Right Side News
It is time to crank up the Looney Tunes theme song because Wall Street has officially entered crazytown territory. Stocks just keep going higher and higher, and at this point what is happening in the stock market does not bear any resemblance to what is going on in the overall economy whatsoever. So how long […]
During the recent financial crisis, Sweden has emerged as one of very few financially sound economies. The country’s strong position, setting it apart from most Western nations, makes it an interesting example of what could — or should — have been done. Indeed, Paul Krugman, the former economist and Nobel Prize laureate, has repeatedly pointed […]
Introduction The United States’ federal top capital gains tax rate is now 23.8 percent due to two tax increases at the start of 2013.[1] This is problematic, because the capital gains tax creates a bias against savings, slows economic growth, and places a double-tax on corporate profits. Although these problems with the capital gains tax […]
US lawmakers reached a budget deal this week that will avert the sequester cuts and shutdowns. These fiscal “roadblocks” supposedly damaged investor confidence in 2013, although clearly no one told equity investors who’ve chased the S&P 500 up 26 percent this year. But even so the budget deal is seen by inflationists as only half […]
Introduction: Thomas D. Conrad, Ph.D. is currently a hedge fund manager and president of Financial Management Corporation. He received his Masters Degree in Accounting, Statistics, and Financial Management from The University of Maryland in 1961 and his Ph.D. in Business Administration from The American University in 1965, with emphasis on Securities Analysis and Managerial Economics. His […]
Editor’s Note: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was approved by Congress 20 years ago this month. Rothbard’s essay on NAFTA, reprinted below, is available in the collection Making Economic Sense. For some people, it seems, all you have to do to convince them of the free enterprise nature of something is to label […]
The Fed is busy doing everything in its considerable power to get credit (that is, debt) growing again so that we can get back to what it considers to be “normal.” But the problem is that the recent past was not normal. You may have already seen this next chart. It shows total debt in […]
The strange convergence of Bernanke, Hayek and Bitcoin … Every time Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opens his mouth, the markets move. But few could have guessed that in an offhand remark he would add legitimacy to the Bitcoin, the virtual currency that competes with the American dollar as a reserve currency and an international […]
Editor’s Note: For a more detailed analysis of this topic, sign up for Dr. Murphy’s 4-week online Mises Academy class, beginning November 20. The course will cover the standard arguments for government intervention in health care and health insurance, including the common claim that “socialized medicine works in Europe.” Near the end of Human Action […]
Editor’s Note: Beginning Tuesday, November 12, Dr. Batemarco will be teaching “The Age of Crony Capitalism” at Mises Academy. This six-week online course will examine the factors responsible for the expansion of crony capitalism at the expense of the free market. For most of US history, crony capitalism has been in a struggle with free-market […]
Pulling no punches in a candid interview, former Congressman Ron Paul has taken aim squarely at the Federal Reserve, calling out the central bank’s current and future Chairs for their “unworkable” monetary policy of debt purchasing, also known as Quantitative Easing. One way or another – whether QE continues unabated or the Fed begins to […]
If you study the gold and silver market long enough you can’t but acknowledge that the precious metals are manipulated. Last friday drop (october 11th) in gold was another example : 2 millions ounces of paper gold were sold in less than 3 minutes (read the explanation here) at a time when the market is […]