Is inflation good for economic growth?
byAfter settling at 3.9% in July 2011 the yearly rate of growth of the consumer price index (CPI) fell to 1.6% by January this…
Economics
Speech to the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in London
byLast week I spoke to a small group in London about the current monetary situation and the outlook for gold. The speech lasts about…
Do equities (and real estate) give you inflation protection?
byConfronted with the possibility that the endgame of the present experiment in extreme monetary accommodation may be higher inflation and even currency disaster, many…
Do we have easy money?
byThis week marked the fifth anniversary of the 0.5% Bank of England base rate and the Bank of England’s Quantitative Easing program which has…
The success of “credit easing” on its own terms
byToday, the Telegraph reports, UK house price growth ‘approaching madness’: The speed UK property prices are rising at is “approaching madness”, analysts have warned, after…
Five years of disastrously low interest rates have left Britain addicted to cheap credit
byThis article originally appeared in The Telegraph on 5 March 2014. It is reproduced by permission of the author. Five years ago today, the Bank…
TTIP – when free trade goes wrong?
byIn 1942, Wilhelm Röpke’s International Economic Disintegration was published. An international order of liberal free trade collapsed through nationalism, protectionism and monetary destruction. Many…
Bitcoin has theory and history on its side
byThe Bitcoin phenomenon has now reached the mainstream media where it met with a reception that ranged from sceptical to outright hostile. The recent…
Is bad weather the key cause behind weak US economic data?
bySome key US economic data shows visible weakening. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index slumped to 46 in February from 56…
Forty centuries of learning nothing
by“The co-authors began working on this book in 1974, just after the termination of President Nixon’s controls in the United States. Since that time,…