SAVINGS – NOT TARIFFS WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

by Antonius Aquinas

While the farcical Kavanaugh confirmation hearings dominated the news cycle for the past couple of weeks, little mention was made of a disturbing economic headline – the August US trade deficit. Despite all the bluster from the Trump Administration about “winning trade wars” and “trade wars are easy,” America’s trade imbalances for August were the highest ever and its deficit with its most contentious partner – China – reached an all-time high.

THE FED'S "INFLATION TARGET" IS IMPOVERISHING AMERICAN WORKERS

by Antonius Aquinas

At one time, the Federal Reserve’s sole mandate was to maintain stable prices and to “fight inflation.” To the Fed, the financial press, and most everyone else “inflation” means rising prices instead of its original and true definition as an increase in the money supply. Rising prices are a consequence – a very painful consequence – of money printing.

THE ULTIMATE REGULATORY REFORM: ABOLISH FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING

by Antonius Aquinas

The Trump Administration has presented the first part of its plan to overhaul a number of Wall Street financial regulations. Many of these were enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The administration's proposals are included in a report released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury the entitled "A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities" (6th June, 2017).

The report was prompted by Executive Order 13772. This ordered the US Treasury Department to examine the United States’ financial regulatory system and detail "executive actions and regulatory changes that can be immediately undertaken to provide much-needed relief."

DONALD AND THE TWILIGHT OF THE "MAESTRO"

by Antonius Aquinas

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who was once laudably referred to as the "Maestro" for his supposed astute stewardship of U.S. monetary policy, commented last week on the nation’s current political and economic climate:

"We’re not in a stable equilibrium. I hope we can all find a way out because this too great a country to be undermined, by how should I say it, crazies."

Well, if there is anyone who knows how to "undermine" an economy, it is the "Maestro," since it was his "crazed" policies that brought about the 2008 financial crisis which ushered in the Great Recession that continues to this very day.