French Quarter

Looking for Liberty in All the Right Places
Profile picture
  • Douglas French

The Fed: Bully with No Stick Feb 16, 2015

This article first appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of The Journal of Prices & Markets   Central bankers believe they can push people around are like pieces on a chessboard. Armed with theories, graphs, and equations, the monetary mandarins believe the world revolves in the palm of their hands.  It hasn’t worked out that way. On Milton Friedman’s 90th birthday, when he was simply Governor Ben S. Bernanke, the man who would become Fed chair and create more (supposedly) high-powered money than any head of the Fed in history famously told the audience and Friedman himself in closing, Let...

By Douglas French Vote7 2

Central Bankers as Undertakers Feb 16, 2015

This review first appeared in The Journal of Prices & Markets James Rickards, The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System (New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2014) The men and women working at the Eccles Building in Washington D.C. have sliced, diced and, with quantitative easing (QE) pureed the dollar, but it it keeps on ticking as the world’s reserve currency.  America’s central bankers have bravely thrown themselves in front of the deflation train by quadrupling their balance sheet.  Paul Krugman believes the Fed has been less than heroic, and instead, downright timid. He taunts Austrian economists,...

By Douglas French Vote5 0

Fifty Shades of Contract Feb 13, 2015

What a country. Montana lawmaker, State Representative David Moore, a Republican from Missoula, believes his state’s indecent exposure laws are too, well, skimpy. So, he proposed a bill that according to Yahoo would ban all public exposure of nipples, both male and female, the bill would also outlaw any piece of clothing that “gives the appearance or simulates” the pelvic area, buttocks, genitals or female nipple, the Associated Press reported — meaning tight-fitting pants could be included. “Yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway,” the Associated Press reported Moore saying. “I want Montana to be known as a decent...

By Douglas French Vote10 7

It’s the Envy, Stupid Feb 3, 2015

Early in the 2016 presidential race, Republican candidates have adopted the income inequality canard as their primary talking point. Ted Cruz, taking a swipe at Mitt Romney, said “Republicans are and should be the party of the 47 percent.…we should be fighting for the little guy" Meanwhile, HuPo writes, “[Marco] Rubio argued that income inequality was simply a symptom of a larger problem: ‘opportunity inequality.’ He said that creating jobs is the best way to lift people out of poverty.” Jeb Bush said that “while the last eight years have been pretty good ones for top earners, they’ve been a...

By Douglas French Vote6 2

Why Hyperinflation-phobia? Feb 2, 2015

The New York Times can be forgiven for blaming the empty shelves in Caracas to the plunge in oil. However,  a raging hyperinflation cleared the cupboards before the price of oil was cut in half.  William Neuman’s front page story illustrates what the NYT does best, making economic tragedies personal. Laboratory assistant Mary Noriega must stand in line for hours with 1,500 others just to buy food, “as soldiers with side arms checked identification cards to make sure no one tried to buy basic items more than once or twice a week.” Ms. Noriega has had to barter with neighbors...

By Douglas French Vote6 1

Loose Fed, Scared Bank Directors Jan 28, 2015

The Fed’s balance sheet now foots to nearly $4.5 trillion, a great leap from early July 2008, when its total assets were less than $900 billion.  Interest rates have been held just above zero since then as well, all in an attempt to jumpstart the economy. But while monetary policy has been beyond promiscuous, bank regulation has been, and continues to be, in Jim Grant’s word, “asphyxiating.”  Dick Bove, who analyzes banks for Rafferty Capital Markets and seems terminally bullish on the industry, says banks have been essentially nationalized in the U.S. Bove says the government now tells banks how...

By Douglas French Vote3 0

PhD-Standard Monetary Crack Up Jan 24, 2015

The hills are alive with the panic of central bankers. First there was the fallout from the Swiss National Bank’s decision to unshackle the Franc from the Euro. Then, how much Q Mario Draghi put with his E. It turns out his €60 billion per month program was seen as a “positive surprise." In the meantime Bloomberg reported Canada’s central bank “is trying to make sure [Canada] survives an oil price crash,” by cutting its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point. Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is trying to stop the bleeding in Calgary where existing...

