Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
A preview of the current lively debate between the 2 sides of the economic coin. Last week, an Austrian-School economist, Robert Wenzel, gave a speech to the New York Federal Reserve , and separately Bloomberg hosted a…
Read the articleRegular readers will know I am in the inflation, possibly hyperinflation camp; but there are those that think the future is more likely to be deflationary. In the main this is the view of neoclassical economists,…
Read the articleAdam Smith’s great insight was that in a commercial transaction both parties benefit. Before his time, it was generally believed that in an exchange of goods, one party usually gained what the other lost. The mistake…
Read the articleAn article by Professor Lew Spellman has caught the attention of the sharp-eyed, and may indeed be important. Spellman, who in the past has been an economist at the Fed and served as an assistant to the Chairman of the…
Read the articleMuch has been learned from the ongoing financial debacle that has been painfully rattling the world’s financial structure in recent years. Foremost among these valuable lessons is the realisation that all financial…
Read the articleHere is a puzzle for Keynesian and other neo-classical economists. When a consumer buys something, he must choose; and if he increases his purchase of one product, he must reduce his purchases of other products by the…
Read the articleIt seems that every time you turn over a stone on the rocky shore that is the financial condition of the eurozone you find yet another nasty creature underneath. This time it is to be found across the accounts of the…
Read the articleThere is a general belief that government finances are somehow immune from the financial reality faced by everyone else – an illusion fostered by bond markets and supported by the public’s wishful thinking. Look no…
Read the articleNeo-classical economists underestimate the importance of the link between savings and investment. The two should be regarded as linked together: you need savings to be available for investment in new production for the…
Read the articleFor most of the last century the default currency for international settlements has been the US dollar. This has given America ultimate power over international trade. In recent months, the US wielded this power against…
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