Health Insurance: Yet Another “Free Market” That Has Failed
It’s always great to hear about American “free market” capitalism when our markets are light years from being free. The United States stands as a beacon for freedom, yet in the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom we barely squeeze into… Continue reading
A Sound Lender of Last Resort
Meet Walter Bagehot.
What does it mean to be the lender of last resort? Generally, it is a reserve financial institution willing to extend credit when no one else will. It usually refers directly to a nation’s central bank. The… Continue reading
What is Free Banking?
A private banknote issued by the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad Bank in 1853.
In order to understand a regulated banking system, you must have a conception of what the banking system would look like without government. Free banking may be… Continue reading
Parting Thoughts for 2010
I’d like to wish everyone a happy new year. Thank you for supporting SwiftEconomics and reading our prose. It’s time to tie up 2010 in a nice little bow with a few parting thoughts…
We’ve been on a wild ride… Continue reading
Monetary Policy: Paying Interest on Reserves
The Federal Reserve, a gift from the Woodrow Wilson administration.
We’ve spent a lot of time on this website chastising the Federal Reserve, government, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for leading us into this economic mess. Alan Greenspan and… Continue reading
The Worst Is Over — A Lesson in Accounting 101 for Economists
By Jim Boswell, author of Crush Depth Alert
As we work ourselves through this Great Recession, one has to wonder about the state of affairs in the two primary financial institutions, the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury,… Continue reading
TARP Did Not Save Us from a Great Depression
America's financial and economic leadership.
By Jim Boswell, author of Crush Depth Alert
The $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) officially came to an end Sunday, two years to the date after it was signed into law. As the… Continue reading
Ten Ways We Can Fix The Country Right Now
Yes, we all disagree. But let's focus on where we can agree in this Top Ten.
By Jim Boswell, author of Crush Depth Alert
The United States is not Japan. It never was and never will be, so let’s quit… Continue reading
Banks, The Fed, and Moral Hazard
As of 2009, the “Big Four” banks in the United States held 39% of all U.S. customer deposits. The “Big Four” includes Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
The banks that were such a systemic risk to… Continue reading
The Fiasco Continues, But Regardless, We Pay the Bill
Big Finance has done quite a job dumping the costs of their reckless decisions on others.
By Jim Boswell, author of Crush Depth Alert
As we wind our way down from our Great Recession and over-extended housing market, the fiasco… Continue reading
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