How can the Fed launch an “unlimited” monetary stimulus with congress approving a $2 trillion package and the dollar index remain strong? The answer lies in the rising global dollar shortage, and should be a lesson for monetary alchemists around the world.

The $2 trillion stimulus package agreed by Congress is around 10% of GDP and, if we include the Fed borrowing facilities for working capital, it means $6 trillion in liquidity for consumers and firms over the next nine months.

Eminent domain gives the government the power to take over private property for public use. A popular argument that this interference with private property is needed goes like this: We can’t measure subjective utility, but we can take increases in wealth as a rough proxy for increases in utility. (This assumption is mistaken, but I won’t get into that here.) Suppose, on this assumption, that some public project will add a great deal of wealth to the economy. Unfortunately, someone owns a small parcel of land necessary to get the project underway.

Representatives Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley just introduced the Student Debt Emergency Relief Act to provide student debt relief during the coronavirus pandemic. In reality, the crisis is a pretext to push through student loan forgiveness of as much as $30,000 per borrower. This should hardly come as a shock. Outstanding student debt is bordering on $1.6 trillion, and many Democrats have made debt relief a pillar of their election campaigns.

In the of light of the COVID-19 pandemic almost every government in the world has (once again) denounced so-called “price gouging.” Politicians both to the left and right really think that with outlawing price gouging, they can save the consumer from the greedy gougers that are willing to take advantage and exploit consumers.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Benjamin Franklin (1706–90)

One of my Fox colleagues recently sent me an email attachment of a painting of the framers signing the Constitution of the United States. Except in this version, George Washington—who presided at the Constitutional Convention—looks at James Madison—who was the scrivener at the Convention—and says, “None of this counts if people get sick, right?”

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of billions and has put many Americans and others around the globe in compromised financial situations. As the COVID-19 virus (also known as the coronavirus) has continued to spread, this has led to feelings of anxiety, panic, acrimony, and uncertainty for a lot of Americans, even leading to altercations in stores due to the shortages of hand sanitizer, toilet paper, disinfectants, etc.