Monetary Economics

Monetary policy influences inflation, employment, and economic activity. A stable but dynamic monetary system is vital for supporting economic growth, individual liberty, and a prosperous society. Therefore, we examine the causes and consequences of monetary policy (including inflation), identify ideal and practical steps towards a better monetary policy regime, and look at monetary alternatives and financial regulation.

Articles

You Cannot Eat Bitcoin

Joakim Book May 31, 2021

“You cannot eat bitcoin, or dollars, or bank balances, which means that whatever vehicle you use to move value across time has an exchange rate risk. Many bitcoiners’ mistake is to think that their preferred asset avoids this; Taleb’s mistake is to think that others can have a different view of government than him.” ~ Joakim Book

Argentina’s Creative Approaches to Debt Write Offs

Gunther Schnabl May 30, 2021

“Whereas some private vulture funds found brutal means to achieve full repayment on their assets, international public institutions such as the IMF were repeatedly willing to take over the risk. This leniency may be due to the fact that the international taxpayers seem unaware of the burdens. It has to be seen which strategies will be observed in the future in the industrialized countries.” ~ Gunther Schnabl & Nils Sonnenberg

Fighting Ransomware Doesn’t Require Banning Cryptocurrency

J.P. Koning May 29, 2021

“With OFAC as coxswain, an embargo might achieve everything that a ban on cryptocurrency promises to achieve without depriving gamblers, outsiders, and hobbyists of a product they utilize. It would also be more effective than the status quo, which is not capable of stopping criminals who operate with impunity from noncompliant jurisdictions.” ~ J.P. Koning

The Fed Targets a Crafted Measure of Inflation: A Cautionary Tale

Gregory van Kipnis May 28, 2021

“Understanding government data for what they are and what they are not is vital to understanding the impossibility of targeting the cost of living, even though the Fed is targeting a crafted measure of price inflation.” ~ Gregory van Kipnis

Unemployment and Bankruptcies – Is This Time Different?

Colin Lloyd May 27, 2021

“The recovery we are witnessing today is built on the crumbling foundations of the serial malinvestments which resulted from previous attempts to avoid the recessionary pain caused by the GFC. If structural inflation can be engendered, an escape from the worst ravages of overindebtedness may be nigh, but, until markets clear and zombies die, what economic growth there is will remain suboptimal.” ~ Colin Lloyd

Addressing Financial Exclusion: The Right Way and the Wrong Way

Ethan Yang May 24, 2021

“Marginalized groups of people are more than capable of succeeding when you just get out of the way. Policymakers today must understand the devastating consequences of well-intentioned policies and the hard fact that an imperfect private sector response is far preferable to a counterproductive government response.” ~ Ethan Yang