Money and Banks

Ryan McMaken and economist Per Bylund discuss the nature of money in our paper-money world. Are Bitcoin and gold money? If not, how do they become money?  

The Federal Reserve‘s reckless policies have created havoc in the housing markets, with the government and monetary authorities helping to create the apartment bubble, which is in the process of bursting. As usual, bad policies bring bad people into the markets.

If President Trump is looking for a federal agency to abolish, he needs to look no further than the misnamed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

It‘s obvious that a new influx of money will not immediately bring about changes in enough prices to significantly alter a price index. Even so, there are immediate effects of the new money.

Mainstream economists define “inflation” as general increases in consumer and producer prices. Yet, such a definition misses why prices increase in the first place and why inflation should be described as an artificial increase in the money supply.

Pundits have labeled piggy banks small change, irrational and wasteful, “just sitting around doing nothing.” As usual, they are wrong.

Jonathan Newman appears on the show to discuss Bob's recent debate on ZeroHedge, which centered on Austrian economics versus Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).

Bitcoin is many things to people and it certainly has developed into a valuable asset. It also has been used as a medium of exchange. But is it money? According to Austrian economics, the answer is “no.” At least not yet.

Governments seem united in their drive to destroy sound money and replace it with worthless paper. As technologies advance, however, so does the ability of people to undermine government, and with it, the development of sound money.

The standard Keynesian line is that the government can shorten recessions by using fiscal and monetary “stimulus.” However, as Austrian economists note, ratcheting up government spending only makes things worse, setting the stage for the next economic downturn.