Money Supply

The US economy is hooked on easy money and artificially low interest rates. Huge credit expansions are not “stimulating” the economy; they are destroying it.

The US economy is hooked on easy money and artificially low interest rates. Huge credit expansions are not “stimulating” the economy; they are destroying it.

As the Federal Reserve has delayed lowering the federal funds rate, the money supply has stabilized in recent months. This trend also reflects rising delinquencies, falling home sales, and stagnating employment.

How much money does an economy need in circulation to function? Austrians believe that a growing economy does not need a growing supply of money, which sets Austrian economics apart from other schools of economic thought.

In February, the money-supply growth rate accelerated and continued near a two-year high. Meanwhile, the Fed is chickening out in its efforts to shrink the Fed‘s balance sheet.

Jonathan Newman joins Bob to explore the archaeological evidence for silver as money in ancient Mesopotamia, challenging Modern Monetary Theory and affirming Menger’s classic account of money’s market origins.

Is Elon Musk’s DOGE taxpayer dividend proposal inflationary, or is it simply returning savings from government spending cuts?

Both Monetarists and Keynesians believe that a growing economy requires a growing money supply, thus, the Federal Reserve‘s “target” inflation rate of two percent. Austrian economists, however, understand that inflation at any level creates economic damage.

In November, year-over-year growth in the money supply was at 2.35 percent. That’s a 27-month high and the largest year-over-year increase since September 2022. 

Bob explains that the beloved Wizard of Oz movie involved an allegory of the bimetallism debates of the late 1800s.