Econ Comments
WSJ | Short on Solutions
The ban on betting against bank stocks won't fix the euro.
Daily Caller |
Obama’s inflationary policies will hit the poor the hardest
It’s the ones you love that you hurt the most. The unfortunate objects of Obama’s affection are America’s poor.
Financial Times | Why we cannot inflate our way out of debt
Recoveries from crises that result in over-leveraged balance sheets are slow, and are typically resistant to traditional macroeconomic stimulus. Over-leveraged, households cannot spend, banks cannot lend and governments cannot stimulate. So why not generate higher inflation for a while?
RCM | Forget Gold, Let's Denationalize Money
Regardless of how private currency operations would work in practice, this is primarily a moral issue. Free marketeers need to realize that money under the gold standard is still fiat money. Fiat means by government diktat. Under a gold standard, the government at a minimum is dictating the currency standard.
Cato Institute | Remembering Nixon's Wage and Price Controls
On Aug. 15, 1971, in a nationally televised address, Nixon announced, "I am today ordering a freeze on all prices and wages throughout the United States." After a 90-day freeze, increases would have to be approved by a "Pay Board" and a "Price Commission," with an eye toward eventually lifting controls — conveniently, after the 1972 election.
Blogs
Minyanville | Fed's Easing Policy Means Worse Living Through Convexity
As the Fed removes interest rate risk through stealth QE3, it introduces other risks, distorting incentives for investing and weakening the economy in the long term.
Econlog | Clive Crook on Monetary Policy
The past few weeks have settled, to my satisfaction at least, a long-running debate on this very topic. Rather than targeting inflation, central banks should keep nominal incomes growing on a pre-announced path: say 5 per cent a year.
