The Fed

Bob Murphy joins the show to discuss Rothbard's superb and eminently readable money book for lay readers.

Just as kings debased coins to help pay for their wars, the Fed used inflation to help pay for US participation in World War I. It did so by creating and issuing dollars in return for government debt.

End the Fed starts with understanding the Fed, and Rothbard's The Case Against the Fed is vital for any lay reader. Mark Thornton and Jeff Diest examine Rothbard's best book on money and banking.

With a sound money, none of these distortions would have been possible: the limitations of the currency itself would have forced an unwinding of excessive risk far before it could become a clash between major hedge funds and Reddit trolls.

Mises's firm anti-inflation view—and his recommendation for a return to sound money (that is, free market money)—rested on his awareness of the disastrous consequences of an inflationary policy.

Ron Paul used the fall in purchasing power since the founding of the Fed to argue that the central bank had hurt regular Americans. Fed economist David Andolfatto disagrees, but Bob pushes back.

Mises's firm anti-inflation view—and his recommendation for a return to sound money (that is, free market money)—rested on his awareness of the disastrous consequences of an inflationary policy

Joe Salerno provides a brief description of fractional reserve-banking, identifies the problems it presents in the current institutional setting, and suggests a potential solution.

No matter how bleak the economy may be, the Keynesians are likely to say, “It would have been worse without us.” 

No matter how bleak the economy may be, the Keynesians are likely to say, “It would have been worse without us.”