Jude Wanniski, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, coined the term “Laffer Curve” after a concept promoted by economist Art Laffer.Laffer himself says the idea goes back to the 14th century The idea is that if one wants to maximize the government’s tax revenue, there is an optimal tax rate. (Ignore for the moment […]
Peter Tchir wrote a piece yesterday describing yet another hole in the banks’ balance sheets: I am not sure I fully understand it, but to me it looks something like this: A bank has a duration mismatch. Its funding is short-term, which means it must be rolled over frequently. This subjects the bank to the […]
Capitalism died when they decided to subsidize railroads for the sake of national prestige in the mid 19th century. Capitalism died when, to compensate for the consequences of subsidized railroads, they passed anti-trust laws in 1890, under which it is illegal to have lower prices, the same prices, and higher prices than one’s competitors. Capitalism […]
Zero Hedge posted an article that asks an interesting question. Every European country owes money to other European countries. This creates a web of cross-linked debt. Instead of each country laboring under the full nominal amount, why don’t they just cooperate and cancel out everything but the net debt? This remainder would be very manageable […]
For months, even before the end of QE2, analysts and prognosticators have been saying the Fed will have to do another QE and another, endlessly. These folks were surprised when it didn’t come last month, and predicted confidently that it would come this month especially because Bernanke extended the September meeting to two days. I […]
In fall, 2008, the US banned short selling of certain stocks. It triggered a massive short-covering rally. Then, without the shorts in the market, prices went into freefall. When prices are falling, the shorts (when taking profits) are the only bidders. Markets don’t crash because of short sellers. They crash because the bid is withdrawn. […]
By now, everyone knows that S&P downgraded the debt of the USA from their top rating, AAA, to their second-highest grade, AA+. Most of the commentary has been of the pin-the-blame-on-the-donkey variety. For all most people know, this is the collapse of the currency and the financial system and their biggest concern is that Obama […]
In 1913, the US Congress authorized the creation of the Federal Reserve. Its mandate was limited, but it grew over time to become the central planner of all things monetary. In 1933, President Roosevelt outlawed the ownership of gold. In 1944, the soon-to-be-victorious allied powers signed a treaty at Bretton Woods, agreeing to use the […]
Listen to the audio version of this article here. The Root of the Problem is Debt Worldwide, an incredible tower of debt has been under construction since President Nixon’s 1971 default on the gold obligations of the US government. His decree severed the redeemability of the dollar for gold and thus eliminated the extinguisher of […]
Today, people who believe that gold is money think that one should hoard gold. They seek to take possession personally. Or when they have it stored professionally, they look for a private vault outside the banking system where they can (hopefully) trust their warehouse receipt. And why shouldn’t they avoid the banking system? Its corruption […]
