Since the financial crisis of 2007-09, and especially in recent months, Europe and the United States have seen zero and even slightly negative short-term nominal interest rates, and sub-zero risk-free real interest rates (see the figure below). In June I participated in a conference on “Zero Interest…
In this post, I will stray a bit from monetary issues but not too far. The British people voted last Thursday (June 23rd ) to exit the European Union. How should that decision be viewed by classical liberals? Do Americans have a stake in the outcome? Should…
A surprising aspect of modern life in Africa is that, thanks to the telecom deregulations of the early 2000s, cell phones are as pervasive in its Sub-Saharan savannahs as they are in the urban jungles of the United States. More intriguingly still, African mobile network operators (MNOs)…
(It occurred to us that some of our early posts, and especially ones from Alt-M’s predecessor, Freebanking.org, may deserve a new airing, as they remain pertinent, but haven’t been seen by many of our newer readers. With that in mind, we’re pleased to introduce Friday FLASHBACKS: an…
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen recently appeared before the Senate Banking Committee to deliver the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress. A handful of Senators queried Yellen as to the lack of diversity among both the Fed staff and the members of the Federal Open Market…