The SEC Short Sells Us Down the River

The Securities and Exchange Commission took the very drastic step of outlawing the essential financial practice of short selling in an attempt to galvanize financial markets. (The SEC recently extended at least some portions of its initial ban through October 17.) But short selling provides essential information to market participants and helps us update our expectations accordingly. By outlawing short selling, the SEC has eliminated a crucial element of what makes markets work.

When Has Stabilization Worked?

I’m asking because I really want to know. Is there any case in history that is often cited as an example of when stabilization policies actually worked to achieve their aims? I can’t think of anything off hand, except for obvious myth making such as FDR saved us from the Depression, etc. Are there any serious cases in history that offer a believable challenge to the claim that stabilization never works?

Financial Crisis and Recession

The severe financial crisis and resulting worldwide economic recession we have been forecasting for years are finally unleashing their fury. In fact, the reckless policy of artificial credit expansion that central banks (led by the American Federal Reserve) have permitted and orchestrated over the last fifteen years could not have ended in any other way.

Is the Free Encyclopedia a Democratic Encyclopedia?

     This term “democratic” gets tossed around a lot, usually in a positive, “power to the people rather than some arbitrary ruler” sense. By that meaning, Wikipedia is indeed democratic. Yet, unlike a state democracy, 51% at the polls will not necessarily trump a Wikipedia adversary. So in the sense that the word “democracy” comes loaded with a “one man, one vote” ideology, Wikipedia is not democratic at all. And it is a good thing that Wikipedia isn’t a democracy.

Austrian Bailout Package Revised

Austrian Bailout Package—Part A Revised

The idea of my initial proposal was to “throw something onto the table” and see what the reaction would be. This revision throws out a couple of items, revises others, and tries to provide a brief explanation for the eight points of the plan. I would like to thank everyone for all their comments and suggestions, especially Jeff Scott. Keep your comments and supporting links coming!

Political Power and Economic Ignorance

Georges Bush’s recent speech in defense of his bailout plan was quite a tour de force. Indeed, it managed to explain the pending recession of the US economy by a previous situation of “easy credit” without mentioning the monstrously inflationist policy of the Federal Reserve — which reached its climax in 2003 and 2004, when it lent dollars at a negative short-term interest rate, and resulted in the creation of more dollars in a seven-year period (2000–2007) than had been created cumulatively in the two centuries since the founding of the United States.

Business and Credit

I’ve been amazed at the sheer numbers of otherwise sensible people who seem to be under the impression that paper credit–not savings and capital–is the key to capitalist success. It’s as if the core message of the Austrians has not stuck at all, and many capitalists themselves have bought into the line of the Keynesians and others who believe that productivity itself will dry up in absence of low-price lending for all. If banks “hoard” their resources, we will all be back to the stone age, or so they claim.

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