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Despite the bipartisan standoff, Republicans and Democrats will likely come to a last-minute agreement to lift the public debt ceiling beyond the current $31.4 trillion. IN A NUTSHELL A compromise on revenue and spending is likely to emerge from talks Politicians have lost credibility because of repeated debt ceiling hikes An extended impasse threatens to […]

Generalizing can lead one astray in interpreting history, but the record of thousands of years of human civilization shows with reasonable clarity that powers rise, often become arrogant, overreach and decline. As decline breeds unrest, a declining power is dangerous. When that happens, other major powers also tend to act unreasonably. They do not grasp […]

Prepared for the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation’s 2023 Gottfried von Haberler Conference, “Taking Money out of Politics: A Case for Private Money?,” Vaduz, Liechtenstein, 12 May 2023. Much of the argument here is spelled out in more detail in my recently published book Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? (Cambridge University Press, 2023). […]

Arguments, debates and ideas on how to end the state’s monopoly on money have been raging since Friedrich A. von Hayek brought the issue to the academic table, though it was surely a topic of fiery conversations long before that too. However, in terms of actually dethroning fiat money, real, practical progress is lacking. Nevertheless, […]

“Payments are a public good that is simply too important to be left to the market” Christine Lagarde (2022). “Money is too important to be left to central bankers” Milton Friedman (2002). Introduction Central Bank Digital Currencies are increasingly gaining attention. Although still unknown to the general public, these monetary novelties are being presented by […]