The Fed

Dr. Mark Thornton on The Scott Horton Show. 

Taxes usually aren't terribly popular with the people who pay the taxes. Fortunately — from the government's perspective — the central bank is there to help tax the people more without their noticing.

American history is a story of non-stop efforts by governments to intervene in the marketplace through regulations, monopolies, and subsidies. Most surprisingly, these market interventions appear to place a central role in causing economic crises over the years.

Dissatisfaction with the Fed appears to have gone mainstream, and this may increase if the Fed descends into negative interest rate policies. But, as always, a sound understanding of economics is key.

Bernie Sanders says he wants to reform the Fed, but Bernie's wrongheaded views on Fed policy demonstrate why it's important to oppose the Fed for the right reasons.

Central banks worldwide are putting their faith in negative interest rates. Unfortunately, these central bankers do not understand what interest rates are supposed to do, or how manipulating them will lead to a bust.

CNN asks today: "What would a president Trump mean for the Fed?"

Central Banks now pay interest on bank reserves held at the Fed. It may sound like only a minor change, barely worthy of notice, but it's actually a very recent and radical experiment for central banks, with large implications for monetary freedom.

Robert Luddy explains today at The American Spectator how the Fed's fixation on promoting price inflation is a big problem.

The "true money supply" measure is a measure of the money supply pioneered by Murray Rothbard and Joseph Salerno and is designed to provide a better measure than M2. The Mises Institute now offers monthly updates on the TMS metric and its growth.