Money and Banks

The endless bubble economy has a new lending craze: loans backed by AI chips. The problem is that while the chips serve as collateral, companies right now cannot make enough revenue to cover their costs.

Bob continues his feud with George Selgin, explaining why the alleged free banking period in Scotland doesn't show that free-market banks would carry low reserve ratios.

As if the government has not done enough destruction in the housing market, there now is a scheme to have the government nationalize second mortgages. Given the previous disaster with primary mortgages, we do not anxiously await the outcome of this proposal.

What does the state do when in a financial fix? Unlike the rest of us, it legally counterfeits. By so doing, it transfers wealth to those who are politically connected—and then lies about it.

Keynesian economists believe that the key to increasing economic growth is increasing the supply of money in circulation. Money, however, is a means of exchange, not a means of payments. The difference is vital to understanding economics.

Commercial real estate in the USA is facing a major crisis which could not have been possible without the enabling of the Fed and the draconian restrictions imposed during covid. As commercial real estate prices collapse, the usual suspects call for even more bailouts.

While her record is hardly perfect, Judy Shelton has been a rarity among monetary economists: an advocate for gold and sound money.

Central banks intervene in order to “create demand,” and then they intervene in order to try to mitigate the damage they caused earlier. This is a never-ending scenario of economic destruction.

When it comes to calling out government economic intervention, it is easy to forget that the fundamental reason for the state’s stranglehold on the economy is the government’s monopoly on creating and maintaining money. It is time to end the monopoly.

State-sponsored fiat money has been the norm for more than ninety years, but its very instability makes it vulnerable to a regime of sound money.