Just in case you might think that the curbing of free enterprise and individual rights is something new in American history, someone just sent me a headline from the New York Times dated May 30, 1918. “Navy Man Indicted for Food Hoarding.” It reads as follows:
With day after day of bleak news regarding the credit crunch -- and in particular, articles that constantly remind us that the Fed’s recent actions haven’t been tried since the Great Depression -- the average American is understandably perplexed. And although what I’m about to admit may not surprise many readers, it nonetheless may worry them further:
Most economists don’t have a clue what’s going on, either.One of the few positive developments from the housing bubble is that many mainstream economists have recognized the pernicious role played by the Federal Reserve. Indeed, some analysts on CNBC have discussed the outright abolition of the Fed.
The Italian translation of my book The Church and the Market has just been published. It features an excellent introduction (some 36 pages long!) by the great Carlo Lottieri.
It’s interesting how during a bust, the Austrian School suddenly gains greater prominence and people act as if the Austrians are just another player in the mainstream (which isn’t really true as much as we might like it to be). Here is a recent case of this: Andy Laperreire in the WSJ:
Paul Mladjenovic, who wrote Stock Investing for Dummies, among other books, called to ask permission to hand out some Mises Institute materials. Turns out that he is devoted to our podcasts and books and things and follows the Austrian School closely, considering himself an adherent. Very nice!
Government green included, of course.
Can you answer the following questions correctly (take a guess if you like, I did)?
1. Which two of the following are considered sources of potable water in LEED? (Choose two.)
Since September 18 last year, the Fed has pushed a low interest rate policy. The federal funds rate target has been lowered from 5.25% to 2.25% currently. Despite this, liquidity conditions in credit markets have continued to deteriorate. The extra yield investors demand in return for holding corporate paper rather than risk free Treasury debt has been increasing sharply since August last year.
