Cyprus and the reality of banking: deposit haircuts are both inevitable and the right thing to do
byI, too, was shocked Monday morning. Not so much by the news that depositors at Cypriot banks would face a haircut, or a ‘levy’…
Cyprus – oh the irony!?
bySeemingly innocuous events can portend more serious outcomes, though we recognise them only in hindsight. This is the dramatic irony of history. When a…
Debt addiction, USA: how much debt reduction has the crisis caused?
byThe purpose of this essay is to put the latest crisis in the context of longer-term debt trends in the US and to attempt…
Welfare costs rapidly escalating – everywhere
byMany of us are aware of Professor Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University’s calculation that the net present value of the US Government’s future liabilities…
March Mises Circle
byThe March meeting of the London Mises Circle will take place at the Institute of Economic Affairs on Thursday 21st March. We will be…
Assume the brace position
byOn rare occasions I make specific, near-term market predictions, most recently in Q3 last year, when I called for a modest equity market correction….
Masterly inactivity
byBefore we really get into the detail this week, let us just deal with one simple canard: this idea that if the US Congress…
Should the Fed reverse its loose stance?
byAccording to Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, the pulling back on aggressive policy measures too soon would pose a real…
The relationship between money and prices
byThe quantity theory of money and its accompanying equation of exchange are generally accepted as defining the relationship between money and prices. The equation…
Ask Vince Cable
byDear Vince Cable, I am CEO of an Anglo-Saxon business combine that has sadly always missed its forecasts. We operate across multiple sectors, notably…