A few people are asking tough questions about the Fed’s insane policy of lowering short term interest rates. Perhaps the problems with the economy cannot be solved by more money, rather, “the economy, particularly in Silicon Valley, must face an even stronger dose of free-market capitalism: A shake-out that weeds out weak, money-losing companies
Richard Benson explains in this piece -- Government Statistics: Lessons in Cooking and Spinning -- how most government statistics are fabricated, padded, tweaked, or otherwised pushed and squeezed to come out more favorably than what the data shows. One example is that in the CPI, inflation is made to look lower by replacing house prices, which
A lengthy profile appearing in four parts in The Atlantic Monthly profiles wine critic Robert Parker. Parker publishes a wine periodical that rates thousands of wines according to Parker’s own tastes. The article describes how in the past, the pricing of French wine had been mostly conventional based on a fixed and unchanging hierarchy of the
Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times reports that Mortgage Markets are Out of Control . The mortgage-backed securities market is the place where bundles of home mortgages packaged into debt securities are traded. The MBS market is now the largest debt market in the world, having eclipsed the US Treasury market. The two Government Sponsored
Barron’s ($) economics writer Gene Epstein explains how the Fed destructively expands credit beyond available savings , and why we don’t need it at all.
An article on the Larouche in 2004 web site analyzes the housing bubble. LaRouche’s political agenda is not Austrian at all. It consists of a vast infrastructure boondoggle and other forms of central planning. However, some of the analysts on his site have interesting things to say on specific topics. The article, ( ‘Fannie and Freddie Were
Another interesting article from the LaRouche site shows how the inflation statistics are distorted to produce a lower reported rate of inflation. The government incurs a number of costs from a higher reported rate of inflation (CPI). There are direct costs such as pensions that are indexed to the CPI, the “cost” of lower tax revenuje because
The New York Times has a story today based on a leak from a former employee of Fannie Mae, alleging that Fannie Mae’s risk of loss due to to interest rate movements is larger than they had previously admitted. Fannie and Freddi are “Government Sponsored Enterprises”, large quasi-public entities that issue large amounts of debt and use the money
The Wall Street Journal reports ( $ ) that the US Navy has discovered the benefits of the free market in setting wages for jobs. Under the old system, all sailors in the same job classification were paid the same wage, and job assignments were made by navy command. ‘”The old system was Stalin-like,” says Rear Adm. Jake Shuford, who is in charge
States and municipalities typically offer defined-benefit pension plans to their employees. They are supposed to set aside money every year to fund their future obligations. The amount of money depends on the size of the obligation and the rate of return that they get on the assets in the pension plan. With the collapse of the central bank
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.