Booms and Busts

In this fascinating interview, Mark Thornton explains how the Austrian business cycle predicted the housing bubble, and how those cashing in on it

One essential feature of private equity is the taking advantage of economies of scale in cronyism, and politicians hope private equity will provide them high-paid jobs when they quit Washington.

Thanks to high oil prices and years of cheap money, capital-intensive fracking operations became feasible in even some of the most marginal areas. But with easy money comes bubbles, and falling oil prices may soon help pop the fracking bubble.

There has been much hand wringing among popular blogger-economists in response to the breaking of the Euro peg by the SNB.

According to CBC News, "The Bank of Canada shocked markets today by cutting its key overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing the economic threat posed by plunging oil prices."

If given a choice, people will avoid paper money that is declining in value, thus putting a restraint on inflationary bank notes. To shield banks from this, they turned to a monopolist central bank that issues legal tender and helps private banks inflate.

The homeownership rate is now back where it was forty years ago. So what did all that federally-subsidized homebuying over the past decade accomplish? There was a lot of malinvestment, and a lot of politically-favored interest groups that got richer.

The homeownership rate is now back where it was forty years ago.

Jeff Deist and Martin Armstrong discuss Armstrong's story—both as an economic forecaster and as a thorn in the side of federal prosecutors.

Just in case you have any thoughts that people at the Fed might have become slightly less dovish on inflation, rest assured, they have not.