All Posts

Archive for All Posts

The Recession Hits the NY Fed

I’m glad to see our quasi-governmental agencies lead the way in belt-tightening. Matt Machaj alerts us to this press release from the NY Fed: October 16, 2008 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will cease publication of its weekly Statement of Condition with the October 30, 2008 release. The information will continue to be […]

Should the Fed Burst Bubbles?

The prevailing wisdom among Fed academics used to be “no,” but now that is changing. (If we’re throwing out private property, we might as well look at some other principles to jettison too.) I summarized my views on the issue in response to Tyler Cowen’s remarks on the WSJ article linked: Cowen: Should the Fed […]

An Atheist With No Sense of Irony

While googling to find a Bible verse for this post,* I came across an About.com article concerning a portion of Scripture that modern Christians allegedly ignore because it is too uncomfortable. First, the gospel passages in question: 17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, […]

Pete Boettke Gets Saucy on the Financial Crisis

Although he doesn’t name names, Pete Boettke–head of the GMU Austrian syndicate–laments that many free market economists have endorsed the recent shenanigans as regrettable necessities. Go Pete! Below is the first portion of his lecture at FFF; go to this link to see the rest of his talk. (Note that “Bumper” = Jacob Hornberger.)

A Hedge Fund Manager Takes His Marbles and Goes Home

Andrew Lahde ran a small hedge fund and made 866 percent either in its first or second year (the article is ambiguous), by anticipating the subprime collapse. Then he decided he had reached his magic number and walked away. This article lists his goodbye letter, full of thoughts on idiotic MBAs, a corrupt Congress, and […]

Your Presidential Choice: Two Names for More of the Same

Dick Clark ruffles some feathers at Suffolk University Law School in this editorial. I know my student newspapers didn’t have articles this cool…except maybe for the ones I wrote.

Those Who Fail to Understand Past Booms Are Doomed to Repeat Busts

If you understand Austrian business cycle theory–which says that recessions are the necessary consequence of malinvestments made during a government-induced boom–then this comment by a “strategist” is hilarious: “I’m not talking about 50 basis points … we really have to take rates down to effectively zero,” Nightingale said, pointing out that U.S. rates “got down […]

Schiff vs. Siegel

This is great. Siegel actually implies that the gold standard caused the Great Depression. The debate starts at 2:20. (HT2LRC.) Siegel lays down the gauntlet and says he will be vindicated in six months. Let’s wait and see!