A vicious cycle
byFor some months now, leading indicators the world over have been pointing toward slower growth ahead. It’s not just about the euro-area any more….
Must free trade be reciprocal?
byThis classic essay by Frédéric Bastiat was recently featured at Mises.org. It was first published in 1845, as the tenth chapter of Bastiat’s Economic Sophisms. We…
Helicopter Ben flies again
bySome of the dust from Ben Bernanke’s “QE3” announcement on 13 September has settled. The Federal Reserve is now committed to spending $40 billion a month…
The pathology of central bankers
byIn an Amphora Report published in 2010 I posed the then-provocative question, “Has the Fed become pathological?” Well, time moves on, another iteration of…
Communist approval for western central banking
byI received an interesting email recently from a distinguished colleague in Spain. He was looking at the Central Bank of Cuba’s website where they…
The greatest trick
by“I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America…
The fallacy of nominal GDP targeting
byIn a truly remarkable piece for the Financial Times yesterday, Wolfgang Münchau took another swipe at the Euro-sceptic and ECB-critical community in Germany, which he accuses…
Money out of thin air, mystical and dreamlike
by“Indeed, the fact that central banks can create money out of thin air, so to speak, is something that many observers are likely to…
Animal spirits
byThe BBC is running a three-part series on notable economists, starting with Keynes. There were a number of errors made, but I shall ignore…
The cruel fiction of state power
byA speech on the morality of taxation … Dr Eamonn Butler, a doctor of moral philosophy, provides 17 moral arguments against taxation in the report of…