How the Fed operates
byWe are often asked about the mechanisms by which the US Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) influences the level of US interest rates and…
The Zero-Sum World of Donald Trump
byFew American presidential elections have drawn as much international interest and concern as the one in 2016. Certainly, who is elected and sits in…
Zero Hedge: China Accounts For Half Of All Global Debt Created Since 2005: Here Are The Implications
byOver three years ago, in November 2013, when the world’s attention was still largely focused on what the “Big 4” central banks would do…
Cobden Centre Senior Fellow Detlev Schlichter at the Treasury Select Committee
byYou can see Cobden Centre Senior Fellow Detlev Schlichter’s insightful and pertinent contributions at the Treasury Select Committee’s enquiry into the “Effectiveness and Impact…
Central banks and money creation is there any connection?
byAccording to traditional economics textbooks, the current monetary system amplifies the initial monetary injections of money. The popular story goes as follows: if the…
Economic Ideas: Karl Marx’s Misconceptions about Man and Markets
byThough it may seem strange, Karl Marx was not always a communist. As late as 1842, when Marx was in his mid-20s, he actually…
Faking it
byThanks to the election of President Trump and his uncompromising attitude to the establishment media, much hot air is being expended on the subject…
Arguments against the Minimum Wage
byArguing against the Minimum Wage has often been the preserve of the ‘right’ (presuming the simplistic and problematic left-right dichotomy that we impose as…
Economic Ideas: Karl Marx, the Man Behind the Communist Revolution
byWhen Karl Marx died in March 1883, only about a dozen people attended his funeral at a cemetery in London, England, including family members….
Stress Tests don’t work
byCriticisms of bank stress tests continue to mount, particularly as banks continue to struggle. A new problem recently emerged: the marked shortfall between the…