Markets reject ‘forward guidance’ – for good reason
The British media is obsessed with Mark Carney, the new boss at the Bank of England, who, this week, made his first public appearance…
Money demand and banking – some challenges for the “Free Bankers”
Within the Austrian School of Economics there has long been disagreement and therefore occasionally fierce debate about the nature and consequences of fractional-reserve banking,…
Forward Guidance? – Nonsense! Central bankers have no choice.
After two decades of serial bubble-blowing, the world’s central bankers have maneuvered themselves into a corner. They created a monster in the form of…
End of QE? – I don’t buy it
A new meme is spreading in financial markets: the Fed is about to turn off the monetary spigot. US Printmaster General Ben Bernanke announced…
Roubini attacks the gold bugs
Earlier this month, in an article for “Project Syndicate” famous American economist Nouriel Roubini joined the chorus of those who declare that the multi-year run up…
Are central bankers losing control?
The last couple of weeks have been very interesting. Remember that, certain regional differences aside, Japan has, for the past two-plus decades, been the…
Is present monetary policy rational?
While the stance of monetary policy around the world has, on any conceivable measure, been extreme, by which I mean unprecedentedly accommodative, the question…
The Corruption of Capitalism in America
Following on from John Butler’s review, here’s Detlev’s take on “The Great Deformation” … David Stockman’s new book is a brilliant, penetrating analysis of the present state…
Could Bitcoin be the money of the future?
The crypto-currency Bitcoin is still merely a speck on the global monetary landscape. It is young, experimental, and for all we know, it may…
Gold sell-off: there is only one question that matters
Last Friday I participated in a (very short) debate on BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme on the future direction of gold. Tom Kendall, global head of…