The idea of resorting to work and entrepreneurialism as a means to material well-being has historically become a poor second to the idea of acquiring resources through theft. This robbery is always most effectively perpetrated when disguised and when legally underwritten by the threat of political violence–-i.e., when it is committed by the State.
There is something about monetary phenomena that make them a particularly misunderstood aspect of economic life. Deflation is no exception. There seems to be little understanding as to what it is, what causes it, and whether or not it is something that should be prevented. The effects of deflation, like the quality of drinking water, cannot be considered without regard to its source.
So long greenbacks; hello pinkbacks. So says the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which promises to start changing the color of money next fall, beginning with the $20 bill.
With the average American spending more to fund government than to buy food, clothing, and shelter combined, the greatest impact the government has on those of us for whom it "cares so much" is through the huge gap it creates between the value of our productive contribution to others in the workplace and what we actually take home.
The Federal Reserve is continuing to experiment with new, more counterfeit-proof paper money. Recently, it was big faces, along with the introduction of a variety of other difficult-to-counterfeit characteristics into our Federal Reserve Notes. Next, maybe, it will be color. Or, writes Clifford Thies, perhaps the real issue is not the color on the back of the money, but money’s real backing.
News reports now indicate that WorldCom's overstatement of its profits in the last few years may exceed initial reports. But, writes George Reisman, whatever the ultimate figure may be—$7.1 billion or even $10 billion—it pales into insignificance in comparison with the overstatement of profits regularly engineered by the U.S. government.
Somehow, someway, it always comes back to the central bank. Alan Greenspan is letting it be known that rate cuts are not out of the question. The hint alone sent the financial markets soaring. Yet, writes Lew Rockwell, to attempt more artificial credit injections at this stage is extremely dangerous.
The same politicians who cannot remember the names of major corporations pretend to understand accounting while they are preening before the television cameras, writes James Sheehan. If these solons really knew how misleading corporate accounting was, surely they would have acted to correct the problem before now.
Argentina and now Brazil are the latest chapters in Latin America's long financial history of foreign debt and default, writes Antony Mueller. It is a consequence of bad policy, underwritten by international financial institutions and subsidized from a pervasive culture of debt.
Last week, headlines around the world were screaming out the sad tale of WorldCom and its $4 billion or so misstatement of earnings. But should we really be surprised that another poster child of the boom--especially one whose growth has come through rapid-fire acquisitions led by a rock star CEO--has been revealed to be a hotbed of malpractice?
