Daily economy news from the American Institute for Economic Research: data, stories, research, and articles touching on economics, politics, culture, education, policy, opinion, technology, markets, healthcare, regulation, trends, and much more.
Dr. Richard Ebeling to talk at GMU!
Our friends at the GMU Economics Society & the Future of Freedom Foundation invite you to the last installment of the Economic Liberty Lecture Series of this year with Dr. Richard Ebeling. Dr. Ebeling will be speaking on “America’s New Road
“Irresponsible lending prohibited by OTF”
“The new requirements form part of new guidance from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to counteract irresponsible lending. ‘[We] expect all consumer credit businesses to fully comply with both the word and spirit of this guidance,’ the OFT said.
“Unemployment and Inflation Inch Up in Europe”
“The unemployment rate in the euro area inched up to touch double digits in February, while inflation accelerated more than economists had forecast, probably a result of higher food and oil prices, according to data released Wednesday. Eurostat, the European
The Seigniorage Curse
“The Seigniorage Curse appears to hollow out the economy by the following manner: First, the premium charged to holders of dollars becomes a new source of accrued, aggregate revenue. This extra capital flowing into the economy is initially seen as
Obama’s Mortgage Plan Won’t Bring Relief
“Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and the rest of the crew running economic policy somehow could not see the housing bubble as it grew to more than $8tn. It really should have been hard to miss. Nationwide house prices had just
“Economists, Business Leaders Want Yuan to Appreciate”
“Chinese economists and business leaders have begun to call openly for their government to allow the yuan to appreciate against the dollar, in a sign that the issue is contentious here, too, and not just a problem between the United
Politicising money lending is not the path to prosperity
“One part of Alastair Darling’s Budget that appears to have received little attention from the media is his plan for a ‘Credit Adjudication Service’. This new body, it appears, will provide an appeals process for small and medium businesses that
“Break Up the Banks”
“Big banks are bad for free markets. Far from being engines of free enterprise, they are conducive to what might be called ‘crony capitalism,’ ‘corporatism,’ or, in Jonah Goldberg’s provocative phrase, ‘liberal fascism.’ There is a free-market case for breaking
The Healthcare Question Revisited
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on the effect the new healthcare bill will have on your money, namely, the inflation that will result when the new system begins to run over the budget. This week, I’d like
Monetary Policy in a World of Uncertain Productivity Growth
“This paper considers inflation forecasts for 2001 under two different assumptions about productivity growth. One assumption, the optimistic one, is that productivity growth has risen above its long-run historical average and that 2001 will see near price stability. The other,
Inflation
“Inflation rates vary from year to year and from currency to currency. Since 1950, the U.S. dollar inflation rate, as measured by the December-to-December change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), has ranged from a low of −0.7 percent
“Obama Pays More Than Buffett”
“The bond market is saying that it’s safer to lend to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama. Two-year notes sold by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in February yield 3.5 basis points less than Treasuries of similar maturity, according to data
“Bailout Bonanza”
“Sen. Chris Dodd’s latest bill to fix the financial system is another failure. After months of negotiation, he’s produced a “reform” of the regulatory system that simply fails to deal with the causes of the 2008 crisis — which nearly
One Currency Doesn’t Require “One Europe”
The creation of the euro was either the greatest historic achievement of the last century—or its worst delusion. Not to be glib, but the answer is both: The euro represents a magnificent step toward fulfilling money’s highest purposes—to serve as
“Placing our faith in economic oracles”
“One of the sadder categories in the history of human misfortunes is the list of those things that are obvious, but wrong. By definition, if something is obvious, most people agree with it, and thus, it is likely to win
“Something Besides Money Growth Causes Inflation?”
“Some economic phenomena can result from a variety of causes. A temporary increase in unemployment, for example, might be caused by a sudden, disruptive change in production technology, or in trade patterns, or in labor or tax laws; or it
“Giving the Fed New Powers Ignores History”
“The Fed’s own origins are evidence for this point. It is usually argued that the Fed was created to avoid the banking crises that plagued the United States in the late 19th century. That is true to an extent. What
“Competitve Currencies, Legal Restrictions and the Origins of the Fed”
“In the last several years, economists have produced numoerous studies examining both the theoretical operations and historical manifestations of unregulated banking systems. Recent examples of historical investigations are the studies by L. White (47), who explores the Scottish experience, Selgin
Dr. Richard Ebeling to talk at GMU!
