Krugman’s Ideas on Deflation & Why He’s Really not a Knucklehead

"Far be it for me to argue economics with Paul Krugman. The man is extremely well-credentialed and has been published widely. Even if I don’t see eye to eye with him I don’t think he’s a knucklehead like many libertarians assert. Moreover, once we’re working inside of monopoly capitalism like we are now he very well may be right about how to manage its wackiness and the imperative of doing so. After all, the Keynesian foundational position is one which acknowledges the inherent instability of state capitalism as it needs the state’s anti-market power to substantially interfere in order to keep the system afloat.
The Austrian or libertarian position we hold though isn’t purely about the follies of central planning or maintaining state capitalism but also the injustice of doing so. We aren’t as concerned with how to keep state capitalism/corporatism afloat because its existence is an insult to a free people. We should be able to legally choose our own tender without threat of punishment for which currency we peacefully use. This true federation and competition between monies would go very far in protecting us from the volatility of the currency market, meddlesome bureaucrats and political whim."

Read the rest of the article at
Silver Underground.

Ross Kenyon,
Assistant Editor, THL
Articles | Author's Page

Tax Bill Is Beginning of Formal Debt Criminalization

The noose is tightening on liberty. The United States Congress is steadily headed to a place where those who owe money to the US government shall be treated criminally. This phenomenon is advancing domestically and now, increasingly, internationally. The first shot in this latest campaign took place in 2010 when US President Barack Obama signed into law The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It demanded, basically, that foreign banks withhold up to 30 percent of the income that an American abroad might earn. This bill isn't working so well because overseas banks are not cooperating (a state of affairs that was certainly expected). Thus, there is a need for something else: Senate Bill 1813, recently introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). This bill, in part, states that taxpayers with unpaid taxes over US$50,000 may find their passports confiscated. This isn't criminal per se, but the IRS has recently made noises about "sharing" information with police a...

Thomas Sowell Returns

By: Thomas Winslow Hazlett Reason

How To Cripple The Real Estate Market In Five Easy Steps

If the government and the banks had just allowed real estate prices drop to market equilibrium, we'd be out of this mess and housing would truly be affordable. But the government is determined to artificially prop up housing prices, whatever the cost to the economy. If you were head of Central Planning (howdy, Ben!) and were tasked with crippling the real estate market, here's what you would recommend. Choke the market and banking sector with zombie banks... Have the central bank (the Federal Reserve) buy up $1 trillion in toxic, impaired mortgages... Lower the rate that banks can borrow from the Fed to zero, and then pay the banks interest on all funds deposited at the Fed... Try to prop up the housing market by giving poor credit risk buyers loans with only 3% down... Load young people up with the equivalent of a mortgage in student loans... OK,let's see how our Organs of Central Planning are doing: check, check, check, check, check: a perfect score! they're...

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