Topic: Monetary Policy

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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A Conversation with Milton Friedman – Liberty Fund

– July 30, 2010

“Milton Friedman discusses his economic ideas with Gary S. Becker. Recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, Milton Friedman has long been recognized as one of our most important economic thinkers, and a leader of the Chicago school of m …

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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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Age of Inflation

– July 28, 2010

“Professor Hans F. Sennholz is the outstanding student of Ludwig von Mises whose lifetime work specialized in monetary and financial economics. This book is one of his great legacies to economic science. The title Age of Inflation reflects its subject …

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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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“Inflation and Deficit Spending Revisited”

– July 28, 2010

“In a recent article in this journal, Giffin, Macomber, and Berry (1981), hereafter referred to as GMB, attempt to test the hypothesis that larger deficits cause increases in the money supply and hence inflation. To test the debt monetization hypothesi …

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“Budget Deficits and Inflation”

– July 28, 2010

“The sharp rise in the rate of inflation in 1973, after two years of diminishing rates, was a great surprise to many. What was the primary cause? Many rea-sons have been advanced to explain this change, some of them logical, and some not. Most of the e …

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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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