EconomicPolicyJournal.com

Easy Money Confusion

2009-11-08T07:20:00.002-05:00

In my view, the latest to contribute to the confusion over easy money is Jerry O'Driscoll. Over at Think Markets, he writes: The Fed is promising near-zero overnight interest rates out as far as the eye can see. The effects of the easy money have not yet manifested themselves in US consumer prices.This near zero interest rate policy is not however contributing to a growth in money supply. For all

The Decline and Fall of the EU Empire

2009-11-08T05:38:00.003-05:00

By William Rees-MoggThe Lisbon Treaty was finally brought to ratification last week. The Conservatives decided not to call a referendum, which could not have blocked the treaty now it has been accepted by the Czech Republic. Illogically perhaps, Euro-sceptics ought to welcome the treaty, if only for its awfulness. The treaty with its imperial ambition, its new status in law, its president, its

The President's Visitors List

2009-11-08T05:21:00.003-05:00

Bill O'Reily reports on the Top Visitors to the White House. The head of a union with ties to ACORN head tops the list:THE White House released last week a partial list of visitors since Jan. 20. It is fascinating and highlights what kind of house the Obamas are running.Topping the visitor chart is Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, who has been received there 22

Top Ten

2009-11-08T04:53:00.003-05:00

The Top Ten most read posts at EPJ for the week ended Saturday November 7, 2009:#1 Why Tom Woods Set Off Mel Watt's Voltage - Returns to the Top Ten on news that Watt was instrumental in gutting Ron Paul's Audit the Fed Bill#2 Shock: Inside the Healthcare Bill 16th week in the Top Ten#3 Federal Reserve Policy Audit Legislation ‘Gutted,’ Paul Says#4 So Just Who Is Buying All the New Treasury Debt?

Does Macro Need a Paradigm Shift?

2009-11-07T06:48:00.004-05:00

Bob Murphy emailed me about a recent Scott Sumner post:Before I forget, I think you would like this Sumner piece. It's a bit long so don't read it in the back of a cab; you need to ponder it. But you will love at least 3 or 4 of his points I think.I have finally stopped lecturing my cabbie. And I have had a chance to ponder the Sumner piece. Murphy was right, I think it contains some of the most

Not Invited to the Party

2009-11-07T05:33:00.005-05:00

So the Treasury threw a party, or a press conference or something, and I was not invited.Geez, it's not like I am against covering Treasury officials. I did, for example, breakdown Phil Swagel's skills as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.And, it is not like I am not curious about the Treasury. I do want to know how many times Treasury Secretary Geithner's father met with President Obama's mother

Investment Bank Scammers Try Out the God Angle

2009-11-06T18:51:00.008-05:00

After giving free markets a bad name, investment banks are turning to religion. These guys really have no shame.They pose as free marketeers when every penny they make is propped up by government, and now they want to invoke the good words in the Bible to justify their scamming. IB's are now hitting the churches of London, before they divvy up this year's loot. It is an attempt to do what they do

"Did You Even Read the Bill?"

2009-11-06T17:42:00.002-05:00

This ad is hitting the airwaves next week:

The Things You Have to Say (and do) to Get Elected

2009-11-06T17:19:00.002-05:00

Rand Paul Explains His PlatformBy Adam S. Sulfridge / Staff Writer for the TimesTribune.comDr. Rand Paul, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, explained his position on taxes, government spending, the drug abuse epidemic, welfare and other government benefits during an exclusive interview with the Times-Tribune, just hours before his appearance at the University of the Cumberlands in

Schiff Site Came Under Cyber Attack

2009-11-06T17:03:00.002-05:00

The Peter Schiff campaign writes:As you may have heard, the newly updated schiffforsenate.com site was brought down temporarily by a cyber-attack that occurred yesterday during our money bomb. It is not the first time the campaign site has been been targeted by these kind of attacks, but the authorities have been notified and the site is up and running again.Schiff, a Ron Paul Republican running

Did Goldman CFO Viniar Call in the Lawyers on a Beauty with Brains?

2009-11-06T15:54:00.004-05:00

What is it with these supposed big dicks when they run into women with beauty and brains? First we had the Patrick Byrne/Lila Rajiva incident. Now, I'm guessing, Goldman CFO David Viniar called in the lawyers when another beauty with brains called him a liar, or maybe the Goldman lawyers jumped in on their own, hoping to earn a bigger cut of those Goldman bonuses that are soon to be decided.I am

Freaking Out over Global Warming

2009-11-06T15:00:00.004-05:00

If the battle stemming from Tom Palmer comments over The New York Times best seller, Meltdown by Tom Woods, hasn't satisfied your lust for fight, don't miss the body slams going on around the climatology chapter in Superfreakonomics the new Steven D. Levitt/Stephen J. Dubner book.Bob Murphy gets in the ring on this one, separates the participants, and then starts throwing a few body slams of his

