A Greek tragedy
by“In money management what sells is illusion of certainty. The truth (i.e. we don’t know much) is a more difficult sale, but a better…
Economics
Monetary activism must end in a slump
byOn Friday, I spoke against monetary activism once again, complaining about the use of expectation management and new monetary instruments in an attempt to…
2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months: A proposal for sound money
byIn light of recent events, we’re bringing forward this proposal from June 2010. There’s two ways to view the financial meltdown that occurred in…
Europe’s accounting rules are destroying its banks
byLate last year, a group of institutional investors sent a letter to officials in Brussels, warning that European Union accounting standards are “destabilizing banks”…
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….