A very interesting video by an Irish economist explaining how the current reduce government spending ("austerity") approach to the Eurozone debt and currency crisis is doomed to fail. It is doomed because cutting government spending in a recession only makes the recession worse, which in turn, reduces tax collections which then makes the government deficits … Continue reading David McWilliams Explains Why Austerity Is Doomed In Europe
Banking & Money
More on The Fed Audit, “Secret Loans”, and Conflicts of Interest
The last couple of days I've posted some thoughts on The Fed and the summer 2011 "audit" by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) here and here. A long time reader and commenter, AZleader, apparently also wrote about The Fed audit. I like his post a lot. In particular, AZleader went beyond the press releases and news … Continue reading More on The Fed Audit, “Secret Loans”, and Conflicts of Interest
Is The Fed Corrupt or Captured?
Yesterday I responded to a reader who asked if "The Fed is out of control". In short, I said no, not in the sense that critics have charged them with "out of control printing of money" that could produce inflation. But I left the post with an acknowledgement that the secrecy of The Fed carries … Continue reading Is The Fed Corrupt or Captured?
Is The Fed Corrupt or Out of Control?
The Federal Reserve System is an extremely controversial and largely misunderstood institution. Senators on both the right (Ron Paul) and the left (Bernie Sanders) are highly critical of The Fed. I've shied away from commenting on The Fed because it's a pretty complex subject. Every time I think there's a point to be made, … Continue reading Is The Fed Corrupt or Out of Control?
The Quantity Theory of Money and Fears of Inflation Are Nonsense
We rarely get to conduct scientific experiments in economics, but for the last 3+ years The Federal Reserve has unintentionally conducted a test of an economic theory called the "Quantity Theory of Money" (QTM). QTM makes some very specific predictions - predictions that Ron Paul, conservatives on Wall Street, and others have been repeating a … Continue reading The Quantity Theory of Money and Fears of Inflation Are Nonsense
Rhetoric Is A Powerful Tool To Advance Moneyed Interests
Money is essential to a successful economy. But it's money in circulation that's useful. Money that's locked up in storage in vaults and savings doesn't help. The early economists understood this well and often used the analogy of money-is-to-economy as blood-is-to-human-body. Circulating money, money that is used to buy things is as important to the … Continue reading Rhetoric Is A Powerful Tool To Advance Moneyed Interests
The Economy Has Caused Riots Before – In the Great Depression
Washington's Blog reminds us that things got ugly during the last prolonged depression in the United States. This interesting historical footage from the Great Depression shows what happens when large numbers of people are unemployed for years at a time, get desperate, and perceive that the game is rigged to the benefit of Wall Street. … Continue reading The Economy Has Caused Riots Before – In the Great Depression
Banks Want to Do To Student Loans What They Did to Mortgages
On the heels of yesterday's post about student loans and their growth. I want you to know that Wall Street is hot on the problem. They've made a quiet proposal to the "supercommittee" that's supposedly addressing government deficits to have the government subsidize the banks via fees without creating any more student loans or taking … Continue reading Banks Want to Do To Student Loans What They Did to Mortgages
Warning: More Bank Bailouts Possible
One area I haven't commented on much is the ongoing European "debt crisis". The Greek debt crisis is a part of it, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. The roots are much deeper. One reason I haven't commented is because it's fairly complex and requires a lot of background explanation which I haven't … Continue reading Warning: More Bank Bailouts Possible
Too Big to Fail Should Be Too Big to Exist
Against Monopoly has a great graphic that shows a big part of the problem with our financial sector and our economy. The four banks shown above are the four largest banks in the U.S.: JP Morgan Chase, Citi, BofA, and Wells Fargo. Together they dominate the financial industry. If you add in Goldman Sachs and … Continue reading Too Big to Fail Should Be Too Big to Exist
EconProph 