- Billions, Trillions, Who Cares?(Lew Rockwell, LRC): “The presumption from the beginning of this war has been that any country can be brought to it knees with a strong enough show of force. This seems to be the only model the Bush administration knows. Once having embarked on a blood and awe path in the name of freedom, it is on the verge of being the last holdout in the world to claim its policy as a success.”
- Zimbawe ends fuel controls(BBC): “Fuel prices in Zimbabwe have risen by up to 500% after the government announced that it had ended price controls. Private companies will now be allowed to import fuel in a bid to end the fuel shortages which have plagued Zimbabwe for four years.[See the Mises Blog on Zimbabwe]
- Defense Spending Boosts GDP (CNN): “Spending on defense, much of it to pay for the U.S.-led war in Iraq, surged 45.9 percent, up from the 44.1 percent estimated a month ago. That was the strongest gain since the third quarter of 1951, during the Korean War.”
- News Release from the Bureau of Economic Affairs: “Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 25.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 0.7 percent in the first. National defense increased 45.9 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 3.3 percent. Nondefense decreased 5.4 percent, in contrast to an increase of 8.4 percent. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 0.7 percent, in contrast to an increase of 0.2 percent.”
- The Fed Mystifies Itself (Washington Post): “In recent months, so many of Poole’s colleagues, including Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, have guessed wrong about the public response to their actions and words that the bond market, owners of mortgage-backed securities and many homeowners seeking to refinance their mortgages were whipsawed when longer-term interest rates plummeted and then snapped back. The result, according to a number of economists and former Fed officials, has been at least some loss of Fed credibility and a heightened uncertainty about the central bank’s policy intentions in the coming year. The episode, some economists believe, has left rates, such as those on fixed-rate home mortgages, higher than they otherwise might have been -- and therefore a drag on growth. The refinancing boom, a critical source of support for consumer spending and the economy, has already been choked off.”
Posted by Mises.org News
