Money & Politics

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Booms & Busts, Economic History, Inflation & Deflation, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

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Ever since Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell described cyclical or COVID-related elements of inflation as "transitory" (an ambiguous phrase now retired), critics repeatedly seized on year-to-year changes in price indexes as evidence that inflation was instead accelerating every month. As I have noted before, however, the stubborn…

Fiat Money, Inflation & Deflation, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

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Starting with the April 2021 release, virtually every monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) report has indicated some form of abnormally high inflation. For instance, the April CPI rose 4.2 percent over the previous 12 months, the largest year-to-year increase since the period ending September 2008. Similarly, the…

Bitcoin
Banking Regulation, Digital Money, Economic Thought, Money & Politics, News

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Many economists acknowledge that ordinary private goods and services need to “pass the market test”—generate revenue in excess of expenses—to show that consumers’ benefits (revealed by a willingness to pay) exceed producers’ outlays. But they make an exception when it comes to monetary instruments and payment systems….

Bank
Banking Regulation, Economic History, Economic Thought, Money & Politics, News, The Fed & Central Banks

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Saule Omarova Beth and Marc Goldberg Professor of Law Cornell Law School Ithaca, NY Dear Professor Omarova, As you probably know, I'm among the critics of the plan for "democratizing money" that you outline in your forthcoming Vanderbilt Law Review article. I disagree with it enough to…