by Dan Mitchell | May 4, 2015 | Blogs, Economics
The standard argument against an easy-money policy is that it creates distortions in an economy that lead to either rapid increases in the price level, like we endured in the 1970s, or unsustainable asset bubbles, like we experienced last decade. Those arguments are...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 3, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Monetary Policy
During periods of economic weakness, governments often respond with “loose” monetary policy, which generally means that central banks will take actions that increase liquidity and artificially lower interest rates. I’m not a big fan of this approach. If an economy is...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 25, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Keynesian
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Ronald Reagan. He’s definitely the greatest president of my lifetime and, with one possible rival, he was the greatest President of the 20th century. If his only accomplishment was ending malaise and restoring American prosperity...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 15, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy, Health Care
I’ve written a couple of serious posts about the death panels at the VA’s government-run health facilities. I think it’s particularly important to understand that the problem has nothing to do with funding levels. Instead, it’s about the chronic inefficiency of...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 21, 2011 | Blogs, Economics, Monetary Policy
To put it mildly, the Federal Reserve has a dismal track record. It bears significant responsibility for almost every major economic upheaval of the past 100 years, including the Great Depression, the 1970s stagflation, and the recent financial crisis. Perhaps the...