Search Results for ""regime uncertainty""

Paul Krugman: “Space Aliens Could Save U.S. Economy”



As Dave Barry used to say, I’m not making this up. Deeply mired in the fatally flawed myth that World War II ended the Great Depression, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman yesterday proposed that an invasion by space aliens would well provide the economic stimulus this country needs: As Dr. Robert Higgs has more than...
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The Confidence Fairy versus the Animal Spirits—Not Really a Fair Fight



The humor columnist for the New York Times, Paul Krugman, has recently taken to defending his vulgar Keynesianism against its critics by accusing them of making arguments that rely on the existence of a “confidence fairy.” By this mockery, Krugman seeks to dismiss the critics as unscientific blockheads, in contrast to his own supreme status...
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FDR Redux: A Cartoon Guide to Cutting the National Debt by 40% with the Stroke of a Pen! (Part II)



(Continued from previous post). During the 1932 campaign, Franklin Roosevelt had a reputation as a mealy-mouth politician who made many promises but held his real plans close to his chest. The following cartoons capture that well: Of course, we now know that with his First Inaugural address (listen here), FDR took on the role...
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Out of the Mouths of Bureaucrats



Any day now I’m going to be accused of being a one-note blogger, but the TSA is just providing too much material to pass up. (Just for the record, I’m also known to post on Regime Uncertainty, education, the Census, and other issues.) Case in point: the TSA’s own blog, where “Blogger Bob”—presumably the...
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The Continuing Puzzle of the Hyperinflation that Hasn’t Occurred



Since late December 2008, the bank prime lending rate—the interest rate banks charge their best corporate customers—has remained steady at 3.25 percent. Meanwhile, during the same period, the excess reserves that commercial banks hold at the Fed have increased from $2 billion in August 2008 to $1,513 billion in May 2011. Ordinarily, one would have expected...
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Bloomberg: Put Higgs’s Name on That Nobel



In a Bloomberg report today, “Economic Recovery Is Languishing as Americans Await Signal of Better Times,” Peter Coy casts about for explanations for why the economy is not in recovery, and ends with this offer: A Nobel prize goes to whoever can end this routine and get America growing again. OK, Mr. Coy, send...
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Robert Higgs on Why Government Is Prolonging the Economic Crisis



In a new article for the Gannett newspapers, “Is this any way to run a government?”, Chuck Raasch interviews Robert Higgs, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and author of the book, Depression, War, and Cold War. With Congress debating a possible shutdown of the federal government, Dr. Higgs discusses why: “The government can...
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Economic Growth: Incentives Matter



President Obama spoke to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today (February 7), to try to encourage the CEOs of American businesses to do their share to reinvigorate the economy by investing, hiring, and matching what his administration has done through its various stimulus programs. In part, the president said, “As we work with you...
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Notes on Bernanke’s Apologia for QE2



On November 4, an op-ed article written by Ben Bernanke, “What the Fed Did and Why: Supporting the Recovery and Sustaining Price Stability,” was published in the Washington Post. In this article, Bernanke presents an apologia for the Fed’s decision to undertake QE2, the purchase of $600 billion of longer-term U.S. government bonds during...
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This Week in The Lighthouse: Government’s Cost | U.S. Economy | Fourth Amendment | Venezuelan Elections



This week’s Lighthouse discusses the Independent Institute’s new Government Cost Calculator at www.MyGovCost.org, Robert Higgs on regime uncertainty, Joseph R. Stromberg on the decline of the Fourth Amendment, and Alvaro Vargas Llosa on next week’s elections in Venezuela. Here are links to the individual items: 1. What Is Washington’s Spending Costing You? 2. It’s...
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  • Catalyst
  • Beyond Homeless
  • MyGovCost.org
  • FDAReview.org
  • OnPower.org
  • elindependent.org