Inflation

Government interference into money creation and production harms the economy in a number of ways, including skewing the organization of division of labor.

These days, the Fed and Chairman Jerome Powell are claiming the title of "inflation fighters." The more appropriate moniker should be "inflationists."

As Murray Rothbard wrote, inflation is not an increase in prices. It is, instead, an increase in the supply of money in circulation. The distinction is important.

When consumer prices shot up after the massive monetary injections undertaken to counteract the job-killing Covid lockdowns, the political classes called it "price gouging." Indeed, when government inflates, we need all the price gouging we can get.

Government and monetary authorities claim that the worst of the postcovid lockdown disruptions are past and a "return to normal" is just around the corner. It will be a very long corner.

No matter the historical era, governments have excelled at one thing: debasing their own currency. Rome was no exception, as Roman government excesses required inflation—lots of inflation.

While an increase in the supply of gold money would lead to higher consumer prices, such increases in the gold supply do not lead to boom-bust cycles.

Government interference into money creation and production harms the economy in a number of ways, including skewing the organization of division of labor.

Keynesian economists fantasize that a market economy cannot "gain traction" without "stimulus" schemes from the government. In the end, the only thing stimulated are inflation and recession.

Central bankers follow inflation "target" in their pursuit of "price stability." Not surprisingly, they usually miss their targets -- quite badly -- and we now are living one of those moments.