Our friends at the GMU Economics Society & the Future of Freedom Foundation invite you to the last installment of the Economic Liberty Lecture Series of this year with Dr. Richard Ebeling. Dr. Ebeling will be speaking on “America’s New Road
“Irresponsible lending prohibited by OTF”
“The new requirements form part of new guidance from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to counteract irresponsible lending. ‘[We] expect all consumer credit businesses to fully comply with both the word and spirit of this guidance,’ the OFT said.
“Unemployment and Inflation Inch Up in Europe”
“The unemployment rate in the euro area inched up to touch double digits in February, while inflation accelerated more than economists had forecast, probably a result of higher food and oil prices, according to data released Wednesday. Eurostat, the European
The Seigniorage Curse
“The Seigniorage Curse appears to hollow out the economy by the following manner: First, the premium charged to holders of dollars becomes a new source of accrued, aggregate revenue. This extra capital flowing into the economy is initially seen as
Obama’s Mortgage Plan Won’t Bring Relief
“Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and the rest of the crew running economic policy somehow could not see the housing bubble as it grew to more than $8tn. It really should have been hard to miss. Nationwide house prices had just
“Economists, Business Leaders Want Yuan to Appreciate”
“Chinese economists and business leaders have begun to call openly for their government to allow the yuan to appreciate against the dollar, in a sign that the issue is contentious here, too, and not just a problem between the United
Politicising money lending is not the path to prosperity
“One part of Alastair Darling’s Budget that appears to have received little attention from the media is his plan for a ‘Credit Adjudication Service’. This new body, it appears, will provide an appeals process for small and medium businesses that
“Break Up the Banks”
“Big banks are bad for free markets. Far from being engines of free enterprise, they are conducive to what might be called ‘crony capitalism,’ ‘corporatism,’ or, in Jonah Goldberg’s provocative phrase, ‘liberal fascism.’ There is a free-market case for breaking
The Healthcare Question Revisited
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on the effect the new healthcare bill will have on your money, namely, the inflation that will result when the new system begins to run over the budget. This week, I’d like
Monetary Policy in a World of Uncertain Productivity Growth
“This paper considers inflation forecasts for 2001 under two different assumptions about productivity growth. One assumption, the optimistic one, is that productivity growth has risen above its long-run historical average and that 2001 will see near price stability. The other,
Inflation
“Inflation rates vary from year to year and from currency to currency. Since 1950, the U.S. dollar inflation rate, as measured by the December-to-December change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), has ranged from a low of −0.7 percent
“Obama Pays More Than Buffett”
“The bond market is saying that it’s safer to lend to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama. Two-year notes sold by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in February yield 3.5 basis points less than Treasuries of similar maturity, according to data
“Bailout Bonanza”
“Sen. Chris Dodd’s latest bill to fix the financial system is another failure. After months of negotiation, he’s produced a “reform” of the regulatory system that simply fails to deal with the causes of the 2008 crisis — which nearly
One Currency Doesn’t Require “One Europe”
The creation of the euro was either the greatest historic achievement of the last century—or its worst delusion. Not to be glib, but the answer is both: The euro represents a magnificent step toward fulfilling money’s highest purposes—to serve as
“Placing our faith in economic oracles”
“One of the sadder categories in the history of human misfortunes is the list of those things that are obvious, but wrong. By definition, if something is obvious, most people agree with it, and thus, it is likely to win
“Something Besides Money Growth Causes Inflation?”
“Some economic phenomena can result from a variety of causes. A temporary increase in unemployment, for example, might be caused by a sudden, disruptive change in production technology, or in trade patterns, or in labor or tax laws; or it
“Giving the Fed New Powers Ignores History”
“The Fed’s own origins are evidence for this point. It is usually argued that the Fed was created to avoid the banking crises that plagued the United States in the late 19th century. That is true to an extent. What
“Competitve Currencies, Legal Restrictions and the Origins of the Fed”
“In the last several years, economists have produced numoerous studies examining both the theoretical operations and historical manifestations of unregulated banking systems. Recent examples of historical investigations are the studies by L. White (47), who explores the Scottish experience, Selgin
