Alex Chafuen
Articles
2014 Sound Money Rankings: the bottom of the list
As several of the worse performing currencies are in countries where the government manipulates statistics and exchange rates, it is not easy to come up with a perfect ranking. Using the inflation rate is a good approximation. In Venezuela the official price inflation is over 60%. In Argentina statistics are so manipulated that it is…
Atlas Sound Money Project team participates at Cato 2014 Monetary conference.
Most of the team of the Atlas Sound Money Project attended the Cato Institute Monetary Conference. Dr. Judy Shelton, co-director of the project spoke on “Building an Orderly and Ethical International Monetary System,” Senior fellow, Dr. Jerry L. Jordan, who knows more than any other person I know how the Fed interacts with banks spoke…
Wall Street Journal describes the new Cato Institute effort to promote sound money
The Wall Street Journal blog reports that Cato’s new Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives will have as a goal to “challenge the central bank’s policies and explore alternative ways to manage the U.S. money supply, including but not limited to a return to the gold standard.” The new director, George Selgin, is an outstanding economist, with…
New Book on Sound Money by Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames
In a recent piece in Forbes.com, contributor Mark Hendrickson writes “one of my favorite passages in “MONEY” was when the authors drew an ironic contrast between the fate of John Law, who had to flee France in disgrace after his ruinous paper money scheme blew up two centuries ago, and our present tendency to lionize…
Monetary Manipulation and the Loss of Trust in Free Enterprise
The On-Line Library of Law and Liberty just published my review of Stephen King’s “When the Money Runs Out.” Monetary manipulation has destroyed the level of trust in free-markets in many countries, I am more familiar with the Argentine case, which King analyzes in his book. He also touches on Japan. Their civil society still…
What is the Connection Between the IMF and the Ukraine Crisis?
Judy Shelton writes in the Wall Street Journal: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Former White House Chief of Staff and now Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brazen credo comes to mind as the Obama administration tries to link emergency financial aid for Ukraine with changes to the International Monetary Fund’s governance…
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser is Right to be Worried
The dangers of relying on printing money to solve economic problems led Charles Plosser to become more vocal. He argued that “The best thing the U.S. can do for the global economy is have a strong economy itself…over the longer run that will make for a much healthily world economy.” Returning as fast as possible…
Sound Money for Ukraine
Another brilliant piece by Judy Shelton: “As Ukrainians mourn their dead and vow to prosecute their recently deposed leader, the valor of those who died must now inspire others to build a new Ukraine worthy of their struggle and sacrifice. Democracy and a better future must be secured in pragmatic terms. Economic benefits must begin…
Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810-1884) on paper money and omnipotent government
“As long as the government has the power to manufacture currency with simple paper strips that promise nothing nor require any repayment, the omnipotent power of government will live unscathed like a gnawing worm in the heart of the Constitution itself.”
Fighting monetary inflation: easier in Argentina?
An Argentine Think Tank, Fundación Libertad y Progreso, has produced a short You Tube video on the causes of price inflation. It has been viewed over 300,000 times. You can see it here Who is to blame for price increases? (in Spanish) The popularity of the government is suffering as the population is not buying…
