Five months into the second round of quantitative easing — "QE2" — it is useful to take stock of what it has, and has not, accomplished. QE2 has begun to deliver on all the dangers of which the critics warned, but not the alleged benefits.
The foremost aim of despotic government is to prevent any innovations that could endanger its own supremacy.
At best, the G7 currency intervention will postpone the inevitable adjustment of world currencies to a change in demand for yen. At worst, the Bank of Japan can enforce a permanent depreciation through money creation, which will redistribute wealth.
What makes the current economy so awful is not that there is unemployment, or that there are unsold houses. Rather, things are bleak because it is so unusually difficult for workers to find buyers of their labor services, and for home owners to find buyers of their houses.
Is it possible to both oppose Gaddafi and oppose a war on Gaddafi? Absolutely. This is a position that all Americans should adopt. In the same way, it is possible to oppose the Obama administration but also oppose having a foreign army oust him in order to liberate us.
Cheap money, buyer tax incentives, lack of new supply, nothing seems to keep home prices elevated.
Have you ever wondered why the “tiny ship” famously tossed in the opening credits of Gilligan’s Island was named the SS Minnow?
