For those interested in monetary policy.

[Smeemo]

I'm all for giggling the night away while slapping my friends' asses (kids still do that, right?), but sometimes, "important" things cross my mind. Have 15 minutes to spare, you damn dirty Keynesians?

[Maringue]

I stopped this after the first 2 minutes. This guy is an inflation scareist, which means he's probably a banker (other than being an economist). Here's a news flash that any econ teacher will tell you: the only people elevated inflation is bad for is bankers who loan out money. Runaway inflation is bad for everyone, but that's not what this guy is worried about. The current rate of inflation is about 1.5-2%. That's actually lower than it should normally be. Normal is about 2-3%. What this guy, and all bankers, is afraid of is something like 4-6% inflation. Not high enough to hurt actual people, but enough so that banks don't make as much money on loans.

[Hatred]

well all have to say is that the first 4 mins of this was mostly right ... i dont know about the interest rates ... but the stimulus should be being spent to make america more sulf sufficient period ... permanent jobs are better than temp jobs

[Smeemo]

For Hatred: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-0 ... ecret.html

Maringue, you are correct in that Schiff is certainly an alarmist! Schiff's primary concern isn't 'elevated inflation,' as you say, but rather hyperinflation. (He's an Austrian economist and owns a brokerage firm--not a banker, btw.) Schiff and others from the Austrian school hold that the Fed's inflation numbers are behind the curve, and that our central bank is directly responsible for inflation abroad, forcing several central banks to slow down their printing presses and raise interest rates to combat rising prices. Schiff holds that if our artificially low interest rates are not raised soon, we'll reach a critical point where the Fed will be forced to raise rates so drastically that, combined with the inflation that had already been occurring, millions would lose their savings/pensions. From the Austrian perspective, the Fed's inflation numbers are flawed in that they give too much weight to the value of paper money, which is severely manipulated by central banks. Schiff claims a much better indicator of inflation is commodity prices, which continue to rise. I believe that even Keynes, whose (flawed, IMO) General Theory provides the basis for our current economic system, would rail against how our economic planners are running the show simply because of the inflation we're currently experiencing, as well as the very real dangers of runaway inflation in the near future. Anyway, you should watch the rest of it! He makes some interesting comments about the case of the American "terrorist" who was recently convicted of minting his own money. Link to story: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20 ... eral-court

My knowledge of the school of economics Schiff adheres to is still fairly limited, but I was made aware of its presence after reading about other Austrians who were screaming about the sub-prime lending problem for years before the bubble burst. Nowadays, they're all screaming about the dangers of central banks around the world ceasing their purchasing of our securities, leading to the destruction of the dollar. If I wasn't on the low-end of the poverty scale (and thus, an investor!), I'd be ditching all my paper investments and moving it over to commodities and maybe certain foreign currencies.

One example of why I believe Schiff has credibility:

[Smeemo]

The thought of Hayek and Keynes having a rap battle just tickles my pickle.