Recently the Swiss National Bank (SNB) dropped the peg it had established in September 2011, holding the Swiss franc at 1.2 to the euro. Unlike the pegs of weaker, less trustworthy monetary authorities, the aim of the Swiss policy was
Archive for January, 2015
In Denmark You Are Now Paid To Take Out A Mortgage
As per my thougths on “the logical end of Keynesianism is just handing people money”, this article is republished from zerohedge With NIRP raging in the Eurozone and over €1.5 trillion in European government bonds trading with negative yields, many
I beg to differ…
Re: CAT CEO says strong dollar bad for US economy Here come US exporters, right on schedule, complaining that a strong national currency is bad for them and for the US economy. Not so. When a nation debases its currency
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In Defense of Uber’s Surge Pricing
Reprinted from the Freeman The smartphone-coordinated ride-sharing company Uber has come under fire for charging “outrageous” prices during peak demand times. I will defend the general principle of “surge pricing,” which performs the vital social function of drawing forth supply
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Carl Menger: Pioneer of “Empirical Theory” Part 2
[This article is excerpted from chapter 4 of Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism. Reprinted from Mises.org] The Austrian School and the Gossen School With just two books, Menger had put economic and social thought on completely new foundations. Principlespioneered
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Why the welfare state grows, and grows, and grows…
Re: George Will on the mushrooming welfare state Columnist George Will puts recent research into the adverse consequences of the welfare state into words that we all can understand. However, I do not think that he gets to the heart of
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Loose Fed, Scared Bank Directors
The Fed’s balance sheet now foots to nearly $4.5 trillion, a great leap from early July 2008, when its total assets were less than $900 billion. Interest rates have been held just above zero since then as well, all in
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Carl Menger: Pioneer of “Empirical Theory” Part 1
[This article is excerpted from chapter 4 of Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism. Reprinted from Mises.org] Introduction The problems and ideas that moved Ludwig von Mises in his early years were addressed by the work of four great economic
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A Graphical Introduction to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory
A Graphical Introduction to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory By: Gaurav Mehra Twitter: @GMehra_ Email: [email protected] For a pdf version of this article: Intro to ABCT - Final Business cycles, simply put, are the fluctuations of economic growth
Financial Myth Busting: The Bubble Economy
This weekend, I had the pleasure to be a guest on the radio program Financial Myth Busting with Dawn J. Bennett. We discussed the inability or unwillingness of politicians and economists alike to learn from past mistakes, and the consequences
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All Hail the Tumbling Price of Gas
Reprinted from the Freeman American consumers begin the new year with a beautiful gift: low gas prices. These days, you pay twice or three times as much for fancy bottled water from the convenience store as you pay for gasoline,
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My letter to the NY Times re: Not really a favorable market reaction
Re: Stimulus for Eurozone, but it may be too little or too late Dear Sirs: Your analysis of the likely effect of the European Central Bank’s proposed massive quantitative easing program is full of economic fallacies that, unfortunately, masquerade as
PhD-Standard Monetary Crack Up
The hills are alive with the panic of central bankers. First there was the fallout from the Swiss National Bank’s decision to unshackle the Franc from the Euro. Then, how much Q Mario Draghi put with his E. It turns
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Get ready for negative interest rates in the US
Re: Dollar rise puts Fed under pressure I predict that the Fed will start charging negative interest rates on bank reserve accounts, which will ripple through the markets and result in negative interest rates on savings at banks. I make
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Charlie Hebdo Goes Critical
The murder of eleven employees of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris has grabbed international headlines. It was, indeed, an appalling act. Western media outlets went ballistic. Politicians from around the world descended on Paris and locked arms in a
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China’s Unsustainable Growth
In November 2014, China’s central bank declared it will lower the interest by 0.4%. The modification is not large enough to imply a change of policy direction, however; it is still an effort to sour on the financial market and
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A Primer on Jobs and the Jobless
Reprinted from Mises.org With the economics of employment and unemployment constantly discussed on the business pages and political campaigns, let us turn our attention toward fundamentals and root out some fallacies. If the media tell us that “the opening of
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Thom Hartmann’s Bogus Tax History
I’ve seen some pretty crazy things from the Facebook page “U.S. Uncut,” but recently I saw their reprint of some “facts” from Thom Hartmann that had more than 60,000 shares. This particular billboard was so absurd that I felt compelled
The U.S. Cannot Afford to be the World’s Police
Reprinted from the Press and Journal The recent shooting at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by Islamic extremists has reignited the debate on how to handle the threat of terrorism. The renewed talk is understandable. As horror extraordinaire H.P. Lovecraft
The Rise of Capitalism
This article is excerpted from Liberty & Property, part 2 (2009). Reprinted from Mises.org The precapitalistic system of product was restrictive. Its historical basis was military conquest. The victorious kings had given the land to their paladins. These aristocrats were
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