Carl Menger Center for the Study of Money and Banking

11/18/2016

The Indian government demonetized 85 percent of the cash in circulation last week, with devastating effects. Might we see that here in the United States too?

http://mengercenter.org/the-war-on-cash-in-india/

11/02/2016

The FOMC held the target federal funds rate steady today. Will it hike rates in December?

Fed Holds Rates Steady: Setting Up for December Hike? by Paul-Martin Foss • November 2, 2016 In an unsurprising decision, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided today once again to keep its target federal funds rate steady at 0.25-0.50%. It was widely speculated that the FOMC would hold ra...

08/15/2016

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the Crime of '71: President Nixon's closing of the gold window.

http://mengercenter.org/today-in-history-president-nixon-closes-the-gold-window/

A flashback to 1971, when President Richard Nixon closed the gold window, severing the final link between the US dollar and gold. Like all "temporary" measur...

07/27/2016

The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to hold the target federal funds rate at 1/4 to 1/2 percent.

Federal Reserve Holds Yet Again by Paul-Martin Foss • July 27, 2016 Unsurprisingly, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided today once again to hold the target federal funds rate at 1/4 to 1/2 percent. Kansas City Fed President Esther George was the sole dissenting vote in this month’s FOMC...

06/20/2016

Für unsere deutschen Leser stellen wir unseren ersten Artikel auf deutsch vor.

Die deutsche Antwort auf Negativzinsen: Bankschließfächer by Paul-Martin Foss • June 20, 2016 Für unsere deutschen Leser stellen wir unseren ersten Artikel auf deutsch vor. Übersetzt und ergänzt von einem früheren veröffentlichten Artikel. Die japanische Antwort auf Negativzinsen: Anschaffung von hä...

06/15/2016

Not surprisingly, the FOMC decided to hold its target federal funds rate at 0.25-0.50% today.

http://mengercenter.org/fed-declines-to-raise-rates/

06/15/2016

Hoping for a Federal Reserve rate hike anytime soon? Don't hold your breath. The Fed wants to wait until economic data gets closer to that of the boom years of 2004-2006. That won't happen.

http://mengercenter.org/no-fed-hike-anytime-soon/

No Fed Hike Anytime Soon by Paul-Martin Foss • June 15, 2016 After May’s dismal jobs report, the odds of the Federal Reserve raising the target federal funds rate anytime soon are just about nil. Remember that the Fed has declared itself for the past several years to be “data dependent”, meaning tha...

04/27/2016

FOMC holds target federal funds rate at 0.25-0.50%.

http://mengercenter.org/fed-holds-rates-steady/

Fed Holds Rates Steady by Paul-Martin Foss • April 27, 2016 As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee decided today to maintain its target federal funds rate at between 0.25 and 0.50 percent. Another rate hike is expected at the earliest at the June FOMC meeting, with the August meeting being a…

04/22/2016

The Treasury Department's decision to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. Rather than fight over who gets to be on which bill, might there not be a better solution?

http://mengercenter.org/harriet-tubman-andrew-jackson-or-something-else/

04/05/2016

Today in monetary history: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102, criminalizing the possession of gold.

http://mengercenter.org/today-in-history-april-5-1933/

04/02/2016

Slipping in under the wire for April Fool's Day. Although the quote below is actually true.

Reclaim the Republic. Restore the Constitution.

03/22/2016

The failure of monetary policy to lift economies out of recession may lead to the institution of price controls. Central bank setting of interest rates thus begets further price-setting, continuing the long, slow march towards socialism.

http://mengercenter.org/hold-onto-your-hats-price-controls-may-be-on-the-way/