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The Week in Review: May 14, 2016

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Tags: Money and Banking, Global Economy, U.S. Economy
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest job numbers last week and the results were disappointing. Mark Thornton described the numbers as “disturbing,” noting that, outside of the service sector, many “sectors of the American economy are negative in terms of job growth.” Going through the numbers, Ryan McMaken highlighted the troubling stat that 1 in 6 young American men are either jobless or in jail — the tragic consequences of minimum wage hikes and the absurd war on drugs. Of course an additional source of pressure comes from the relentless manipulation of our monetary system, contributing directly to current declines in median income.

In addressing the Fed, it seems that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have found common ground: the biggest problem with the Fed is simply the demographic makeup of central bank officials. Of course, as Jonathan Newman notes, the low interest rate policies both Clinton and Sanders advocate are directly responsible for hindering the various communities the two want to see better represented within the halls of the Fed. But this absurd logic is what we have come to expect from our well-paid “public servants.”

On Mises Weekends this week, we have an interview Jeff did recently with our friends at Power Trading Radio. Jeff dissects the inherent absurdity of negative interest before diving into a topic that Guido Hülsmann has written a great deal about, the moral and societal consequences of easy money. Jeff touches on how the Fed’s manipulation of interest rates has a very real impact on the time preferences of normal Americans, incentivizing them to spend more now at the expense of future savings — and the moral hazard that comes with it.

Just one of the many reasons Ludwig von Mises wrote passionately in defense of sound money, attributing it directly to “the triumphal unprecedented progress of Western liberalism ready to unite all nations into a community of free nations peacefully cooperating with one another.”

And in case you missed any of them, here are the articles featured this week on the Mises Wire:

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