Print Print
Jan. 16, 2013

QE7: Incoherence at the Fed
Dec. 18, 2012

Toute Nation a le Gouvernement qu'elle Mérite
Nov. 15, 2012

Stumbling Toward the Tipping Point
Sept. 17, 2012

Gold Share Reflexivity
Aug. 14, 2012

Waiting on a Snowflake
Jul. 12, 2012

Bottom Fishing
Jun. 14, 2012

The Economy Can't Handle the Truth
May 22, 2012

Drawdowns: On Volatility
Apr. 12, 2012


Research Reports

Myrmikan Capital LLC

Edge of Chaos
A comparison between the policies that led from the Panic of 1921 to the Great Crash of 1929 and those that have led from the Panic of 2008 and today. August 18, 2015

The Long Monetary March
A brief study comparing the first paper money inflationary cycle in ancient China to current circumstances.
September 17, 2013

Something Wicked This Way Comes
A re-examination of Hayek’s thesis that economic planning necessarily leads to dictatorship.
May 6, 2012

Liquidity: Gold’s Role in the Monetary System
A comprehensive analysis of why the free market always chooses gold as money and the consequences of an illiquid central bank.
Dec. 15, 2011

Speeches

Myrmikan Capital LLC

Remarks Made Before the Committee for Monetary Research and Education
May 12, 2011

Media

Myrmikan Capital LLC

Kitco with David Lin
September 17, 2021

Supply Side Podcast with Jonathan Doyle
March 24, 2021

Kitco with David Lin
February 2, 2021

Stansberry Research with Daniela Cambone
October 27, 2020

Jay Taylor Media
May 5, 2020

Mining Stock Education with Bill Powers
May 1, 2020

Kitco News with Daniela Cambone
March 11, 2020

RealVision: Gold, Tears, and Coronavirus
March 3, 2020

Kitco News with Daniela Cambone
November 5, 2019

Incrementum Advisory Board Meeting
October 23, 2019

Kitco News with Daniela Cambone
August 21, 2019

Bullseye Brief with Adam Johnson
June 10, 2019

Kitco News with Daniela Cambone
May 6, 2019

Appearances on the Korelin Economics Report
2013 - 2018

Jay Taylor Media
December 18, 2018

Jay Taylor Media
November 13, 2018

Jay Taylor Media
August 21, 2018

Jay Taylor Media
March 6, 2018

Jay Taylor Media
September 12, 2017

Jay Taylor Media
August 8, 2017

Jay Taylor Media
May 30, 2017

Jay Taylor Media
April 14, 2015

Jay Taylor Media
August 26, 2014

Minaurum Gold Channel
August 18, 2014

The Larry Parks Show
August 5, 2014

Bloomberg Interview
June 26, 2014

Jay Taylor Media
Jan. 28, 2014

Jay Taylor Media
Jan. 8, 2014

Bloomberg Interview
Jun. 21, 2013

Bloomberg Interview
Jun. 20, 2012

Bloomberg Interview
Jan. 11, 2012


Articles

Myrmikan Capital LLC

Oh! What a Lovely Pestilence!
Real Clear Markets
October 17, 2014

Liberty and wealth require sound money
Washington Times
October 1, 2014

Letter to the Editor
Wall Street Journal
August 29, 2014

Fewer but Richer Gold Bugs
Real Clear Markets
May 29, 2013

Gold Mining Stocks Are An Increasingly Attractive Opportunity
Forbes.com
Jul. 2, 2012

Warren Buffett May Know Value, But He Doesn't Know What Money Is
Forbes.com
Feb. 29, 2012

Government Policy Made Private Equity Lucrative
National Review Online
Feb. 7, 2012

Soon the Economic Deluge
Forbes.com
Jan. 6, 2011

Socialism in Stages
National Review Online
Dec. 15, 2009



Essential Reading

Myrmikan Capital LLC

Economic Consequences of Cheap Money
Ludwig von Mises, 1946

The Origin of Money
Carl Menger, 1892

Liquidity
Melchior Palyi, 1936 (Appendix added 1958)

Fiat Money Inflation in France
Andrew Dickson White, 1896

The Revolution Was
Garet Garrett, 1938

A World in Debt
Freeman Tilden, 1936

Human Action
Ludwig von Mises, 1949
See especially Pages 226-229
and Chapters 19 & 20

The Economics of Inflation
Costantino Bresciani-Turroni, 1931

Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Control
Robert L. Schuettinger and Eamonn F. Butler, 1979

A Short History of Paper Money and Banking in the United States
William M. Gouge, 1833

Economics and the Public Welfare
Benjamin Anderson, 1949

A History of American Currency
William Graham Sumner, 1874

Money and Banking Illustrated by American History
Horace White, 1902

Dying of Money: Lessons of the Great German and American Inflations
Jens O. Parsson, 1974

Popular Financial Delusions
Robert Smitley, 1933

The Bubble that Broke the World
Garet Garrett, 1932

A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission
Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman, 1982

Alchemists of Loss: How modern finance and government intervention crashed the financial system
Martin Hutchinson and Kevin Dowd, 2010

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
Liaquat Ahamed, Janunary, 2009

As We go Marching
John T. Flynn, 1944

Men of Wealth: John Flynn's Biography of John Law
John T. Flynn, 1941

The one pound note in the rise and progress of banking in Scotland, and its Adaptability to England
William Graham, 1886

When Money Dies: The Nightmare of the Weimar Collapse
Adam Fergusson, 1975

On Chinese Currency
W. Vissering L.L.D., 1877

A Week in Wall Street by One Who Knows
Federick Jackson, 1841

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