Money and Banks

The euro is moving further away from the original German idea of the common currency. Instead, the euro has become the tool of southern Europe, which seeks inflation to keep the gravy train going. 

Ryan McMaken joins the show to discuss Adam Fergusson's seminal history of Weimar-era hyperinflation in Germany.

Central banks are claiming that their introduction of digital currencies is not tied to monetary policy, but it's clear that these digital currencies' potential effects on policy are precisely why they're being pushed.

Central bank digital currencies need to be centralized and manipulable to some extent in order to use them to implement monetary policy, which is central bankers' goal. This characteristic makes them a very risky proposition.

No, “societal” value is not what you want or think is good, and “we” are not a homogenous entity of observable, aggregated preferences.

No, “societal” value is not what you want or think is good, and “we” are not a homogenous entity of observable, aggregated preferences.

Monetary inflation helped bring on the Terror and set French progress back a generation.

A free market in money means real freedom to choose what money we use.  This may mean people turn to gold and silver. Or they may turn to crypto. What's important is that it's market-based money.

Even if the central bank were to be successful in preventing the fall of the money stock, this would not be able to prevent a depression if the pool of real savings is declining.