Ryan McMaken interviewed by Daniel Brigman on The Power Hour radio show. Produced by www.gcnlive.com Topics for this wide ranging interview include: booms and busts, private money, bitcoin, central banks, Brexit, protectionist policy under Trump, and trade
One of the benefits of being an extremely powerful lobby in Washington is the ability to live off the taxpayers without ever having to tell the taxpayers what you do with their money. This includes two of the most powerful lobbies in DC: the Fed and the Pentagon. In recent years, thanks to Ron Paul, the “Audit the Fed” movement has gained a high
In absolute terms, the US dollar continues to be inflationary in ways rarely seen before 2009. That is, in a world of Quantitative Easing, the Fed just keeps on creating money in order to prop up domestic industries as well as US government debt. In late December, for example, the Fed continued with its buying spree of mortgage debt in order to
The supply of US dollars has slowed during early 2017 with February’s year-over-year percentage increase hitting a 17-month low of 7.7 percent. Monthly year-over-year growth rates in the money supply have been falling each month since October. Over the past eight months or so, money supply growth rates have become somewhat volatile with the
The supply of US dollars has slowed during early 2017 with March’s year-over-year percentage increase hitting a 103-month low of 5.9 percent. The last time the year-over-year growth rate was lower was during September of 2008, when the growth rate was 5.2 percent. Monthly year-over-year growth rates in the money supply have been falling each month
2016 was supposed to be the year that the Federal Reserve “normalized” its policies. As much as two years ago — after years of a near-zero target rate — the Fed was swearing that it would begin to raise rates back to “normal” levels and cut its balance sheet. That never happened. Yes, the Fed has increased its target rate from 0.25 percent to 1
Following the 2008 financial crisis, many observers were surprised by how much many Americans began saving. From 2009 to 2012, total household debt fell considerably, dropping by more than 12 percent from 2008 to 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal , that drop was described by Fed researchers as “an aberration from what had been a 63-year
Last week, the Federal Reserve announced an increase in the Federal Funds rate to 1.25 percent. The last time the target rate reached so high was in September of 2008, when the rate was 2.0 percent. In October of that year, the target rate fell to 1.0 percent, and was moved down to 0.25 percent in December. It remained at 0.25 percent for the next
The economic arguments against central banks are numerous to say the least. Through the writings of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard we have a wide variety of critiques that explain the many ways the central banks distort economies, cause booms and busts, punish savers, and chose winners and losers through monetary policy. But, even if
Yesterday, the Census Bureau released its measure of homeownership for 2016, and the annual average for 2016 was 63.4 percent. That’s the lowest rate measured since 1965 when the homeownership rate was 63 percent. 2016 was also the twelfth year in a row in which the homeownership rate was lower than the year prior. In other words, the
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.