Mainstream economists have justified the creation of the Federal Reserve because they claim that a growing economy—especially the banking system—needs an “elastic” currency. In other words, the economy “needs” at least some inflation. Austrian economists know better.
The gold price is off and running this week. But, money creation isn’t listed as a cause.
Inflation isn’t just about higher prices. It is how unwarranted increases in the money supply touches off wealth transfers from those who are less-well off to people who are close to the new injections of money into the economy.
Inflation is not going away anytime soon, and it is ravaging the American middle class. Unfortunately, no one in Washington is interested in doing what is necessary to reverse this scourge.
Nixon’s 1971 decision didn’t just close a gold window—it opened the door to a fiat future of perpetual inflation, asset bubbles, moral hazard, and chronic economic dysfunction.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is widely seen as a pillar of financial stability, but it is actually it is a warning label that confirms systemic fragility.
Greg Kaza reviews Ben Bernanke's 21st Century Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19. The book is a candid yet self-justifying defense of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy that refuses to acknowledge how stimulus has driven inflation.
Greg Kaza reviews Brian Domitrovic's The Emergence of Arthur Laffer. Alienated from academia during the stagflation era, Laffer was able to reach policymakers by presenting his ideas in a simple way, such as with his famous napkin Laffer curve.
Brendan Brown reviews Ben Bernanke's 21st Century Monetary Policy. Bernanke gives a blow-by-blow account of his actions as Fed chair and justifies them as the "evolving" nature of the Fed. Unsurprisingly, he refuses to recognize the malaise of monetary inflation.
Peter Earle reviews Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions. This edited volume delivers a timely critique of the Federal Reserve's discretionary monetary policy, arguing that a binding legal structure is needed to check its mission creep.
