Making sense of historical data
byBy Dr Frank Shostak In order to make the data “talk,” economists utilize a range of statistical methods that vary from highly complex models…
Economics
Defining Money
byMany modern economists struggle to define money. Often beginning with an historical overview of the concept of moneyness, they generally end by describing the…
Inflation: A Dirty Word for “Accommodation”
byBy George Ford Smith As a “stealth tax,” inflation requires no legislation to impose, no agency to collect, and diverts responsibility for damages onto politicians’…
Money and Power: Fiat Currency, Monetary Corruption, and the Architecture of Extraction
byJustin M. Ptak Money is often described as neutral, technical, or merely instrumental—a passive medium facilitating exchange within an otherwise political society. This view…
Theory and historical data
byBy Dr Frank Shostak According to the leader of the monetarists school Milton Friedman our knowledge of the world of economics is elusive. Consequently,…
Interest Rates Are Prices, Not Arbitrary Policy Tools
bySince reentering the office of the presidency in January 2025, Donald Trump has been adamant that Federal Reserve interest-rate policy has been a disaster….
Cornered
by“They’re not just getting rich.. They’re getting even.” “Silver has properties that wipe out fungus and bacteria and parasites. And that’s just in finance.”…
Not all Central Banks are created equal
byFor those of us who think central banks are a destabilising blight on the economy, responsible for encouraging malinvestment and engines of inflation, it’s…
Trump is at it again with his tariff craziness. How should Canada respond?
byBy Walter E. Block Before we answer the question, let us give some evidence of the accuracy of this description. He calls tariffs “the…
Speech in Vienna on The History of Free Trade
byI gave this speech at the European Parliament Liaison Office in Vienna, at the European Resource Bank meeting of think tanks and academics from…