Why no centennial celebration? December 23, 2013 marks the centennial of a disastrous transformation of the American Republic. On December 23, 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created. Woodrow Wilson believed that central planning could make America better. His informal deputy, Colonel House (who was not really a colonel ... MORE
by Chriss Street. The mainstream media were shocked today when U.S. job growth continued at a very strong pace in November, despite the October government shutdown that ended on October 17th. Employers added 203,000 jobs and the reported unemployment rate fell from 7.3% to 7%, its lowest level since November 2008. Economists had ... MORE
The ceaseless hunt for victims and oppressors. The Obama presidency has had very little legislative success. Even the signature Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is imploding, and was dubbed a “train wreck” by one of its own Senatorial authors. The lead-from-behind retrenchment abroad from America’s traditional leadership ... MORE
Markets will stop what politicians will not. The situation with the Federal Reserve (and other central banks around the world) is not very different than what prevailed in the early 1920s and ended in Germany’s horrendous hyperinflation. The notions that “this time is different” or “it can’t happen here” are naive. It is happening ... MORE
Why should government be allowed to counterfeit? I've always avoided reporting on the Federal Reserve. I know it's more important than much of the stuff I cover, but it's so boring. How can I succeed on TV reporting on the Fed? Fed chairs even work at being dull. Alan Greenspan said he tried to be obscure because he didn't ... MORE
by Oliver Darcy. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Tuesday that he will move to block
Dr. Janet Yellen’s nomination as the next Federal Reserve Chair unless
the Senate votes on his legislation which allows the Fed to be audited “I am writing to convey my objection to
floor consideration of the nomination of Dr. ... MORE
Politicians have seen to it. “There is precedent for a government shutdown,” Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, remarked last week. “There’s no precedent for default. How wrong he is. The U.S. government defaulted after the Revolutionary War, and it defaulted at intervals thereafter. Moreover, on the authority of ... MORE
Turning a blind eye to history. The nomination of Janet Yellen to become head of the Federal Reserve System has set off a flurry of media stories. Since she will be the first woman to occupy that position, we can only hope that this will not mean that any criticism of what she does will be attributed to sex bias or to a "war on women." ... MORE
Politicians have each other's back. The government is trying to block questioning of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a lawsuit by the former head of American International Group Inc. The Justice Department told a federal appeals court Friday that high-ranking officials should not have to testify except in extraordinary ... MORE
The Fed has been and is a failure. Lovers of Big Government and apologists for debt like Paul Krugman have tried to paint Milton Friedman as a contradiction. They say that Friedman’s insight that more Fed intervention might have mitigated the Great Depression is inconsistent with his view that the Depression would have been ... MORE