Topic: Central Banking

The Money Debate

– August 4, 2010

In the battle of ideologies, the libertarian always faces certain disadvantages. The foundation is, as the name implies, liberty. Yet there is no strict use towards which “liberty” can be put. It is a somewhat amorphous idea, and context changes its me …

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“Money in the 1920s and 1930s”

– August 4, 2010

“One of the most enduring and troublesome mysteries in economics is money: how it is created, what sorts of institutions initiate the process, what kinds of mystique and priestcraft central bankers use in managing monetary systems, and what rules, laws …

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“Interest Rates and the Federal Reserve”

– August 4, 2010

“On June 30, 2004, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee announced it was raising the targeted federal funds interest rate from 1 to 1.25 percent, to begin to prevent a possible future price inflation. The next day the European Central Bank (ECB) d …

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“Bernanke Says Rising Wages Will Lift Spending”

– August 3, 2010

“Investors and the public have been closely watching signals about the economy and the Fed’s possible policy moves to address problems. While the United States has “a considerable way to go” for a full recovery, “rising demand from households and busin …

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Bullard’s Bipoloar Fed Strategy

– August 2, 2010

“Forcing banks to take undue risk for the sake of the economy would result in banks recklessly engaging in the behavior that precipitated the financial crisis in the first place! Banks could still decide not to lend to small businesses and consumers, p …

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Inflation: Watering Down the Punch

– July 31, 2010

“With the recent financial crisis macroeconomic issues are receiving more and more attention. Inflation is one of those issues. Many claim inflation to be the cause of the crisis; which has even given the Austrian business cycle theory attention from t …

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“Should the Fed Pump Even More”

– July 29, 2010

“The only way fiscal and monetary stimulus could “work” is if the flow of real savings (i.e., real funding) is large enough to support (i.e., fund) government activities and activities that sprang up on the back of loose-monetary policy while still per …

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The Inflation Crisis and How to Resolve It

– July 28, 2010

“No subject is so much discussed today – or so little understood – as inflation. The politicians in Washington talk of it as if it were some horrible visitation from without, over which they had no control – like a flood, a foreign invasion, or a plagu …

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“Bank of England’s Mervyn King Warns Over Inflation”

– July 28, 2010

“Prices rises have consistently defied the Bank’s expectations of a slowdown, adding to pressure on households as wage growth remains weak and the Government introduces a strict austerity package. The Bank’s rate-setters are charged with keeping inflat …

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The Great Reflation

– July 21, 2010

“The financial crisis, the speculative bubble leading up to it, and the aftermath have proven once again just how true the old saying is that if you want to know what’s going on in the financial system, watch the banks. The banking system has always be …

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“Illinois Free Banking Experience”

– July 21, 2010

“Recent studies by Rolnick and Weber (1983, 1984) have presented evidence challenging the conventional view of the Free Banking Era (1837-1863). The conventional view depicts a period of financial chaos in which lenient regulations gave rise to a pleth …

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“New Evidence on the Free Banking Era”

– July 21, 2010

“The United States has experienced many periods of major banking panics during which a large number of banks have failed and financial markets have been in considerable disarray. The period consid-ered by many as the worst is the one period when banks …

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