Pure Austrian Thinking from Bagus on Banking Reform
byThere are many possible routes to sound money. On the 18th of May, I outlined my plan to reform the banking system. Yesterday we…
Honest Money
Reliving the 1930s
byWhy is the money supply dependent on interest rates and government spending?
It turns out the great economist Irving Fisher told us back in the 1930s: banks create and destroy credit money by granting and calling loans. As Fisher wrote:
“Thus our national circulating medium is now at the mercy of loan transactions of banks; and our thousands of checking banks are, in effect, so many irresponsible private mints.”
What is money?
byIn their working paper Assessing UK money supply measures in the light of the credit crunch, Toby Baxendale and Anthony J. Evans provide a better measure of the money supply. In this article, Steven Baker explores the background to the paper and indicates some key findings.
The Hole We’re In
byMy fellow trustee Steve Baker has just forwarded me this speech by Mark Littlewood, the new Director General of the IEA. I was inspired…
Laurence Kotlikoff’s “Jimmy Stewart is Dead”
byJimmy Stewart plays George Bailey who is cast as the “honest” and trustworthy banker in the classic Hollywood film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Kotlikoff’s…
De Soto and the Relevance of his Banking Reform Proposal Today
byThis has been copied from Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles which can be downloaded here or bought here. PREFACE TO THE SECOND ENGLISH…
Big banking lessons from little Presbyterian Mutual
byThe Belfast Telegraph reports Toby’s efforts to deliver “Big banking lessons from little Presbyterian Mutual“: Investors at the Presbyterian Mutual Society are the only…
Free Banking, the Balance Sheet and Contract Law Approach
byFor new readers to this site who are not aware of the debate that exists within the Austrian School, there are those who are…
Why all Banks are Insolvent
byWhy Even the Best Banks are Insolvent and Inherently Dishonest We are told that Barclays is a good bank and it did well not…
More on Banking and the Barclays 2009 Results
bySome of my City friends who work in banking have had a look at the 2009 Barclays balance sheet and made comment on how…