The Great Phony Disinflation Enters Its Finale
Supposedly, the "big news" is the decline of inflation. However, the monetary and political forces driving the latest bout of inflation have not gone away.
Supposedly, the "big news" is the decline of inflation. However, the monetary and political forces driving the latest bout of inflation have not gone away.
Since the end of World War II, the US dollar has been the world's reserve currency. That status may well change because US monetary authorities insist on inflating the dollar into oblivion.
In the wake of bad news on inflation, the Federal Reserve is pushing up interest rates. However, a Fed-induced higher rate is not the same as an interest rate decided by the market.
While court economists such as Paul Krugman insist that inflation is government's way of ensuring full employment, in reality, inflation is one of the many ways governments steal from productive people.
Contrary to the government's line that "inflation hurts everyone," inflation really is a wealth transfer from those without political power to the politically connected.
As family life descends into crisis in the USA, many conservatives call for state intervention to "fix" things. It's state intervention that created the problems in the first place.
We should not just be concerned about problems in the American banking system, but also about the proliferation of Eurodollars.
As the economy slowly deteriorates, consumer debt rises. In the meantime, the Fed is pushing up interest rates to deal with the inflation it caused. This does not end well.
The call for "price stabilization" was part of the recent Republican debate. Despite its attractive appearance, having the Fed try to "stabilize prices" is a very bad idea.
The "2 percent" inflation target is purely arbitrary, and mainstream economists can't agree on the "right" level. It's all folly, and Austrian economics explains why.