Pertinent Category: Sound Money Project

The Sound Money Project was founded in January 2009 to conduct research and promote awareness about monetary stability and financial privacy. The project is comprised of leading academics and practitioners in money, banking, and macroeconomics. It offers regular commentary and in-depth analysis on monetary policy, alternative monetary systems, financial markets regulation, cryptocurrencies, and the history of monetary and macroeconomic thought. For the latest on sound money issues, subscribe to our working paper series and follow along on Twitter or Facebook.

Advisory Board: Steve H. Hanke, Jerry L. Jordan, Lawrence H. White
Director: William J. Luther
Senior Fellows: Nicolás Cachanosky, Gerald P. DwyerJoshua R. Hendrickson, Thomas L. Hogan, Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr., Alexander W. Salter
Fellows: J.P. Koning

Fact-Checking “Greedflation”

– March 18, 2024

“By fueling an overall increase in demand, central banks can generate a sustained increase in the general level of prices — inflation. Central banks are the primary source of money creation, not firms.” ~Nicolás Cachanosky

READ MORE

Inflation Remains Elevated. Is Money Actually Tight?

– March 13, 2024

” Fed watchers expect the Federal Open Market Committee will keep rates steady when they meet on March 19-20. In light of the CPI data, that’s a defensible move.” ~Alexander W. Salter

READ MORE

Fed Admits It Was Wrong – Kind Of

– March 5, 2024

“So rather than starting to tighten policy in the fourth quarter of ‘21, as Powell described, the Fed was implicitly loosening policy through May of ‘22.” ~Thomas L. Hogan

READ MORE

Congress Overspends, but the Fed Inflates

– February 28, 2024

“At most, large deficits impelled the Fed to support the market for government debt by purchasing more debt than it should have. The central bank, not the fiscal authorities, is the residual determiner of aggregate demand.” ~Alexander W. Salter

READ MORE

Two Kinds of Transitory Inflation

– February 16, 2024

“Team Transitory’s narrative just doesn’t cohere. Whether we’re trying to explain the Great Inflation of the 1970s and early 1980s, or the inflation of the past two years, we need to rely on demand-side mechanisms.” ~Alexander W. Salter

READ MORE

An Inflation Resurgence, or Just Relative Price Changes?

– February 14, 2024

“Microeconomic relative-price dynamics increasingly drive inflation measurements. That means the Fed should not be afraid to ease off the brakes.” ~Alexander W. Salter

READ MORE

Dollarization in Argentina: A Missed Opportunity

– February 13, 2024

“The delayed implementation of dollarization in Argentina presents challenges that could have been avoided had Milei honored his promise to abandon the peso straightaway.” ~Nicolás Cachanosky

READ MORE

The Fed Says Its Record Losses Don’t Matter

– February 6, 2024

“While not a groundbreaking revelation for any central bank, the lack of concern about the economic and institutional implications of monetizing financial obligations is cause for concern.” ~Nicolas Cachanosky

READ MORE

Time for the Fed to Ease Up

– January 29, 2024

“Even if Fed economists have underestimated the natural rate of interest by half, monetary policy looks slightly tight. It looks very tight if the natural-rate figures are anywhere close to correct.” ~Alexander W. Salter

READ MORE

Who’s Winning the Race for Real-Time Payments?

– January 6, 2024

“The extent to which the Federal Reserve will take measures to hold back TCH-RTP’s growth was not yet clear (and maybe it still isn’t). Institutions may be hedging their bets or testing both systems.” ~Nicolás Cachanosky

READ MORE

Inflation: It’s Not the Supply Side

– December 31, 2023

” Some combination of fiscal and monetary policy remains the best explanation for the once-in-a-generation inflation rates that peaked in summer 2022, as well as their gradual decline.” ~Alexander W. Salter

READ MORE

Inflation Undershoots Fed Projections

– December 23, 2023

“The FOMC changed course last week, foregoing a previously projected rate hike and projecting deeper rate cuts in 2024 than previously anticipated. But those rate cuts may come too late.” ~William J. Luther

READ MORE