Terrifying headline? Certainly so if you work for the Fed, or ever worked for the Fed. Yet, it is what is called for according to law. Having experienced the harmful results of a paper currency manufactured at will, early US statesmen tried to forbid it from ever happening again. Article [...]

Austrian Economics continues to gain in influence despite the ruling elite’s attempts to marginalize it. The latest example was the Wall Street Journal’s recent coverage of Peter Boettke. The Daily Bell deals with the WSJ article in Mises Shakes the World? The consensus seems to be that editors at the Journal [...]

Another email from a reader. This one is instructive because of the micro versus macro aspects. Remember, it is only individuals that make decisions. If these decisions are not made in a favorable climate, with respect to expectations, incentives, etc., it doesn’t matter what nonsensical monies are wasted in stimulus. [...]

Email received. Not likely from the real Dr. Seuss. Author unknown. I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam … I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books. I do not like when Congress steals, I [...]

Cyclic views of history are generally deterministic, simplistic and wrong. The nonsense spouted by Karl Marx is probably the most famous example. History is created by people, not external or mysterious forces. Individual behavior, not some pre-ordained script, creates history. As expressed in Lawrence of Arabia by T. E. Lawrence: [...]

A very well written description by Lew Rockwell of what has happened: Two years ago, the economy was seriously dragged down amidst an amazing banking crisis that spread throughout the world. The illusion created by loose credit — that housing could go up in price forever and we could enjoy [...]

THIS POST IS :”STICKY.” It will remain at the top of the page for a few days. New posts will appear under it. Below is a response I received to my article on American Thinker:  http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/08/keynes_as_useful_idiot.html (also posted on this site on August 31. It should be near the bottom [...]

The milk of American politics may be money, but the fuel for American socialism is Keynesian economics. Keynesianism’s inherent bias toward bigger government has made it the indispensable tool for statists around the globe. Politicians’ natural wont to spend and control benefited immensely when John Maynard Keynes published the General [...]

I suppose I shouldn’t laugh, but I found humor in Eric Fry‘s description of Chairman Bernanke’s performance at Jackson Hole: Like a guy who falls down a flight of stairs, then stands up and says, “I meant to do that,” Bernanke insisted the economy’s dismal trajectory is neither particularly surprising [...]

How About This Weather?Math as Taught over the yearsObamaCare explained

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is out of options and luck. Of course, he couldn’t say that at Jackson Hole. Instead, he had to pretend that his magic was still strong and would be used, if necessary. By customizing mixtures of various powders (some apparently never used before), he would produce [...]

This blog consistently emphasizes the importance of microeconomics over macroeconomics. Indeed, I argue that macroeconomics is not economics but rather a part of either history or statistics or some other field. It is merely the summary of past aggregates. In that sense it is both history and statistics. It summarizes [...]

Recent comments by readers on hyperinflation that were prompted by the previous post, Williams on Hyperinflation, make me believe that the following link might be useful. It discusses inflation from a personal experience perspective and makes an argument for why financial assets will not do well in such a scenario. [...]

John Williams of ShadowStats concisely summarizes all you need to know in his reaction to the recently revised GDP data: Economic Data Will Get Much Worse. The kindest thing I can say about a stock market that rallies on the “stronger than expected” news that annualized growth in second-quarter GDP [...]

Below is a guest post I wrote for 20smoney.com. It discusses why the government will have to default on many of its promises/obligations. It is simply not mathematically possible to service what has been promised. Investing In A Difficult World Investing and life are both wonderful challenges. Often they are [...]

Here is an interesting piece of information about the US housing market: The high-end market, in particular, is under tremendous pressure. In fact, it is becoming non-existent. Guess how many homes prices above $750k managed to sell in July. Answer — zero, nada, rien; and for the second month in [...]

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. John Kenneth Galbraith Claude Rains was “shocked, shocked!” when he learned that there was gambling at Rick’s in the classic film Casablanca. It appears that certain elites in our society are using the Claude Rains’ gambit. The phrase [...]

Finally, so-called respected financial houses are admitting what many bloggers have been warning about for a very long time. Morgan Stanley admits that governments are insolvent and must default on their promises: “Governments will impose a loss on some of their stakeholders,” Arnaud Mares, an executive director at Morgan Stanley [...]

The issue of inflation-deflation will not go away. Michael Panzner has written an article as to why we will have hyperinflation. His key sentence is Hyperinflation is a fiscal phenomenon borne out of a bankrupt state that can’t service its debts. In one simple sentence, Mr. Panzner has described the [...]

Chris Whalen is one of the better financial analysts around Wall Street. His specialty is banking and he was one that warned early and often of the coming collapse of the financial system. Mr. Whalen has written a detailed analysis of the Federal Reserve entitled I am Superman: The Federal Reserve [...]

The recent news puts the Aministration’s “Summer of Recovery” in a perspective that they would prefer you not see before the elections. The reality is that there is no recovery and there will be no recovery with the economic policies of the Obama Administration. History books will reference President Obama [...]

Readers know that I am a big fan of Chris Martenson and his “Crash Course.” Everyone should watch it to understand where we have been, are and likely to go. Chris is in the midst of what some might call a survival series. I think it is more valid to [...]

For those wanting a primer on QE and its effect on the value of currency, I recommend that you read John Hussman’s article. As a teaser, Hussman had this to say about Ludwig von Mises and Ben Bernanke regarding their views on inflation/devaluation: My impression is that Ben Bernanke has [...]

Does this look like inflation? Wheat prices are up 54% since June Corn prices are up 26% since June Soybean prices are up 13% since June Cotton prices are up 20% since June Coffee prices are up 36% since June Sugar prices are up 38% since June Copper prices are [...]