Many economists fail to understand that money is not "neutral." Changes in the supply of money, or it the demand for it, do have major economic consequences; they do not merely lead to a higher or lower price level, but also to misallocations of capital and economic depressions.... »

There’s no shortage of savings accounts, but interest payments are nowhere to be found. I face the ugly truth almost every week: yet another email that the yield on my savings account has been "adjusted" (and guess what that means!). It seems I should consider myself lucky to receive a mere 1% interest on my savings. So I wondered: is there a better alternative to the current low interest rates?

It looks like the Federal Reserve has put itself in an impossible situation. Yet again, the Fed left interest rates unchanged last Wednesday. And while that wasn't a surprise, the pressure is building up on the Fed's Open Market Committee. Coming December, they'll be more or less forced to raise interest rates, and the high officials are fully aware of it.... »