Economy News

from AIER

Established 1999

New England, USA

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    “Freedom and Sound Money”

    “In all countries of the so-called ‘free world,’ money represents nowadays a government controlled irredeemable paper, or ‘fiat,’ money standard. The widely held view is that this money system would be compatible with the ideal of a free society and conducive to sustainable output and employment growth. To be sure, there are voices calling for…

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    Change Policy, Not Blame

    The Obama administration thinks it has found the cure all for its economic woes. The solution: regulate, restrict and play God in the economy. (Not exactly a new strategy for government.) In usual fashion, government regulations and Fed policies bring about unintended consequences, and the blame is pushed elsewhere. With the economy still limping, the…

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    “The U.K.’s Persistent Inflation Problem”

    “The U.K.’s economic policy puzzle just got harder. Inflation was expected to rise in December, but not by a full percentage point to 2.9%. That is well above market expectations of 2.6% and the Bank of England’s forecast of about 2.7%. It certainly puts the kibosh on any extension of quantitative easing beyond February, no…

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    “The Dynamics of Disintervention”

    “Examples of the move from piecemeal to comprehensive intervention are found in the 1930s after the collapse of social democratic policies in Weimar Germany and in the United States after the failed interventions of the Hoover administration. Both events heralded even more radical (and tragic) interventions. What we witnessed in 2008 in the housing and…

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    Cato Capitol Hill Briefing: What Caused the Recession?

    On February 5, 2010, our friends at the Cato Institute will be hosting a Capitol Hill Briefing, “Greed, Irresponsibility, or Policy Mistakes: What Caused the Recession?”. Go here for more information and registration. The deadline to register is Thursday, February 4, 2010.

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    FEE Interview With Peter Boettke and Steven Horwitz

    Mike Van Winkle interviews Professors Peter Boettke and Steven Horwitz, co-authors of the recent FEE monograph “The House That Uncle Sam Built,” about what led to the financial meltdown and the Great Recession of 2008. Go here for more.   FEE Interview With Peter Boettke and Steven Horwitz Mike Van Winkle   First Principles, Episode 17…

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    Interview With George Selgin

    “I use the term to mean laissez-faire banking — banking without any special government regulations or restrictions. Like free trade, it’s an ideal concept. It doesn’t refer to any specific or actual banking system, although some, like Scotland’s in the early 19th century, came close. My own ideal version of free banking would have no…

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    “In What Respects Will the Information Age Make Central Banks Obsolete?”

    “Like a post office, a central bank does useful things. That fact that it does useful things does not make either institution efficient, at least not in its present-day form as a government agency. By “efficient” here I mean “better than the alternative.” Just as private firms can better deliver packages and letters, private institutions…

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    Fed Up

    “Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), the libertarian-leaning congressman and failed 2008 GOP presidential candidate, has been suspicious of the Federal Reserve since before first entering Congress in 1976. In a 1981 article that mentioned the then-obscure legislator, United Press International reported that Paul ‘has proposed abolishing the Federal Reserve, repealing laws which make the dollar legal…

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    “Denationalisation of Money”

    “In my despair about the hopelessness of finidng a politically feasible solution to what is technically the simplist possible problem, namely to stop inflation, I threw out in a lecture delivered about a year ago a somewhat startling suggestion, the further pursuit of which has opened quite unexpected new horizons. I could not resist pursuing…