[Part 2 of “Judaism and Capitalism: Friends or Enemies?” The Lou Church Memorial Lecture in Religion and Economics, presented at the 2012 Austrian Scholars Conference (Click here for part 1)]

Part 1 of “Judaism and Capitalism: Friends or Enemies?” The Lou Church Memorial Lecture in Religion and Economics, presented at the 2012 Austrian Scholars Conference

The topic of deflation has risen to new heights in Japan because the new Prime Minister has promised to fight deflation and to set new minimum inflation targets for the Bank of Japan.

In this article Frank Shostak shows why Japan should not try to fight inflation. Instead they should fight their apoplithorsismosphobia.

So says the President of Iceland. He also said that the financial sector, even a successful one, is like a parasite on the economy drawing out vital resources for the innovative productive sectors.

Doing some research the other day, I came across a 1926 article from Harper’s Monthly on the Florida real estate boom and how the journalist covering the story eventually succumbed to the boom mentality. (Sorry, there’s no link.) Here’s a short excerpt (from Gertrude Mathews Shelby, “Florida Frenzy,” Harper’s Monthly, January 1926, p. 177):

Today is the 57th anniversary of  the death of H. L. Mencken, perhaps the greatest of American writers. Murray Rothbard called him the “joyous libertarian” (a term that describes Rothbard as well). Rothbard wrote that “American Kultur . . . was incapable of understanding H. L. Mencken. . .

John B. Taylor is always worth the time to read when he comments on monetary policy.

Today’s WSJ critique of Fed policy, John Taylor: Fed Policy Is a Drag on the Economy, is no exception.

Some highlights:

While borrowers like near-zero interest rates, there is little incentive for lenders to extend credit at that rate.

[Part 3 of “The Secession Tradition in America,” a paper presented at the 1995 Mises Institute conference, “Secession, State, and Economy.” Click here for Part 2, “A Voluntary Federation”.]