The rediscovery of Keynes is one of the official storylines of the financial crisis and global recession. The problem is that Keynes was, in my judgment, a charlatan, a clever man obsessed with his own cleverness who never paid serious, thoughtful attention to economics (or any subject). You have to learn a little about Keynes [...]

In a November 3 article, the Wall Street Journal reports that corporate cash holdings have reached extraordinary levels:
Stung by the financial crisis, companies are holding more cash — and a greater percentage of assets in cash — than at any time in the past 40 years.
In the second quarter, the 500 largest nonfinancial U.S. firms, [...]

Independent Institute Senior Fellow Robert Higgs is interviewed here by Judge Andrew Napolitano on Fox News’ program, “Freedom Watch,” regarding the utter folly of the gigantic federal spending programs first started under George W. Bush and now enormously expanded by Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress. Prolonging the recovery amidst enormous economic confusion and new [...]

A new political thriller from PBS, “Endgame,” provides the little-known, true back story of apartheid’s end in South Africa, with credit given to a for-profit mining company. Foreseeing that deteriorating conditions in South Africa would likely result in a total loss of their assets, Consolidated Goldfields initiated secret discussions between representatives of the [...]

The United States enacted its minimum wage law in 1938.  It didn’t cover all workers, and still doesn’t, but establishes a policy that in some cases government should abridge people’s freedom of contract to mandate a wage different from the one people might agree upon.  The “principle” appears to be that some wage levels are [...]

Peter Klein’s post about the bizarro world in which the SEC prefers not to define insider trading too carefully, lest that definition cramp the government’s prosecutorial style, reminds me of the similarly vague definition of price fixing for purposes of enforcing the antitrust laws. The best acccount I have seen of this matter comes from R. W. [...]

On Sunday, leading Obama officials criticized Wall Street, complaining about high bonuses, blaming business for high unemployment and seemingly protesting that financial institutions have both taken on too much risk and yet have not lent out enough money. The administration is not accepting much blame on its own for the unemployment and economic slump. Meanwhile, [...]

Unintentionally funny line yesterday from state radio:
[Law professor Steve Thel] says the SEC’s been under pressure for years to clarify the definition of insider training, but the commission has been reluctant. Regulators worry if the rule is defined too tightly, it’ll be harder to enforce.
To understand insider-trading regulations, read Henry Manne, early and often.

Charlatans posing as representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a press release, sent out emails, and held a press conference at the Washington, D.C. National Press Club today, announcing the Chamber’s new “Free Enterprise Climate Policy” pushing for “strong climate legislation.”
One mystery is how Reuters and other news agencies could have been taken [...]

The great city has been spared the unpredictable chaos of hosting the Olympics, as many Chicagoans hoped would be the case. Much of the media is fixated on the conservative reaction to Obama’s failure to bring the 2016 games to the home of his native political machine, but regular residents have dodged a huge price-tag. [...]