The U.S. Debt and Debt-Downgrade
Economic Bulletin Vol. LI, no. 9 | September. 2011 The downgrade of the once-unassailable U.S. debt will have ripple effects around the world. A team of AIER economists take a reading of the big picture. by Steven R. Cunningham, PhD, Director of Resear …
READ MOREMonetary Summit Today in Utah
I am planning to join some of the sharpest minds in business, finance, politics, law and economics, who are working to promote a framework for the future of monetary policy. With the dollar’s slide accelerating and the economy trapped by slow growth a …
READ MORECheckmate?
The turmoils affecting the economics and financial markets in the United States and Europe do not seem to go away as fast as anyone would want to. Those who warned that this may be a crisis with a “W” shape may well be right. The recent downgrade in fr …
READ MOREShooting the Messenger
I had a friend, we’ll call him George[i], who had a theory about how to best keep the carbonation in his beverages. It was very straightforward. It went like this: After opening, leave the cap off. Although it sounds ridiculous, this was his actual …
READ MOREWhere Is the U.S. Going?
This week was of high political voltage because of the debt ceiling debate. Could the most important economy in the world default its debt? And in such case, what would happen, not only to the United States, but to the worldwide economy, given that we …
READ MORESaving, Hoarding and Fractional Reserve Banking
Fractional reserves is an important component of financial stability. Most of the financial regulation is aimed to control this aspect of banking practice such that banks do not become insolvent and a contagious set of bank runs gets into the financial …
READ MOREA Golden Moment?
Article and photo originally published at The Weekly Standard William Kristol July 24, 2011 Judy Shelton makes the case in the new issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD for the “Gold Standard or Bust.” Sound finances, she points out, require sound money, and so …
READ MOREGold Standard or Bust
Article and photo originally published at The Weekly Standard August 1, 2011 As the truth-or-dare battle over raising the debt ceiling moves toward a resolution of some sort, we are witnessing a unique political moment, with attention finally riveted o …
READ MOREGermany and the Financial Crisis
Lately, a lot has been said about Greece, Spain and Italy in the financial crisis affecting Europe. The fear is that these economies can affect the performance of bigger economies, like Germany, one of the largest economies in the world and the second …
READ MOREBudget Reform in Italy
Italy’s senate approved today a plan to cut government spending for the period 2011-2014. Italy’s public debt is more than 100% of GDP and the fiscal deficit was between 3% to 5.9% of GDP for last year. Similar situation is shared by other European cou …
READ MORESovereign Debt Pressure
The European countries seem to be facing a road with no easy exit. One on side they are facing fiscal deficits. On other side they are already dealing with an important debt amount that can hardly be sustained, as the case of Greece is showing these da …
READ MOREThe Perfect Protection of Prodding and Printing, Part I
Ordinarily, “newcomers entering the field cannot compete immediately wit the established, reputable companies, and have to spend years working… to earn an equal reputation[i].” People have an incentive not to poison their neighbors – they have to see them everyday! And businessmen have an incentive not to injure their customers – they would like to see them every day!
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