Financial regulation and the deception of government intervention
byFrom Deception of Government Intervention (1964) – an essay in Mises’ anthology Economic Freedom and Interventionism – we learn how governments adopted “the third way”: Faced…
Selgin on the history of 100% reserve banks
byGeorge Selgin is well known for having conducted detailed empirical work on the history and emergence of free banking. Most of his contributions have…
Why has George Soros sold his gold?
byI am something of a gold bug, believing that gold (and silver) represent the best way to preserve wealth in inflationary times as well…
The Laffer Curve and the limits of the state
by“I’m mortified to have to pay 50%!” So said the phenomenally successful singer Adele in an interview with Q magazine. And why shouldn’t she…
Gold is not in a bubble; paper money is collapsing
byFrom Paper Money Collapse, 23 May 2011. The widely-read Lex column in today’s Financial Times ran an article on gold ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that…
Is raising the debt limit good for the US economy?
byU.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner said in a letter to Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, that a default arising from failing to raise the…
Steve Baker on BBC 2’s Daily Politics
byI have just heard that TCC board member, Steve Baker MP, will appear as part of a recorded package on today’s lunchtime BBC TV…
Beyond Repair – This will not have a happy ending
byThe main problem with having discussions about economics and financial markets is this: People look at these complex phenomena through entirely different prisms; they…
How much EU debt can be written off through cross cancellation?
byConsider this diagram showing the billions of euros that each of 8 EU countries owes the other. Whilst the numbers are far from perfect,…
Free, Fractioned, and Flawed?
byOf late, there has been a vigorous renewal of the old debate regarding the advisability or otherwise of allowing free banking institutions – otherwise…