I picked up some groceries today from a large supermarket. It took a while to find the cream cheese among the huge refrigerators full of luxurious food at modest prices. This reminded me of a TV programme just after the Cold War, in which a Russian family visited Britain. The […]
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FT.com / UK – Chancellor to boost housing with £1bn plan
We might ask where the money will be coming from: Alistair Darling will announce another £1bn package to support the housing market in his Budget on Wednesday, seeking to underpin prices, complete partially built building projects and support those struggling to pay mortgages. The £1bn will be spread over two […]
Read MoreThe Credit Crunch Explained
An explanation of the financial crisis for everyone: Linda is the proprietor of a bar in Cork. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers – most of whom are unemployed alcoholics – to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed […]
Read MoreRoots of the Crisis | FreedomWorks
The roots of the crisis from a United States perspective: To understand today’s financial crisis, you must understand the long history of government interference and subsidies for housing and housing debt. Since the New Deal, the federal government has passed law after law attempting to shape U.S. housing markets. The […]
Read MoreBanks, economic interventionism and the cause of the credit crisis
(This post is a precis of Huerta de Soto’s Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles pp650-653, presenting an argument which was famously expounded by von Mises in Socialism. Among the young idealists who were attracted to socialism after the Great War, who came through these arguments expressed in full to […]
Read MoreGordon Brown, the G20, hyperinflation and economic incompetence
Gordon Brown promises increased economic intervention by the G20, including sales of gold reserves, and the emergence of “a new world order”: Janet Daley looks for comfort: Gordon Brown has announced – in his best portentous tones – that the G20 summit concluded that “global problems require global solutions”. What the summit actually […]
Read MoreDavid Cameron: “It is not enough for Labour to lose this election”
David Cameron lays out the Conservatives’ radical ideas for giving people the power and responsibility to help themselves and one another: That’s what we mean by the post-bureaucratic age: the satisfying clunk-click of political philosophy matching contemporary reality to produce a genuinely historic shift in how we organise our affairs. […]
Read MoreBank of England set to pump cash into economy
With the Bank of England set to create new money out of nothing, I offer pointers to two articles which explain how this increase in the money supply will further impoverish the poor and those on fixed incomes, and how the move will diminish the chances of a sustained recovery. […]
Read MoreThe road to hell is paved with…
Good intentions, of course. Chris Huhne proposes to introduce a bill to repeal the legislation that has stripped away our rights. So far, so good: There has always been a problem for civil libertarians. The sacrifices of freedoms made by successive governments often seem small, particularly when they are pushed […]
Read MoreThe Losing Battle to Fix Gold at $35
Why the G-word is taboo? Reviewing this period in gold’s history makes evident the extreme difficulties experienced by the monetary authorities in controlling the price of gold. The typical flat $35 line on charts gives the illusion that the dollar was a stable store of value. In actuality, market prices […]
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