Bush’s Market-Liberal Scam

President Bush began his second term with a big push for “Social Security privatization.” I put the words in quotes to point out that neither his plan, nor any mainstream plan, is actual privatization. What he proposed was the gradual replacement of a publicly funded welfare program — those premiums you pay are really just taxes — with a mandatory private scheme.

Bush’s Market-Liberal Scam

Remember the president’s scheme to “privatize” Social Security? (I put the word in quotes to point out that the plan was never actual privatization.) Let’s say Bush had actually achieved his goal of creating private accounts that you are forced to contribute to, and a sizable swath of the American public had invested in safe mutual funds spread across many sectors. What would have been the result?

Remembering John Adams

Despite being “virtually an asterisk in history books today,” in one writer’s words, John Adams is the subject of a new $100 million HBO miniseries. Given his leading role in America’s Revolution and the beginnings of Constitutional government, Adams deserves the renewed attention. John Adams wrote a Stamp Act protest that became a model for other protests. He outlined principles of liberty for Americans on the cusp of independence.

The Velocity of Circulation

The value of the monetary unit, at the beginning of an inflation, commonly does not fall by as much as the increase in the quantity of money, whereas, in the late stage of inflation, the value of the monetary unit falls much faster than the increase in the quantity of money. As a result, the larger supply of money actually has a smaller total purchasing power than the previous lower supply of money. There are, therefore, paradoxically, complaints of a “shortage of money.” What is the real explanation of this?
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