In 1971, Nixon used a fiscal crisis to justify severing the dollar's last connection to gold. It was the same old story: "we must vastly expand government power because of a 'crisis.'" The government never gives up these new powers.
Modern economies produce a seemingly endless supply of goods. But without the "subsistence fund," built on saving and investment, the mountain of goods we take for granted would be impossible.
The collapse of the monetary order in 1971 reflected the massive dislocations and malinvestment of resources that ultimately turned the decade into one crisis after another. Keynesians are doing something similar today.
The real world should always be regarded as the best foundation for an economic theory. Yet many mainstream economists think it's fine to ground economic theory in unrealistic assumptions about human behavior.
You can have strong growth, or you can have negative interest rates with low bond yields. You can't have all at the same time.
The public usually doesn't understand how fiat money expansion benefits the regime at their expense. The regime likes it that way.
Without money, specialization is constrained; without money, dreams of constructing an advanced society are merely a utopian pipe dream.
The ECB wants more price inflation, so it has unveiled a new plan to use new, radical monetary tools. It's all very similar to the "old" plan. Except the new plan is even worse.
On the fiftieth anniversary of Nixon's gold shock, The Fiat Standard is an amazing explication of how the West fell to its current state. You don't want to miss this show, especially Saifedean's epic takedown of fiat academia at the end!
