SNB & CHF

Nicolás Cachanosky was a co-author on the dollarization proposal for Argentina that Javier Milei publicly endorsed. Nicolás explains to Bob the outlines of the proposal, which involves replacing pesos with USD for bank deposits, currency in circulation, and central bank liabilities. How to Dollarize Argentina: Mises.org/HAP423a Rear More from Nicolás: Mises.org/HAP423b The Human Action Podcast Episode with Peter Lewin: Mises.org/HAP423c Co-Creator...

Dear Friend, In the chapter of The Road to Serfdom entitled “The End of Truth,” F.A. Hayek wrote that in a totalitarian society “truth” is not determined by scholarship, research, discussion, and debate but by pronouncements by the government “authorities.” Anthony Fauci’s notorious “I am science” declaration is a perfect example of such totalitarian thinking, as is Al Gore’s “settled science” declaration regarding global-warming research. Of course, no real...

Most people have a negative view of business monopolies. Whether for allegedly exploiting workers, causing inefficiency, or crowding out potential challengers, most government-granted monopolies undoubtedly hurt entrepreneurs and customers. This basic distrust of monopolization disappears as soon as one enters the floors of the United States Senate or Congress. Government-forced monopolization arises in virtually every industry, but nowhere is it as costly as in...

Price Action:  Since the North American markets closed Wednesday, the foreign exchange market has been subdued.  Most of the major currencies are +/- 0.2%.  The Antipodeans and sterling have risen a bit more.  The euro is in the middle of this week’s range (~$1.0850-$1.0965).  The dollar is at the upper end of this week's range against the Japanese yen (~JPY147.15-JPY149.75).  Sterling is trading near the high for the week set in...

As the federal government continues its Ponzi scheme of issuing debt to pay for past debts, interest rates will increase to the point where this no longer is a tenable strategy—if it ever was. Original Article: The Interest Rate Shock Will Blow Up the Government’s Ponzi Game [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter...

The Austrian (TA): At mises.org, we’ve focused a lot on how monetary policy can increase inequality and impoverishment. But the same could be said of many other non-central-bank interventions in the economy. What are some of these interventions that are making us worse off? Per Bylund (PB): I think what is important to remember is that any change in the economy implies a shift in the production structure and thus in how resources are used. This includes innovations...

In my experience of public policy discussions, one of the most frequent weasel words used as an intended trump (not Trump) card has been “fair.” Like another commonly played political trump card, “need,” fairness does not have a clear meaning. That provides a great deal of wiggle room for equivocation, almost always used to justify forcing some Americans to pay for what someone else wants. Fairness has no universal meaning beyond “more for me or those I care about”...

A Cato Institute associate has declared the development of the covid-19 vaccines to be a free-market “triumph.” The only thing that has triumphed in this sorry episode has been the rapid growth of coercive government power. Original Article: Contra CATO: COVID-19 Vaccinations Are Not a Free Market Victory [embedded content]...

On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop discuss the aftermath of Javier Milei's election in Argentina. The two discuss the value Milei's victory has for libertarianism and Austrian economics, the challenges he immediately faces, and what steps are necessary for him to turn a winning campaign into an impactful presidency.  "The United States Needs Its Own Javier Milei" by Connor O'Keeffe: Mises.org/RR_161_A "An Anarchist’s Pragmatic...

[The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything, by Ruth Goodman, Liveright Publishing Corporation; 2020. xxi + 330 pp.] The subtitle of Ruth Goodman's book The Domestic Revolution doesn't come close to describing what this book is really about. Yes, this book tells us a lot about coal and how it affected Victorian domestic life. But this book is really about how what we eat and how we prepare food has been closely tied...