Money and Banking

Interviewed by host John O’Donnell, Mark Thornton discusses

When a central bank devalues a currency, it is often said that the devaluation will help exporters, and thus the whole country, as a result. But this simplistic analysis ignores the many downsides of inflating the currency.

Government loans often feature lower interest rates than what can be found in the private sector. But this is only because these cheap loans are taxpayer subsidized. Meanwhile, the government bans many private loans that risky borrowers need most.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard details the increasing level of Greek defiance to its ECB overlords in the wake of a left-wing, populist uprising in recent Greek elections.

Economist Philipp Bagus talks with us from Europe about the Swiss franc, the euro, and what the future holds for the debt-laden governments of the Eurozone.

Paul-Martin Foss at the Carl Menger Center for the Study of Money and Banking has penned a nice retort to Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, who recently criticized Rand Paul's introduction of an "Audit the Fed" bill in the US Senate.

The European Central Bank is ramping up its easy-money policies in an effort to spur inflation, which it hopes will improve the economy.

The European Central Bank is ramping up its easy-money policies in an effort to spur inflation, which it hopes will improve the economy. The wealthy and powerful will benefit from this, but most everyone else is in big trouble.

The Swiss central bank's decision to let the Swiss franc find its market value (compared to the euro) was predictable, yet it has caused instability for Swiss markets. Meanwhile, the peg never helped the Swiss economy.

At the individual level, we can't get rich by spending money, but Keynesian stimulus is built on the idea that yes, spending money does in fact make you richer. Unfortunately, it only makes some people richer, not including you.