Central Banks Can't Stop Global Unraveling
[T]here are those who maintain that the Roaring 20s was a time of monetary scarcity, and that a lack of money printing led to the market crash and the Depression. This in fact is a quasi-Keynesian argument so far as we can tell, designed to support the idea that more fiat money is always better (and if they'd only printed enough in the 1920s, the Depression would never have happened). But now, based on real-life observations in the 21st century of the current financial crunch (and others before it) the idea that the Roaring 20s was a time of monetary scarcity is hardly credible to us.
Then there is the monetarist perspective – that the Fed, by tightening in the 1930s, or at least not loosening enough, turned a downturn into a disaster. This was a far more feasible scenario to us and others, and has been vehemently debated for decades. But now we have had the opportunity to watch a major credit crisis unfold in the 21st century. Lo and behold, we have seen to our satisfaction that it has NOTHING to do with monetary policy after-the-fact and everything to do with an over-printing of fiat money for months, years, even decades, prior to the latest great unraveling.
Murray Rothbard and the Austrians had it right after all! Friedman had it wrong. It is the overprinting of money that causes the crash – not central bank tightening or other maneuvers late in the day that "trigger" what was actually unavoidable. It is the unrestrained build-up of fiat money in the system that causes the problem.
Where Have All the Monetary Cranks Gone?
“Monetary crank” was never exactly a household phrase, but I know for certain it was much more widely used and understood a century ago than it is today. If you had nutty ideas about money (such as: “cranking out lots of it will make us wealthy”), you were a monetary crank. We don’t hear the term much these days even though the world is full of people — some in high places — whose pictures ought to be in the dictionary right next to the term.
IMF Doubles Inflation Target!
I grew up in Germany, a country that went through hyperinflation twice during the 20th Century. Maybe that’s the reason I learned inflation is bad and inflationary policies are diabolic.
Inflationary periods are highly unjust. They undermine the ethics of hard work and thrift. They destroy solidarity, lead to widespread hardship and often to social unrest.
Don't Bet on a Recovery
It is astounding how many economists, government officials, and Wall Street strategists construe the current economic conditions as evidence of a bona fide recovery. It is a testament to the power of the rose colored glasses handed out by our nation's leading universities that such a feeling could be widely held despite the clear and present danger that compounds daily. The myopia leads us to enact policies that actually exacerbate our problems. The "remedies" are postponing, perhaps indefinitely, a true recovery.
The Coming Crash, Part II: The Rape of Honor
The cultural climate of our time dismisses the serious discussion of ideas; regards "progressive" politics as "truth" (instead of seeking truth); and disparages all honorable undertakings as unnecessary to the operation of ideology. The result? The honorable character -- the courageous individual -- is subjected to gang rape. That is the condition of my beloved United States in this moment.
American Collectivism: A Record of Failure
The hype is always better than the real thing.
Boston's Big Dig sounded like a half-decent project in the beginning. Approved in 1982 with a price tag $2.6 billion, it was completed, however, more or less, in 2005 at a price of $22 billion.
Inflation as the Enemy of Investing
In this age of inflation, we are all forced to do many tasks that others could do better for us. The fact is that inflation impedes the process of civilization, which is brought about by the division of labor. While, without the central bank's continual monetary infusions, prices would gently fall as technology made all things and all people more efficient, we don't enjoy that luxury. Instead we're mowing our own grass, fixing the flappers in our toilet tanks, and managing our own retirement funds.
Now, pushing a mower requires little skill, is no more than an annoyance, and provides the benefits of fresh air and sunshine. But managing one's retirement funds is a different matter entirely. It is an especially cruel result of inflation that instead of simply being able to hoard money, people must "invest their money into the financial markets, lest its purchasing power evaporate under their noses" ...
Even George Soros Agrees With Marc Faber
Renowned billionaire financier George Soros became the latest investor to issue a warning in January that with interest rates low around the world, policymakers are risking generating new bubbles which could cause crashes in the future.
The Fed Is Trapped
The FED is trapped. All policies of unwinding will shrink the monetary base. The recovery is being sustained by a zero percent Federal Funds rate. It will not survive an increase in this rate, which is why Bernanke keeps repeating his mantra about a zero-percent rate for an indefinite time period.
Oh, Great: Senate Plans to Entrust U.S. Financial System to Federal Reserve?
Yeah, well if Shelby and Corker support Dodd’s plan they’re dead men walking, politically. The Federal Reserve is deeply implicated in the housing bubble, the Wall Street bailout and the current recession, and Dodd’s as crooked as a snake.
Who is ready for $7 a gallon gasoline?
Hmm, explain this to me. The Left HATES greed right? Money, and material things? Who needs them. Yet, why is it that everything they try to do, or tell us we MUST do, to avert whatever crisis they are pedalling, is all about MONEY?
Trillions More in Debt with Nothing Good to Show for It
One thing is clear. Most of America is not experiencing an economic recovery. $3 trillion more in debt and the economy is still in the dumper. The so-called jobless recovery policymakers speak of is an insult. It doesn't give much comfort to the 7.2 million folks who have lost their jobs since December 2007. The only jobless recovery that is acceptable is the one that will result when the scoundrels that caused this mess lose their jobs. Americans will have this opportunity starting next year. Hopefully, they will take full advantage of it.
Federal Receipts As The Inverse Of Liberty
Betting on recovery?
You'd be smarter spinning the roulette wheel instead.
