Inflation

Archive for Inflation

In Defense of Permabears

In his never-ending campaign to discredit those who warned of financial bubbles before the 2008 crash, Scott Sumner recently quoted with approval the following from Alan Reynolds’ 2010 analysis of Shiller’s thoughts on investing: On the March 9 anniversary of the stock market implosion a year ago, a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal […]

Krugman on the Bubble Economy

I really like these chats Paul Krugman has with Joe Weisenthal, because you can get his news-you-can-use take on something without all the hemming and hawing, and lack of body language, from multiple blog posts. Also, Weisenthal adds to the clarification because he will make sure Krugman gets a chance to clear up any possible […]

Some Sumner Shuffles

I often focus on Krugman Kontradictions, but here at Free Advice we have given examples of Sumner Shuffles. Now Scott is much more slippery than Krugman, so to get a true Sumner Shuffle is difficult. I’ve been checking his blog lately to see what he has to say about the Fed’s “taper” announcement–it was expansionary […]

More on Krugman and Fiat Money

At Mises Canada I explored Krugman’s glib assertion about fiat money being “backed by men with guns” a little more deeply: Furthermore, it’s obvious that Krugman’s “explanation” would have no way of accounting for changes in either variable. For example, in the 1970s in the United States, price inflation took off dramatically, meaning the purchasing […]

Stephen Williamson Takes the Stand on QE and Price Inflation

In light of all the attacks on Stephen Williamson–Noah Smith has provided the best summary I’ve seen in his updates at this post–my inner defense attorney instincts have been activated. (Nicky, this is not Nam, this is blogging; there are rules.) So I offer the following testimony. Do with it what you will: Bob Murphy: […]

The Difference Between Higher Prices and Rising Prices

OK, my post about Williamson’s QE argument left some people confused. It sounded like I was saying that price inflation causes people to want to hold more money. Huh? The problem here is confusing higher prices with rising prices. The two are obviously quite related, but they’re not the same thing. I’ll state two principles, […]

The Real Flaw in Williamson’s Inflation Argument?

Wow, I don’t know if you kids have been following the blow-up over Stephen Williamson’s arguments about QE–I gave you a hint in this Potpourri when talking about Nick Rowe’s blog rage–but it has the potential to rival the Great Debt Debate of 2012. At this point we’ve got a full-blown shooting war, with Williamson, […]

Summers and Krugman: The Liquidity Trap Is Forever

It now looks like the War on Savings will be as eternal as the War on Terror. Previously, Paul Krugman et al. had confined their upside-down prescriptions to this apparently temporary abnormality, but once things returned to normal they would go back (we were assured) to worrying about budget deficits and the stability of the […]