News Story of the Day: A new study suggests that California’s latest increase to the minimum wage will cost taxpayers billions of dollars more a year and lead to hundreds of thousands of job loses over the next few years. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), using data from the state’s legislative analyst, the […]
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What’s So Moral About Moral Hazard?
By: Matthew McCaffrey Most economic concepts never make it out of the academic journals, let alone into the public eye and public opinion. The concept of “moral hazard” is a rare exception: largely due to the financial crisis, this once-technocratic insurance term has become almost a household word. This is all to the good, because […]
Gold demand surges in Japan amid BOJ’s subzero interest rates
When a nation imposes negative interest rates, consumers try to find safe havens to protect their wealth. Swedes have been using microwaves to store their cash, while Danes have been purchasing tangible assets. What about the Japanese? To them, gold is the answer. Earlier this year, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) implemented subzero interest rates […]
Peter Schiff: Federal Reserve can’t raise rates because it’ll ‘poke too many holes in this bubble’
When does the fourth round of quantitative easing begin? That’s what Peter Schiff, president and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, wants to know. Speaking in an interview with CNBC recently, Schiff argued the notion that this is “a fake rally.” He stated that the United States economy would need to accelerate drastically “just to get […]
LOL: IMF says savers benefit from negative interest rates by having a better economy
Central bankers and financial institutions worldwide are concerned that negative interest rates are garnering a bad reputation. The asinine monetary policy move hasn’t been greeted too well by consumers, savers and many economists. Before we get into the details, here are the central banks with subzero interest rates: ECB: Deposit rate is -0.4 percent Bank […]