Monetary Policy

After years of inflationary intervention, the Federal Reserve has no more rabbits to pull out of the hat.

Walter Bagehot, as Jim Grant writes, believed that bankers and central bankers should exhibit financial discipline. He would not recognize today's banking world.

Robert Mugabe, once president for life of Zimbabwe, became infamous for hyperinflation and political repression. Today, he is becoming the patron saint of central banking.

A generation ago, the Berlin Wall fell and the USSR collapsed. Today, US monetary authorities are bringing down our own country.

Money proper is not artifice. It is a physical "thing" of value, acquired through labor and emerging out of the needs of individuals, who through voluntary exchanges determine its value.

Like the arsonist who then heroically fights the fire he set, the Fed is increasing its efforts to bail out banks both at home and abroad. This does not end well.

Suppose an addict had the ability to magically create, ex nihilo, his own stimulating drug, as fractional reserve banks can do with money and credit. Would you expect moderation?

Political money is unsound money, and while civilization cannot exist without sound money, it can do without predatory government.

Robert Mugabe, once president for life of Zimbabwe, became infamous for hyperinflation and political repression. Today, he is becoming the patron saint of central banking.

Keynesian economists claim that cutting costs in a business slowdown is counterproductive. As usual, the Keynesians have it backward.