A proposal to strengthen the dollar

If there is one plain economic truth in the United States, it is the steady rise of prices. Inflation is something every American can see and feel. It is a painful reality we know too well. It is an issue around which nearly all Americans find themselves rightfully united; as a whole, [...]

Iran: the bait that could hook the world’s biggest shark

The rhetoric coming from Tehran, whether it be anti-American, anti-Israeli, Holocaust-denying, or ambiguously nuclear, is accompanied by a confidence that one would not expect from a nation that the United States could crunch like a cockroach. We may call Ahmedinejad evil, unscrupulous, radical, or unreasonable, but it would be a mistake to think of [...]

Free money: explaining 2008 U.S. stocks

Investing tip: put all of your money in the stock market the afternoon before a Federal Reserve announcement.  Take it all out the next afternoon.
 U.S. stocks have been in free fall this year, except on the days when the Federal Reserve announced it would be pumping extra cash into the banking system.  Every rate cut [...]

Bunch of drunks run the economy

“Mishief springs from the power which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privileges, which are employed all together for their benefit.” – Andrew Jackson 
“Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies,” warned Thomas Jefferson, in defense of Americans against the possible [...]

Fed plan: sacrifice the dollar

Fears of recession have turned to reality in the minds and wallets of every American not named George W. Bush.  Having long forsaken the free market economy to arbitrary powers, Americans naturally turn their economic concerns over to the federal government and the Federal Reserve.  The government has offered them $600 in tax rebates to help boost the [...]

Federal Reserve’s “Term Auction Facility” = inflation machine

On December 21, 2007, the Federal Reserve Board introduced a new source of liquidity available to banks called the “Term Auction Facility (TAF).”  The reason stated for the TAF is “pressures evident in short term borrowing markets.”  The TAF is a loan auction, which allows banks to take out a 28 day loan from the Federal [...]