Monthly Archive: May 2023

Banks Are Lending Less Money, and That’s a Formula for Recession

2023-05-18

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2023-05-18

Banks have been tightening their lending standards, and they plan to keep doing it throughout the rest of the year. Last week, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve released a new report on how much banks plan to expand or tighten lending in coming months. The report, known as the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Lending Practices, found that bankers expect a deteriorating economic picture in 2023, both for themselves and for their...

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The “Buy Black” Movement: Divisive or a Boon to Black Entrepreneurs?

2023-05-18

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2023-05-18

The Buy Black movement has triggered a series of intense debates in the black community and the wider America. Activists proposed this project as an opportunity to generate wealth for black Americans by supporting black entrepreneurs. On the downside, others say that this agenda perpetuates an insidious form of tribalism. Are criticisms of the Buy Black movement an accurate description of its goals? Sociologists argue that minority groups often...

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How Greening the Economy Will Destroy America

2023-05-18

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2023-05-18

We’re supposed to go along with Green Energy schemes—as we did with masks, school lockdowns, and vaccinations to stop covid—because our government, media, and “public interest” groups insist that we “follow the science.” Original Article: "How Greening the Economy Will Destroy America"

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Living by a Premise

2023-05-18

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2023-05-18

The 2023 graduation season is now underway. The famous, generous, and politically powerful (especially those currently in federal office, who are cheaper because they are banned from being paid for giving speeches) will be dispensing (often very limited) wisdom about the “real world” to hundreds of commencement audiences across America. Some of the best speakers, however, will provide insight from humanity’s accumulated wisdom. One such speaker,...

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Yen and Yuan Fall to New Lows for the Year

2023-05-18

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2023-05-18

Overview: Some creeping optimism about the US debt ceiling, easing of pressure on bank shares, and a continued rise in US rates helped the dollar extend its recent recovery. Over the past two weeks or so, the US 2-year premium has risen 25-30 bp against Germany and nearly 25 bp against the UK. The 10-year US Treasury has risen from the lower end of its seven-month range (~3.30%) earlier this month to approach the upper end of the range that has...

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Does GDP Present an Accurate Picture of the Economy? Not Likely

2023-05-17

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2023-05-17

The most popular measure of economic growth is GDP. However, GDP movement is driven by changes in the money supply, not real economic factors. Original Article: "Does GDP Present an Accurate Picture of the Economy? Not Likely"

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End the FBI

2023-05-17

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2023-05-17

Special counsel John Durham on Monday released his report on the FBI's role in investigating the 2016 Donald Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia. This investigation, codenamed "Crossfire Hurricane," had been—according to Durham's report—"swiftly" opened as a full-blown investigation in response to "unevaluated intelligence information" by FBI personnel "without ever having spoken to the persons who...

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Understanding Relationships between Money Supply and Liquidity

2023-05-17

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2023-05-17

In a market economy, money is the medium of exchange; producers exchange their goods for money and then exchange that money for other goods. As the production of goods increases, the demand for money expands. Conversely, as economic activity slows down, the demand for money follows suit. Price changes also affect the demand for money. An increase in the prices of goods and assets increases the demand for money, since people now demand more money to...

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Paying the Piper: Time to Clean Up the Latest Malinvestments

2023-05-17

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2023-05-17

Austrian business cycle theory points out that easy money leads to malinvestments. Once easy money disappears, the crash begins. Time to clean up malinvested assets. Original Article: "Paying the Piper: Time to Clean Up the Latest Malinvestments"

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Energy and Economic Efficiency: The Market versus the Politicization of Our Energy Futures

2023-05-17

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2023-05-17

In the book Green Tyranny—a fantastic history of the environmental alarmism movement—author Rupert Darwall lays responsibility for the beginning of this movement at the feet of the Germans and the Swedes. In 1967, a Swedish scientist published the first ever “theory” on acid rain. Four years later, Bert Bolin, a Swede who would go on to chair the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), wrote the first-ever government report on acid...

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The Yen is Sold Despite Better than Expected Q1 GDP and the Greenback Pushes Above CNY7.0

2023-05-17

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2023-05-17

Overview: Better than expected US core retail sales and manufacturing output sent US rates higher and helped lift the greenback during the North American session after a heavier tone in Asia and Europe. The US two-year note rose to almost 4.12% and the 10-year note yield increased to 3.57%. Both are the best levels in two weeks. The dollar traded firmer against most of the major currencies and the Dollar Index approached the one-month high set on...

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How to Teach Austrian Economics to the Neighbor Kids

2023-05-16

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2023-05-16

Austrian economics is not dry theory. It helps us make sense of our world and shows that exchange and production have a place in our moral universe. Original Article: "How to Teach Austrian Economics to the Neighbor Kids"

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The Failure of Public Works and Public Funding

2023-05-16

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2023-05-16

State projects are funded by your money, either through taxation or by inflation, most times both. Money is either taken directly from you or you lose purchasing power. The result is the same, as you will lose the ability to buy or produce as much as you wanted because of these projects. However, this is the alleged cost of living in a “civilized society.” Without these projects, we would be driving on dirt roads, living in shacks, and working for...

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Historical Effects of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

2023-05-16

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2023-05-16

While the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade have been well documented, people other than slave traders and slaveholders benefitted from it, with some surprising results. Original Article: "Historical Effects of the Transatlantic Slave Trade"

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The Putrid Underbelly of Woke Capitalism

2023-05-16

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2023-05-16

Corporate intrigue reached a fevered pitch on May 6, 2023, in Omaha, Nebraska, when a shareholder was arrested during the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway. The shareholder challenged the affiliation of Warren Buffett with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Bill Gates’s association with Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, and who reportedly committed...

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Biden to Go to G7 Summit with Debt Ceiling Unresolved

2023-05-16

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2023-05-16

Overview:  The US debt ceiling talks resume at the White House today but a deal is unlikely to be announced. President Biden will attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima with the debt ceiling still looming. The dollar is mostly softer as last week's gains are pared. The Swiss franc and Japanese are the strongest in the G10. The Thai baht and South African rand, among the market's favorites yesterday are seeing those gains retraced. The JP Morgan Emerging...

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Charles Schwab and Other Big Banks May Be Secretly Insolvent

2023-05-15

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2023-05-15

While the Fed and the Biden administration try to assure Americans that their banks are safe and secure, the numbers tell a different story. Original Article: "Charles Schwab and Other Big Banks May Be Secretly Insolvent"

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Biden’s New Intersectionality: Where Equity Policies Meet Bad Economics

2023-05-15

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2023-05-15

In the summer of 2020, the Smithsonian Institution created a chart meant to condemn what it calls “whiteness,” and it listed a number of characteristics it claimed were essential to “white culture.” Among the so-called characteristics it described in pejorative terms was delaying gratification, or saving for the future, what Austrian economists would call low time preference. The chart, which was withdrawn after widespread protest, sought to...

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Due Process or Transgender Protection on Campus?

2023-05-15

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2023-05-15

President Biden's executive order to promote transgenderism on college campuses eviscerates long-held due process protections for accused students. This will not end well. Original Article: "Due Process or Transgender Protection on Campus?"

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Did the US Steal Cherokee Land?

2023-05-15

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2023-05-15

In a recent lecture on her new book, Redressing Historical Injustice: Self-Ownership, Property Rights and Economic Equality, Wanjiru Njoya challenged current calls among some indigenous groups for “land justice” to redress the alleged historical injustices of European colonization. Drawing from Murray N. Rothbard’s book The Ethics of Liberty, Njoya outlined a set of guideposts for determining the actual justice of such claims with reference to...

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