America Got Rich on Competition, Then Legislated It Away

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)  October 12, 2026

In 1938 the airline business was brand new— only 35 years had passed since the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk.  Hardly anyone had even seen an airplane. A coast-to-coast round trip cost about $260, half the price of a new car, so passengers were mostly very wealthy.

The airlines were small, and during the Depression they were losing money. Congress was afraid they would undercut each other into bankruptcy, and the country would lose an industry it needed for its mail and its defense.

What A High-Trust Society Looks Like Up Close

Notes From the Field  (Schiff/Sovereign Man)  October 6, 2026

[Editor’s note: This letter was written by Schiff Sovereign’s CEO, Viktorija, who is originally from Lithuania but splits her time between Mexico and Panama.]

The first thing I noticed at Seoul’s Iuncheon airport was the luggage.  People had just left their suitcases sitting there— against pillars, next to benches, by the exits— and wandered off to the bathroom or to grab a coffee. Nobody looked back.

Forget about thieves for a minute; just try leaving an unattended bag in a US airport, and watch the place go into lockdown while the bomb squad swarms in.

A few days later I was in a small local café when the woman next to me stood up, left her phone face-up on the table, and walked off. She was gone for several minutes. When she came back, she picked up her phone like it was nothing.

It Took 211 Years to Borrow $2.3 Trillion. Congress Just Did It in Twelve Months.

Notes From The Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)  October 5, 2026

$2,307,765,598,614.61.  That’s how much the national debt grew by in fiscal year 2026, which just ended last week on September 30. $2.3 trillion in a single year is clearly and obviously runaway debt growth; think about it— the entire national debt didn't reach $2.3 trillion until 1987.

By then the country was 211 years old, and it had been through a revolution, a civil war, two world wars, and the Great Depression. Now Congress adds that much in a single year.

The Vigilantes Are Coming For Congress

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)  September 30, 2026

Eight years ago in the summer of 2018, an automated monitoring system at the US government’s Social Security Agency flagged a questionable transaction and immediately forwarded it to a human worker at the agency to investigate.

It took more than a year for a Social Security employee to look into it. And it was painfully obvious— Social Security was paying too much ‘supplemental security income’ to the recipient.

Canada's Plan To Balance The Budget: Change The Definition Of ‘Spending’

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)  October 2, 2026

It was a big week for creative problem-solving. Britain fixed a failed government energy company by starting a second, Canada is balancing its budget by renaming the spending, and Boston paid $335,000 to call itself racist and failed. Here are a few of the most absurd stories in case you missed them.

 The UN’s Bankruptcy Can’t Happen Fast Enough

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man) September 28, 2026

Every September, world leaders take turns at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and give pointless speeches.  If they really cared about CO2 emissions, they’d skip the event entirely, because the only thing coming out of their mouths is lies and hot air.  But a few days ago when it was Argentina's turn, President Javier Milei spoke honestly and boldly.

Xi Xinping Said America Is Finished. Congress, Take The Hint!

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man) September 25, 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday for a three-day state visit, and Donald Trump was waiting for him at the foot of the red carpet.  That’s highly unusual. US presidents typically receive foreign leaders at the White House.

In fact, with the exception of popes, no president had met a foreign leader on the tarmac since 1962, when JFK went out to greet British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

America Keeps Threatening the Lenders It Can't Afford to Lose

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man) September 24, 2026

Late last week, Congress and the White House established a new law authorizing the President to impose tariffs of up to 100% on any country that ranks among the five biggest buyers of Russian oil or gas.

This law had broad, bi-partisan support and passed by a whopping 86-11 margin in the otherwise deadlocked Senate, and 262-159 in the House of Representatives.

"Chuck The Debt In The Fire" Is Officially A Real Solution

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man) September 9, 2026

It's so simple, how could no one have thought of this before?  The man currently polling in second place to become the next President of France has put forward an ingenious solution to tackling France's national debt, currently standing at around 117% of the country's GDP.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon says, "All we have to do is take the 18% held by the Bank of France and chuck it in the fire."

Doing The Math: Interest Expense Is Going To $2 Trillion Annually

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)   September 17, 2026

It was January 2000. AOL had just announced it was buying Time Warner in what was then the biggest merger in history. Fourteen dot-com companies had bought Super Bowl ads, one of them starring a sock puppet that sold dog food.   The US economy was growing at one of its fastest paces ever; GDP was up nearly 5% the year before— and that’s real growth, before adding inflation, which itself was just 1.4%.

They Called Refining a Dying Business. Diesel Just Hit $6.

Notes From the Field By James Hickman 9Simon Black / Sovereign Man) September 16, 2026

On Sunday afternoon, the power went out at ExxonMobil's refinery in Channahon, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago.  Oil refineries run at tremendous heat and pressure, so whenever the power goes out, all that heat and pressure has to go somewhere. It’s basic physics. Hence why the plant burned it off through the flare stacks, with black smoke visible for miles.

"Grow Our Way Out of Debt” Is Code for Inflation

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man) September 14, 2026

Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat down for a fireside chat at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and told the room what the plan is for the national debt.

"We don't have a revenue problem," he said. "We have a spending problem." Contain the spending, add 3% growth, and America can "grow our way out of this."