The eurozone’s annual price inflation rate hit 5 percent in December 2021 and (as of this writing) the consensus is for 5.1 percent in January 2022.

“You do not have the right to parade through the public streets or to obstruct public thoroughfares. You have the right of assembly, yes, on your own property, and on the property of your adherents or your friends. But nobody has the ‘right’ to clog the streets.” –Ayn Rand

History was made under the Biden administration last week as the Federal Reserve announced Dr. Susan M. Collins to be named President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Her appointment makes her the first African-American female to serve on the Fed’s Board of Directors.

There is a sizeable body of research linking financial development to economic growth. A competitive financial sector is crucial for the strategic mobilization of resources in an economy. Investigations, however, have uncovered that Africa is suffering from a “financial development gap.’ This is because banking platforms in Africa operate below capacity – relative to other developing regions.

The escalation of tension in Ukraine has reminded us of something many investors seemed to have forgotten: geopolitical risk. Sanctions and the inevitable drop in trade have proven to generate a significant negative impact on the different economies involved. We know from the 2014 Ukraine crisis that the economic hit is severe and persistent.

(This past Saturday, February 12, marked the 171th anniversary of the birth of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk [1851-1914].)

According to the popular way of thinking, our knowledge of the economy is elusive. Consequently, the best that we can do is to attempt to ascertain some facts of economic reality by applying various statistical methods to the so-called macro data.

For instance, an economist is of the view (i.e., he has a theory) that consumers’ outlays on goods and services are determined by personal disposable income and the interest rate. The personal disposable income and the interest rate, according to the economist’s view, are the driving variables of consumer outlays.

Will inflation turn into stagflation? With inflation hitting 40-year highs, it’s the question of the hour.

Currently, Wall Street and the Fed are saying no, forecasting a respectable 3.7% real for 2022, 2.7% for 2023, and 2.3% for 2024. These aren’t epic prints, but they’re also nowhere near recession.

February 15 marks the 1887 birth of Frank Chodorov, who Aaron Steelman described as offering an “unwavering defense of individualism” in the “intellectual war against the omnipotent state.”

In perhaps the most predictable column of the year, the Wall Street Journal this week featured a column by Walter Russell Mead declaring it’s “Time to Increase Defense Spending.”