Mises Search

Paul Kasriel of Northern Trust documents the myth of falling prices with some very interesting charts. He notes that the year-over-year percent change in the core intermediate and crude PPI is actually on an uptrend relative to 2001. He further shows that the only existing deflation is observed in the portion of the CPI called “owners’ equivalent

James Grant weighs in on the prospects for deflation . Here is his 1996 AEN interview .    This Reuters story  debunks deflation fears too.   The Washington Times employs a nameless inflationist  on its editorial staff, someone who fears that Greenspan won’t take strong enough measures to fight deflation. The fellow gets specific: he suggests

Some smart French liberals of a Catholic bent, led by Damien Theillier, visited our offices, and I sort of gave them a tour, but I clearly must have forgotten about the camera...or something. Visite du “Mises Institute” guidée par J. Tucker Uploaded by iCoppet . - More college and campus

“ ‘Will Social Security be there for You ?’: How Americans Perceive their Benefits” by Jeff Dominitz, Jordan Heinz, and Charles Manski  (SSRN): “We find clear and striking evidence of substantial uncertainty and heterogeneity of beliefs about the long-term existence of the Social Security system and about the level of benefits provided should the

Central Bankers Eye Unusual Steps (Reuters): “Central bankers from around the world Sunday discussed ways to prevent deflation and kick start lackluster global growth, including unorthodox policies such as buying up financial assets. At an annual meeting of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), bankers grappled with mounting concerns that

The Disappearing Recovery (Chicago Tribune): “For more than two years now, signs of a sustained economic recovery have seemed to be just around the corner, only to vanish once the corner was reached. The Federal Reserve has been doing its part to make sure money is cheap enough to fuel a recovery. The central bank has cut short-term interest rates

Thomas Friedman visits the offices of Google (NYT): I recently went out to Silicon Valley to visit the offices of Google, the world’s most popular search engine. It is a mind-bending experience. You can actually sit in front of a monitor and watch a sample of everything that everyone in the world is searching for.

The Economist  was founded by opponents of British protectionism. In this essay ( Radical Birthday Thoughts ), the editor looks back at the founding principles and assesses the current attack on free trade and free markets. There is no clear, coherent case being presented for a retreat from liberalism. But protectionism and other forms of

Meeting Iraq’s Demand for Dinars  (BBC): To do any serious shopping in Iraq you need to carry around massive wads of local currency which are a real nuisance to lug about. For example, to pay for modest lunch of chicken and rice the other day I had to count out 88 of my 250 dinar notes. There is in fact a higher denomination 10,000 dinar note but

Compare: Security Laws Target of Huge Hong Kong Protest (NYT): “Pouring through this city’s tropical parks and its canyons of glittering skyscrapers, an immense crowd marched here today to protest government plans to impose stringent internal-security laws.... The demonstrators, many carrying umbrellas for shade on a sunny and unusually hot day,