Tag Archives: Economics

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As we are all preparing to bid farewell to 2021, there is a general feeling that this year, much like its predecessor, will not be missed. To my mind, however, it is clear that even though the past 12 months didn’t really teach us anything new, they did help cement the lessons of 2020 and spread important ideas to people who might otherwise have never come to question anything about the status quo. To me, this is a crucial step forward and one that is absolutely...

As we are all preparing to bid farewell to 2021, there is a general feeling that this year, much like its predecessor, will not be missed. To my mind, however, it is clear that even though the past 12 months didn’t really teach us anything new, they did help cement the lessons of 2020 and spread important ideas to people who might otherwise have never come to question anything about the status quo. To me, this is a crucial step forward and one that is absolutely essential if we are...

Interview with Fernando del Pino Calvo-Sotelo – Part II of II Claudio Grass (CG): We often refer to inflation as a “hidden tax” or a “silent thief”, due to the fact that most of the time, its effects are hardly noticed by the average household in real time. However, this time appears to be different. Food, electricity, fuel, cars, and so much more, are all getting more expensive by the minute, while central planners are blaming the private sector and “capitalist greed”. Do you...

Part I of II – Interview with Fernando del Pino Calvo-Sotelo As 2021 draws to an end, it is a good time for us all to pause for a moment, look back and take stock of the year that is almost behind us. It is especially interesting to recall what our expectations were at the start of the year and see how they measure up to what actually transpired.  It might seem like it was eons ago, but it was actually only last January when politicians in most advanced economies were still...

Campaigns to improve working conditions, union-led protests, strikes for better wages and tensions between workers and employers have always been part of our social, political and economic reality and are really nothing new. After all, the relationship between a person who sells their time and skills and the one who “buys” them is by nature a competitive one, though it doesn’t have to be as contentious, toxic and hostile as we’ve come to know it. There is always fine balance to be...

For many months now, the mainstream financial press and market analysts have been anticipating some kind of violent reaction or a “taper tantrum”, based on what they described as “hawkish” statements from the Fed and other central banks. Removing the “crutches” from the economy, by hiking interest rates and stopping the asset purchasing programs, was often cited as a serious threat the economic recovery and was expected to have a severe impact on stock market performance. And yet,...

Part II of II Unsound money, unsound society  Of course, one of the most important and consequential parts of the incredibly complex organism that is the economy is money itself. It is its lifeblood and as the song goes, “it makes the world go round”. Therefore, manipulating the currency itself is one the most dangerous and hubristic things a central planner can do, which probably explains why it’s their favorite pastime. Ever since the gold standard was officially...

Part II of II Unsound money, unsound society  Of course, one of the most important and consequential parts of the incredibly complex organism that is the economy is money itself. It is its lifeblood and as the song goes, “it makes the world go round”. Therefore, manipulating the currency itself is one the most dangerous and hubristic things a central planner can do, which probably explains why it’s their favorite pastime. Ever since the gold standard was officially abandoned,...

Part I of II Almost two decades ago, German economist Horst Siebert coined the term the “Cobra effect” to describe the real-world consequences of “well-intentioned” government interventions that go awry and produce the exact opposite results from what they aim for. The term was inspired by an incident that took place in India during the British rule, when the authorities tried to reduce the number of deadly cobras in Delhi by offering a cash reward to citizens for...