Broader U-6 Unemployment Rate Hits 17.5%

2009-11-06T14:41:00.001-05:00

Sudeep Reddy and Phil Izzo report:The U.S. jobless rate jumped up 0.4 percentage point to 10.2% in October, the highest level since April 1983. The government’s broader measure of unemployment shot up even more, rising half a point to 17.5%.The comprehensive gauge of labor underutilization, known as the “U-6″ for its data classification by the Labor Department, accounts for people who have

Jan Schakowsky Meets Goldman Sachs

2009-11-06T11:21:00.004-05:00

Rep Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) recently met with senior officials of Goldman Sachs. The confusion she displayed during that meeting is astonishing.Here is her report as she published it as Huffington Post:This week I had an opportunity most Americans would relish, just as I did. I was able to unload on two top executives of Goldman Sachs who descended from on high to my office because I clearly needed

Jobless Rate Jumps to 10.2%

2009-11-06T09:19:00.002-05:00

The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline (-190,000), Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.Construction employment decreased by 62,000 in October. Manufacturing lost 61,000 jobs in October. Retail trade lost 40,000 jobs in October.The government propped up health care sector to increase in October with a gain of29,000

Carlyle Group Takes Big Position in Turkey

2009-11-05T18:42:00.003-05:00

Interesting global move by the Carlyle Group.They have taken a 40% stake in a Turkish hospital chain, Medical Park, for $100 million, according to daily Sabah.Carlyle acquired the stake from investors Ethem Sancak and Muharrem Usta, the daily reports. Medical Park has 13 hospitals and more than 6,000 employees.Rest assured there won't be any Obamacare type public option in Turkey.

Roger Garrison on Austrian Business Cycle Theory

2009-11-05T17:50:00.003-05:00

Relative to my post, The Vision of Tom Palmer, a friend sends along this commentary by Roger Garrison on ABCT: The Austrian theory has it that artificially low interest rates distort the temporal pattern of investment. With new money masquerading as increased saving, resources are misallocated into interest-sensitive activities, which, broadly speaking, means investments in the early stages of

Geithner in Scotland

2009-11-05T16:54:00.002-05:00

Will Adam Smith turn over in his grave?Smith is buried at Canongate cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland’s Royal Mile.Tomorrow, the free market impostor Treasury Secretary Geithner arrives at Fife, Scotland.In the afternoon, he will hold a bilateral meeting with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble at the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at St. Andrews.In the evening,

Government Admits Driving Wall Street to Act Like Drug Dealers

2009-11-05T14:58:00.013-05:00

At a press conference announcing the latest insider trading busts, the government has admitted that it is turning those seeking to make the markets more efficient (by aggressively seeking out important information), more like drug dealers.That's what happens when you start making more laws and stretch laws, you cause more and more of a society to protect themselves by using the methods of drug

House Votes to Extend Jobless Benefits

2009-11-05T14:35:00.002-05:00

No need to rush out for looking for a job, just hang around the house, surf the net, check out EPJ a few times a day.The House has approved a bill that will extend unemployment benefits for up to another 20 weeks to nearly 2 million people who have lost or are in danger of exhausting unemployment benefits.The bill, which is now headed to the President for signing, also extends and expands the

The Vision of Tom Palmer

2009-11-05T11:27:00.008-05:00

There is a major street brawl going on between Tom Palmer and some members of the Austrian school of economics.The brawl started when out of the blue, in a review of a Johan Norberg book about the financial crisis, Palmer threw this in: ...Norberg is a smart guy, a meticulous researcher, and a good writer, but because it’s an exercise in economic analysis and financial journalism, with no

While Insider Trading Arrests Entertain the Masses, Goldman Continues to Skate

2009-11-05T10:00:00.004-05:00

Matt Taibbi has a solid piece on Goldman below and, on another note, I hear DOJ is snooping around Taibbi's not so solid naked short selling story which Penson claims icontains a bogus video.The deal contributed to the more than $14 billion that over 18 months was handed to Goldman Sachs , whose former chairman, Stephen Friedman, was chairman of the board of directors of the New York Fed when the

Fourteen Charged By FBI for Hedge Fund Insider Trading

2009-11-05T09:45:00.002-05:00

Update: The FBI has confirmed to CNBC that 7 people are in custody after being arrested in connection with an ongoing probe of insider trading in the hedge fund industry. The FBI says those arrested are employees of Galleon, Schottenfeld Group, law firm Ropes & Gray, and Incremental Capital.A press conference is expected where it will be announced that the filing of criminal charges against 14

SEC Charges Value Line with Fraud; CEO Barred

2009-11-05T09:26:00.004-05:00

Sounds like Value Line needs to make more political contributions.The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged New York City-based investment adviser Value Line Inc., its CEO, its former Chief Compliance Officer and its affiliated broker-dealer with defrauding the Value Line family of mutual funds by charging over $24 million in bogus brokerage commissions on mutual fund trades

FBI Arrests Seven in Insider Trading Probe

2009-11-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

The arrests were made in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Developing...