According to a new report just out by McKinsey, global debt has increased by $57 trillion since the Great Recession, outpacing world GDP growth during this time period.   

Bloomberg reports: “Greece Loses ECB Funds, Raising Pressure to Yield to Austerity”

Greece lost a critical funding artery as the European Central Bank restricted loans to its financial system, raising pressure on the 10-day-old government to yield to German-led austerity demands to stay in the euro zone.

The ECB’s decision, announced at 9:36 p.m. in Frankfurt, will raise financing costs for Greek banks and stiffen oversight by the central bank.

There are few government actions more contrary to the basic tenets of private property than the asset forfeiture programs — through which private property is seized based solely on suspicion of a crime and with no due process — foisted upon Americans in the name of the war on drugs and the war on terrorism. Opposition to these programs has increased in recent years, and Holder recently announced that the Justice department will stop fully participating in these programs. So should be now praise him as a great freedom fighter?

One of the greatest strengths of Henry Hazlitt’s Economics In One Lesson is its ability to see the role of interest groups in economic policy. He doesn’t fall for the dubious idea that certain types of economic policy are adopted because they are more logically sound or more convincing. New laws and regulations aren’t adopted because someone made a convincing argument on the floor of Congress one day.

Frank Shostak:

Why is a declining rate of inflation bad for economic growth? According to the popular way of thinking, declining price inflation sets in motion declining inflation expectations. This, in turn, is likely to cause consumers to postpone their buying at present and that in turn is likely to undermine the pace of economic growth.

“Infrastructure investments” or public works have long been the refuge of Keynesians and other progressives of like stripes as a cure for recession or stagnation. How can there be any significant costs to such projects when resources are idle and interest rates are low? The charge has been renewed with the announcement earlier this week of the Obama ‘budget’ where per a Denver post headline (February 2, 2015, p. 1A), “Obama poses public works.” In today’s Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

The “perfect-storm” of geopolitical instability, diplomatic isolation, severe currency depreciation, and economic decline now confronting Russia has profoundly damaged Moscow’s international standing, and possibly for the long-term. Yet, it is precisely such conditions that may push the country’s leadership into taking the radical step that will secure its world-player status once and for all: the adoption of a gold-exchange standard.

Though a far-fetched idea at first glance, many factors suggest that remonetization in gold may be a logical next step for Moscow.

This year marks the 170th anniversary of the annexation of Texas by the United States government. Although Texas militias had gained de facto independence from Mexico in 1836, negotiations between Mexico and the United States continued for another nine years as the Texas government attempted to work out a long-term strategy for Texas. Most Texans (especially the Anglo ones) wanted union with the United States, and American settlers looking to move to Texas also wanted union to ease emigration and legal issues.