There is reality and there is Ben Bernanke. The two are ever more disconnected. Speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Fed Chair Ben Bernanke claimed his money printing has created 2 million jobs and pushed stock prices higher. “The odds are strong that the Fed’s asset purchases will make money for the taxpayers, reducing the federal …
Oceans of taxpayer money and patience have been devoted to propping up the banking system. Why? So that when we go to retrieve our money from an ATM our money will actually come out. At least that’s what then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson told us when the big banks were on the verge of hitting the …
While Ron Paul lost the battle for the presidency, he may yet win the war for sound money. At least the intellectual battle might be won, and that’s the crucial one. The GOP platform effectively calls for a new gold standard commission to consider returning gold backing to the dollar. It is vaguely stated. It …
In the United States, the free (as in government is not involved) part of free enterprise has been forgotten. So it is the highest pleasure to travel to places where you can see with your own eyes how commerce is supposed to work. Here in Istanbul, Turkey, where commerce has been ongoing for centuries, business …
The harder you work, the luckier you get: You never know when serendipity will smile. This week, the Laissez-Faire Club is offering for free download Murray Rothbard’s Education: Free and Compulsory and I’m reminded of one of the great fortunes of my life. After moving to Las Vegas in 1986, and the tiniest of stints …
Many political pundits doubt that an incumbent president can win re-election with an unemployment rate over 8% After all, we are told, no American president has been re-elected in the last 50 years when unemployment was above 7.2%. Is that predictive or not? I say: not. Unemployment is the focus of the government policy from …
The books we remember most are the ones that change our minds or redirect our thoughts. Most readers consume books and ideas that only confirm their existing worldview. Instead of seeking enlightenment, many readers wish only to satisfy themselves that they are already smart. And the books they read confirm it. But today’s world is …
The European economy is turning from stagnation to contraction. Financial journalists are concluding that “austerity” is the reason. They say that forced reduction in government services is sending not only the continent, but the U.K. into an economic tailspin and — heaven forbid — the same could happen to the United States. Look and panic: …
Not too long ago, it was conventional wisdom: Personal wealth comes not from wages, but from return on investments. Stocks are for the long run. Houses always go up in value. That works so long as the economy works. But then the financial roof fell in, and the Fed came along and decided to abolish …
Why do people love competition so much in the field and in the pool, but fear and hate it in the business world? The analogies between Olympic fare and life in a free market are very close, closer than people realize. yet we celebrate competition in one sector and try to ban the other. Consider …