Mises Daily

The Greeks may still default, and that would mean big trouble not so much for Greece as for other EU member states who will be on the hook for even more bailouts.

Thanks to high oil prices and years of cheap money, capital-intensive fracking operations became feasible in even some of the most marginal areas. But with easy money comes bubbles, and falling oil prices may soon help pop the fracking bubble.

The recent de-peg of the Swiss franc from the euro illustrates the importance of currency competition, and the damage that state monopolies over money can do. We Americans should embrace currency competition here at home as well.

If given a choice, people will avoid paper money that is declining in value, thus putting a restraint on inflationary bank notes. To shield banks from this, they turned to a monopolist central bank that issues legal tender and helps private banks inflate.

The drop in gas prices has left households with a little extra money to spend. So naturally, the state thinks it's a great time to raise gas taxes. Otherwise, taxpayers would just waste that money on their families.

The Swiss franc was pegged to the euro in 2011, but after years of easy money in the eurozone, the Swiss have bailed in an effort to save the franc from even more inflation that's expected from the Europen Central Bank.

The homeownership rate is now back where it was forty years ago. So what did all that federally-subsidized homebuying over the past decade accomplish? There was a lot of malinvestment, and a lot of politically-favored interest groups that got richer.

States could attract more businesses and jobs by lowering taxes and making government smaller. But since governments hate cutting taxes and regulations, they instead choose to lure new firms with temporary tax breaks and special favors.

The Fed would have us believe that it has am impressive record of success in preventing recessions and improving the economy. The actual historical record suggests otherwise.

Mark Thornton reviews the first year of cannabis legalization in Colorado and the fact that the predictions of the prophets of dooms have failed to materialize. Meanwhile, the power of the state in this area continues to weaken.