Mercantilism was an insidious economic theory that held Europe in its thrall in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
In January 2013, one could buy a Bitcoin for about $13. By late November, one Bitcoin would have set a buyer back over $1100.
Following Greece's defeat at the hands of Turkey in 1897, Greece's fiscal house was entrusted to a Control Commission. During the 20th century, the drachma was one of the world's worst currencies. It recorded the world's sixth highest hyperinflation. In October 1944, Greece's monthly inflation rate hit 13,800%.
High mandated minimum wages will throw people out of work and onto the welfare rolls in cases where unemployment benefits exist. When it comes to welfare payments, they obey the laws of economics, too. Indeed, if something - like unemployment - is subsidized, more of it will be produced.
There has never been a failure of a currency board anywhere in the world. These are tough systems, and when I say they are foolproof, that's exactly the case.
With the passing of Milton Friedman on November 16, 2006, we lost one of the great champions of free markets.
The IMF is set up to deal with liquidity crises.
When the dollar goes down relative to other currencies, the price of wheat, corn, rice and oil all go up in dollar terms.
After the maxi yuan depreciation of 1994 and until 2005, exchange-rate fixity was the order of the day, with little movement in the CNY/USD rate.
Until the Fed dumps inflation targeting and the U.S. abandons its weak-dollar policy, inflation will rule the day.
Although floating and fixed rates appear dissimilar, they are members of the same freemarket family. Both operate without exchange controls and are free-market mechanisms for balance-of-payment adjustments.
Contrary to what most people think, bank money is much more important than state money. In Greece, for example, bank money makes up 84.26% of the total money supply.
If you squeeze and squeeze, and you don't allow the Iranians to sell any oil, then what do they have to lose by shutting the Strait of Hormuz down? And if they do that, that's 35% of all the world's oil that comes through the strait and 20% of the liquefied natural gas in the world.
Let the market, not politicians, determine the flow of rice, oil and other commodities. Lower, more stable prices will ensue.
A minimum wage leads to higher levels of unemployment.
It turns out that the rich are much better placed to feed at the public trough. The poor get crumbs.
With interest rates artificially low, consumers reduce savings in favor of consumption, and entrepreneurs increase their rates of investment spending.
During the last two centuries, there have been many deflations throughout the world. Almost all of them have been good ones precipitated by technological innovation, rising productivity, global capital flows, and sustained economic growth. If farm mechanization cuts the price of wheat, you get a rising living standard. This is good.
In 2008, Bitcoin was mysteriously introduced to the world in an obscure, technical paper written under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. By late 2013, the financial press was filled with reportage on Bitcoin and its dramatic price increase.
The most important lesson to take away from allowing the minimum wage and unemployment benefit data to talk is that abstract notions of what is right, good and just should be examined from a concrete, operational point of view. A dose of reality is most edifying.
