Money and Banks

As regular banks decline in financial importance, some economists have wrongly said that non-banks have become engines of inflationary credit.

A scheme heralded by the political elite turns out to be an economic fiasco everywhere it has been tried, argues Jeffrey Tucker.

A Fed official dreams up a new idea to crack down on currency hoarding. (Article by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.)

Keynesian economics continues to infect much public debate, despite being debunked for decades by Austrian economists, some mainstream economists, and reality itself.

The failures of the IMF point to only one solution: abolish it. (Article by David R. Henderson)

Civilization is subverted by inflation. Readers old enough to remember 13 percent inflation remember how it turned life upside down. Savers were considered to be suckers while financial profligacy was considered wise. Plans of a lifetime were gutted, employees were always angry, and businessmen found even the simplest accounting tasks to be maddeningly confusing. And yet 13 percent is hardly high by this century's egregious standards.

Professors Vedder and Gallaway have done outstanding work for the the Joint Economic Committee, and it is available on-line.

Repeal the law that ended financial privacy. 

Today, the United States has the most draconian financial disclosure system in the developed world. People who keep their money in offshore banks to avoid taxes are considered traitors. And when a citizen demands a zone of financial autonomy, the government wants to know: "What exactly are you trying to hide?" The natural answer of a free people is: Everything. The state has no more right to know about your affairs than your ne'er-do-well cousin (who at least isn't holding a gun to your head).

Economists and their crystal balls.