"The backdraft blows both ways. But repeated attempts to wean the world away from gold only served to send its price higher..."

Key News

Key News

Friday 31 August 2007 6:00 a.m. EDT

Key News

• High-yielding currencies came back into favour and the yen fell on Fri

A fascinating documentary on the rise and, particularly, fall of Enron. More's the pity the gun was pointing into the wrong direction.

Health care is often the subject of jokes, like a play on words. "Give 'em health!" was the battle cry of her supporters when several years back th

If it is true, as is sometimes objected, that the necessary condition for a free evolution - the spirit of individual initiative -

Well, it's done. The contract setting up the grand coalition between the CDU and the SPD, Germany's two big political parties, has been sealed. Nex

False Confidence

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy," said Winston Churchill. Although it inevitab

America is more than a country; it is the ideal of liberty. In economic terms, liberty translates into the entrepreneurial spirit of hard work,

By David Galland, Managing Editor,

Interview with John Bellamy Foster 

MW: The financial crisis is quickly turning into a political crisis. Already governments in

Everyone has been guilty, at one time or another, of ignoring a cold. Though you knew you were sick, you may have kept working hard, playing ha

This week, seven major corporations announced major layoffs, adding 72,000 to the unemployed. At the same time, lending by the big banks fell

Competing Ideologies: Davos v. Belem 

Global Research , Fe

I get a lot of newsletters from money managers around the country, which I try and read as they are written by people who are “in the tre

Yesterday I sent you an Outside the Box from Paul McCulley who supports the government and Fed activity (in general) in the current economic cr

Today, Congress signaled its intention to use $15 billion in public money to bail out the "Big Three" automakers with a so-called &qu

By Doug Hornig, Editor  | 

THE CANDIDATES TAKE NOTICE OF THE DEEPENING CRISIS

When the precious metals were smashed out of nowhere and the dollar started climbing this summer I became very worried. I didn’t question

The US Congress’ passage of a slightly modified form of the Bush Administration’s financial bailout plan on the week of October 3

“Two legs bad, four legs good!”

There were two main direct assaults on the gold standard by the American

There is nothing more dangerous than when those responsible for a nation's troubles are believed to be its savior.

The

By nationalizing nearly 80% of AIG for $85 billion, the Fed is doing a lot more than simply flushing taxpayer money down the toilet. The greater

Last week, the U.S. government took the unprecedented step of effectively nationalizing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Together, the

Unfortunately, we Americans now realize that the decision by Ben Bernanke to slash the Fed Funds rate to 2% (a three hundred twenty five basis po

While Elton John made us think of Norma Jean as a candle in the wind, the financial markets in 2008 bring to mind a stick of lit dynamite in a hu

Over the past few decades, the United States has steadily evolved from a nation of ‘producers’ to one of ‘consumers’. The

This week, with the nation’s financial infrastructure crumbling before our very eyes, the nation’s top two economic policy makers mad

Barron Young Smith is a financial journalist whose piece What Would Happen If We Adopted the Gold Standard? is appended below. He descri

One of the truly spectacular sights is from the airplane as it makes its approaches to Los Angeles International Airport at dusk. Down below is t

I was shocked by yesterday's decision by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by 50 basis points and then signal that there is more to

NEW YORK (KWR) March 27, 2007 -- In late February 2007, the global stock market meltdown started in Shanghai. As The New York Times noted on Marc

Soldiers throwing away ammunition before combat

The guessing game among gold market analysts is still on: will central banks resume gol

It is quite a task to talk about teachers who played important roles in our lives. Professor Ludwig von Mises played a decisive role in my life.

Few American economists have wielded as much influence on economic thought and policy as the late Milton Friedman. He was an articulate and ardent

What the Obituaries Don't Say

I was in Chicago on November 17, 2006, to address the 2007 MBA class of the University o

Yesterday the Philadelphia Fed Business Economic Survey came in at the lowest level since the recession in 2001. Some argue that it is just one mon

NEW YORK (KWR) -- In Ernest Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea an aging fisherman seeks to take one last trophy from the sea. Although he

Most readers will be familiar with the great hyperinflation of Weimar Germany. Indeed, it is often held up as the icon of what can go drastically w

Gold confiscation is a subject that divides gold investors. Some say it won't happen again and others say it will happen again. The one thing th

Ever since a new administration assumed power in November 2005, the mood has much improved. The economy seems to be stirring again after many ye

"Those who do not remember the past may be condemned to relive it." This old adage applies especially to politicians who, driven by public opinio

Economics is a theoretical science that analyzes the economic consequences of all modes of human action. It examines goods prices, wage rates, and

If there is one consistent theme we have expressed in these pages it is the view that rising commodity prices and falling financial assets tend to

Outsourcing - the business practice of moving operations and jobs to other countries - undoubtedly is the crucial issue of the European Union. F

This week we return to Europe, as what is happening there is one of the most important questions of the day. It is every bit as critical to our lon

What if the Malthusian doom and gloom crowd is wrong? What if the trend of lower population growth clearly evident in the developed world is echoed

At a meeting in Lisbon in 2001 the leaders of the European Union proudly proclaimed that the Union would become, by 2010, "the most competitive an

An Address delivered before the Athenaeum of Madrid, Spain, January 18, 1999

Gulliver in the land of the mad scientists

Jonat