On Sunday morning, March 12, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CBS there would be no bailouts. Later in the day the Fed declared quantitative easing to infinity and beyond. What’s going on? Quite simply, the Fed is willing to overpay for debt (again). They call it the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP), and as far as one can tell, its dollar
To no one’s surprise, there was another banking crisis over the weekend. The Federal Reserve and other large institutions stepped in to allegedly save the day, in what could be considered a highly accretive investment for some very wealthy individuals. As CNBC explains: JPMorgan acquired all of First Republic’s deposits and a “substantial majority
Despite once touting itself as “The Most Trusted Name in News,” CNN’s economic knowledge and reporting seem to be lacking. Last week, they published a thought-provoking article titled Why do businesses keep raising their prices , which began with the claim: After two years of surging prices, economists still can’t agree on what has caused the
The formal recession has yet to be declared, and Powell is already offering apologies. Following last week’s rate hike amid the ongoing banking turmoil, during the Q & A session, the Fed Chair offered a sort of apology for recent events: I’ve been Chair of the Board for five plus years now, and I fully recognize that we made mistakes. I think
The story goes something like: In the last few years, the Federal Reserve printed up to 80% of all bills that were ever in circulation. While Austrian economists have long recognized the superfluousness of central banking and understand the benefits of a decentralized monetary system, it’s important not to give in to false ideas, even if they
One of the problems we’re forced to confront when considering the role of the Federal Reserve is whether it’s better for the Fed to take losses and capitalize them as deferred assets, or go back to an era of “Fed profitability” whereby the Fed remitted money to the Treasury on a weekly basis. The path to profitability is an easy one, consider:
There are about 23,000 people too many, working in the Federal Reserve System. According to the 2021 budget, the actual amount was 23,517 . Various calculations can be done to put more context around this and provide additional food for thought. In 2022 the Fed paid about $4 billion in salaries in addition to the$1 billion it paid in pension
A cashless society would be the nail in the coffin for liberty and freedom, offering centralization, the likes of which Marx could only dream. The existence of a government backdoor or spyware becomes a real possibility, and given the State’s track record, a real likelihood. Then, of course, the ability to track, freeze, and even set expiry dates
In a recent speech , one of the lesser-known Fed Governors, Philip N. Jefferson, discussed the importance of having a home: Beyond location, a home provides both basic needs, such as shelter, and invaluable benefits, such as a sense of personal safety and dignity. It is a refuge in which our minds and bodies can recuperate and regenerate so we are
In a city that looks like Paris meets the Iron Curtain, with nice restaurants, city tours, and where I was even able to shoot an AK-47 at a gun range (after going through training and while under supervision), I attended the 2022 Liberty in our Lifetime event in Prague. Last month the “City of 100 Spires” hosted an international gathering of
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.