The State: The Deadliest Virus
A Review of Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth
As the Fed Pumps, the Stock Market Is Increasingly the Only Game in Town
Europe’s Bailouts Risk a Full-Blown Financial Crisis
The measures implemented by governments in the eurozone have one common denominator: a massive increase in debt from governments and the private sector.
Loans lead the stimulus packages from Germany to Spain. The objective is to give firms and families some leverage to pass the bad months of COVID lockdowns and allow the economy to recover strongly in the third and fourth quarters. This bet on a speedy recovery may put the troubled European banking sector in a difficult situation.
The Social Consequences of Zero Interest Rates
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Anyone who has ever been to Japan knows: Japan is special. The country has many strange habits. The Japanese culture is simply different and many peculiarities are hardly understood in the West.
Collecting Old Coins Taught Me to Never Trust the Government
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Old coins vaccinated me against trusting politicians long before I grew my first scruffy beard. I began collecting coins when I was eight years old in 1965, the year President Lyndon Johnson began eliminating all the silver in new dimes, quarters, and half dollars.
Empathy for the Poor Is Not Enough
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Venezuela’s infamous Hugo Chavez, the UK’s Jeremy Corbyn, the US’s Bernie Sanders all proclaim their unwavering pledge to help the “poor” by increasing government intervention to raise their living conditions and to fight the injustices of inequality and capitalism.
Private Defense in the History of Genoa
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The city of Genoa is often excluded from histories of medieval and Renaissance republicanism. Similarly, Genoa is also absent from discussions on the rise of territorial states in northern Italy. This exclusion can be explained in various ways. To be sure, the Genoese have demonstrated a lack of interest in writing political philosophy and in intellectualizing their civic values.
The Problem with Measuring “Consumer Sentiment”
According to the University of Michigan, the US consumer sentiment index rose to 78.1 in June from 72.3 in May. Many experts see the increase in the index as an important indicator regarding the likely course of the US economy in the months ahead.
To gain insight into the economic future, many economists follow a variety of consumer and business surveys. In these surveys, randomly selected consumers and businesspersons are asked to provide their views about where the economy is heading.
