At the Austrian Economic Research Conference (AERC 2023) event in Auburn, Alabama, behind a wooden podium once used by Ludwig von Mises, I presented my paper: The Instability of Stablecoins. Whether it’s called a pyramid, ponzi, shell game, or a grand delusion containing fraudulent elements, there’s something peculiar going on in the stablecoin
On Saturday, Dr. Mark Thornton published a 3-minute recording for Minor Issues podcast on The Fed’s 2% Inflation Target . It had the usual honesty, integrity and simplicity readers of the Mises Institute are accustomed, with the introduction reading: Mark Thornton explains the target as another smokescreen that was originally intended to stabilize
The problem with central banking can be articulated with just one sentence, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook recently stated : As policymakers, my colleagues and I make decisions that impact the entire country. Unlike the local bakery which stays in business so long as it provides a valued service, the opposite is true for policymakers. What
The Reuters headline reads: Fed needs a recession to win inflation fight, study shows This was not Reuters referring to countless articles the Mises Institute has published regarding the coming recession. Rather, it was in response to a study a few mainstream economists presented at the University of Chicago on Friday, titled Managing Disinflation
Waiting for financial collapse is hardly a fast-moving process, nor something to look forward to. But the winding down of the balance sheet and eventual bust to follow must be explained to the public. Inflation metrics are still higher than anyone would like. The stock market still flounders. There is no end in sight. Continuing from last month’s
It’s true what they say about following the money. With the release of the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Financial Statements, we can take a closer look at their income and expenses to find that the central bank functions like a federal embezzler as much as it does a federal counterfeiter. It begins on page 7 : Revenue of $170 billion. The interest
Yesterday we reviewed the Fed’s Statement of Operations finding many peculiarities such as: a $16 billion capitalized loss, $2 billion spent by the Board of Governors, and $1.2 billion paid as a dividend to the banks. It also illustrated how the Fed receives money from the government, pays banks and administration fees, thereby grinding down
The notes to the Fed’s Financial Statements read like a disclaimer at the end of an Rx drug commercial. However, a financial statement review would not be complete without a look at the fine print. The question is: How bad is it? Never mind the $16 billion dollar loss that was capitalized, let’s start with the $1.2 trillion dollar loss that never
After raising rates as expected, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addressed the nation this week without referencing Ukraine nor the Pandemic as the cause of (price) inflation. Perhaps the start of a new year gave a reason for the change, or maybe he’s looking to start a new narrative soon. It’s difficult to determine as he continued in
They’re still at it! Every month the balance shrinks by many billions of dollars. In conjunction with the support of the mainstream media, the Federal Reserve continues spinning its tale of employment, (price) inflation, and Quantitative Tightening (QT). The current balance sheet level of $8.4 trillion has not been seen since 2021. Last month’s QT
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.