federal reserve

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Financial Regulation: Boring, or Terrifying? with Chris Iacovella and Norbert Michel

Watch the episode on YouTube. A slew of financial crises that stretch all the way back to the banking Panic of 1907 have been exploited to justify erecting a financial regulatory system that has vastly centralized and expanded federal power over our money.  The irony is that these crises were largely caused, or at least exacerbated, by poorly designed government regulations.  What we have now is an unholy alliance of regulators, mega banks and entrenched special interests who are the chief beneficiaries our system of opaque and complex financial regulation. Adding to this mix is the progressive Left who are now using our financial system to push its DEI and climate change agendas.  Joining me on this episode to explore Read More ›

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Close up Franklin's face  on a one hundred dollar. American, US Dollars Cash Money background.
Close up Franklin's face on a one hundred dollar. American, US Dollars Cash Money background.

Reserve Currency?  We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Reserve Currency

A hot question among economic pundits of late is, “What will replace the US dollar (USD) as the world’s reserve currency?” Perhaps a better question is, “Does there need to be an actual replacement?” Currently, the USD plays several major roles: There would appear to be no current alternative that completely contains every one of these attributes.  But recently, there has been a plethora of bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade agreements, particularly among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which provide the ability to settle trade transactions in local currency or other acceptable payment mechanisms, thus satisfying the USD role number one cited above.  Simply put, if a country can settle much of its trade liabilities without requiring the Read More ›

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The facade of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Fed Transfers Risk from Banks to You and Me

The Federal Reserve (i.e. the “Fed”) recently shifted a huge risk from the banking system to the taxpayer through something called the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP).  The negative consequences of this historic action were lost on many because of the complex nature of the banking system. Read More ›