Topic: Sound Money Project

Currency, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

Economizing on Cash Balances

– November 2, 2017

Cash can be converted to goods all but instantly, but provides the holder of cash no interest.

Currency, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

Second Thoughts on Indian Demonetization

– November 1, 2017

Indians accomplished in mere months something that took Europeans ten years.

Central Banking, Free Banking, Monetary Policy, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

Knowledge Problem in Central Banking – Part II

– August 3, 2017

The previous post presented Hayek’s knowledge problem in the context of the economic calculation debate under socialism. We discussed the distinction (sometimes overlooked) between information and knowledge. To sum up, information is objective data suc …

Central Banking, History, Monetary Policy, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

Knowledge Problem in Central Banking – Part I

– August 2, 2017

In my previous posts, Andreas Hoffmann and I discussed the problem of unintended consequences in monetary policy, particularly as applied to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in the context of the 2008 crisis. This post tackles a r …

History, Inflation, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

The Inflation Tax

– July 20, 2017

Can you name an official at a major central bank who expresses worries that inflation is now, or soon will be, too high? Can you identify any financial publication–even the Wall Street Journal–that does not report that recent inflation data have bee …

Cryptocurrency, History, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

The Regression Theorem: In Light of Bitcoin

– July 19, 2017

Contra Mises, explicit coordination might be used to launch an intrinsically worthless item. Such a view is in line with standard models of money employed by economists today. Coordination also seems to have played a role in launching bitcoin.

Central Banking, International, Monetary Policy, Sound Money Project

Unintended Monetary Policy Effects – Tale II: ECB Crisis Policies

– July 17, 2017

The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) and European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy responses to the recent financial disasters offer two tales of unintended consequences. Our previous post outlined the undesired effects of the Fed’s policies. In this post, we sugges …

History, Sound Money, Sound Money Project

The Regression Theorem: Misconceptions

– July 14, 2017

Four misconceptions of the regression theorem, explained.

Sound Money, Sound Money Project

Money in Illiberalism

– July 12, 2017

A liberal society is governed by the principles of private property and freedom of contract, under the aegis of a nondiscriminatory rule of law. In such a society, money enables economic actors to coordinate their activities. Money allows producers a …

Monetary Policy, Sound Money Project

The Monetary Policy Blinders

– July 11, 2017

I just read Ben Bernanke’s “The Federal Reserve and the Financial Crisis.” The book was actually published in 2013, and it contains his 2012 lectures at George Washington University. It contains four well written lectures that cover the history of the …

Sound Money Project

Cantillon Effects and Money Neutrality

– June 27, 2017

Money neutrality is a key principle in monetary economics. As might seem obvious, the amount of goods that can be produced depends on the availability of factors of production (such as capital and labor) and on technological knowledge.

Sound Money, Sound Money Project

Money in Liberalism

– June 19, 2017

One feature of a liberal society is that its institutions, and especially its formal institutions with coercive backing, are bound by a nondiscriminatory rule of law, and work to protect the sanctity of property and contract for all persons. In such a …