About this episode

Tom Luongo discusses his departure from orthodox libertarianism and his views on geopolitical strategies involving the City of London and Donald Trump.

Independent analyst and Gold, Goats, and Guns host Tom Luongo joins the show to explain why he's left orthodox libertarianism behind and adopted a framework built around the City of London, the Federal Reserve, and Donald Trump's geopolitical strategy. The conversation ranges from Jerome Powell's rate hikes to Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Strait of Hormuz, Bitcoin's murky origins, and why Tom thinks most libertarian commentary misses the real centers of power entirely. Tom traces his intellectual break from the Ron Paul/Mises Institute wing of libertarianism back to the post-COVID Fed tightening cycle, arguing that the "coup" against Trump and Powell in 2020–21 mirrors a much older pattern of financial power rooted in London rather than Washington. He recounts a heated confrontation at the Mises Institute where he was cut off mid-speech for suggesting the movement update its models, and uses that story to argue libertarians are prone to the same "purity spiraling" as Bitcoin maximalists or gold bugs. From there, the discussion turns to Trump's Iran policy — framing it as less about Israel and more about dismantling chokepoints, energy dominance, and the offshore dollar system…

People in this episode

Host: John Odermatt

Guest: Tom Luongo

Topics covered

• libertarianism
• geopolitical strategy
• financial power
• Iran policy
• Bitcoin origins
• energy dominance

Keywords

• libertarianism
• City of London
• Federal Reserve
• Trump
• Iran
• Bitcoin
• geopolitical strategy
• financial power

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Federal Reserve, Mises Institute

Products: Bitcoin

Places: Iran, City of London, Strait of Hormuz, Venezuela

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