By Douglas French Vote1 1

Bitcoin: Market Money’s Last Stand Jan 23, 2015

“Without Drugs, What’s the Point of Bitcoin?” wonders the Atlantic. I answer author of the piece, Matt Schiavenza, with two words: central banks. It’s no coincidence “Satoshi Nakamoto” created Bitcoin in 2009 as the financial world dangled on a precipice of the central bankers’ making. On February 11, 2009, Satoshi wrote: The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and...

By Douglas French Vote10 3

Book Review: The Testament of James Jan 22, 2015

Christians have great faith in belief. According to a Pew poll in 2010 a full 41 percent of Americans and 58 percent of white evangelical Christians not only believe in Jesus Christ, but think Christ will return to earth by 2050. The question, “what’s keeping him (or her)?” evidently wasn’t asked. Pretty much everything that’s gone wrong in the world, whether it was the sinking of the Titanic or 9/11, Christians say is God’s punishment for our wicked ways. We could just snicker except politicians of all stripes embrace this evangelical apocalypticism to ramp up the size of government. Even...

By Douglas French Vote9 2

Marriage: What’s Love Got to Do with it Jan 19, 2015

Pew Research predicts more people under 35 will be single forever. The number who have never taken the plunge (and never will) is at an all-time high. “When today’s young adults reach their mid-40s to mid-50s, a record high share (roughly 25%) is likely to have never been married,” write the report’s authors Wendy Wang and Kim Parker. “This is not to say that adults in their mid-40s to mid-50s who still haven’t married will never marry, but our analysis suggests that the chance of getting married for the first time after age 54 is relatively small.” People are remaining...

By Douglas French Vote1 2

Taking A Chance on “The Gambler” Jan 14, 2015

For some inexplicable reason Rupert Wyatt wanted Mark Wahlberg to lose 60 pounds to play an English literature professor and degenerate gambler. I’ve known a few of both and don’t think any of them were the gaunt-looking 137 pounds Wahlberg is in “The Gambler.” Instead, he looks like a southside Philly version of Mick Jagger in the remake of a 1974 film that starred James Caan. Caan’s Axel Freed was tiny as well in the earlier version, but was fit and strong looking, shadow boxing in one scene and playing one-on-one in the schoolyard in another. Wahlberg’s Jim Bennett looks...

By Douglas French Vote3 0

America’s Exceptional Torture Jan 9, 2015

The CIA provided a holiday gift of the truth with its report stating that the government’s enhanced interrogation techniques, AKA “torture,” didn’t produce any usable intelligence. Dick Cheney, as you would expect, called the report “full of crap,” “deeply flawed,” and a “terrible piece of work.” Cheney has his story and he’s sticking to it, telling Fox News, “I think what needed to be done was done. I think we were perfectly justified in doing it. And I’d do it again in a minute.” Yeah, but Cheney’s boss, George W. Bush, during a 2006 conversation about moving prisoners to Guantanamo...

By Douglas French Vote7 0

Oil’s Swoon Undoes the Fed Jan 5, 2015

While we’re taught in school and reminded by many that central banks are in the inflation-fighting business, history proves the opposite. Economist Murray Rothbard compared central bankers who talked about suppressing inflation to arsonists who would run down the street yelling “fire” after setting a building ablaze.

By Douglas French Vote10 0

Police Piracy Jan 4, 2015

Previously published at Casey Research. Christmas came early to a Midwest sheriff’s department. While back in Abilene, Kansas to see family, I read a story reported by an old high school friend, titled “Dickinson County Sheriff Office could benefit from forfeiture.” Interstate Highway 70 starts in Baltimore, Maryland and ends near Cove Fort, Utah. It transects the upper half of Kansas. Plenty of tourists and trucks travel the route, including Andris Cukurs of Glendale, California, who was pulled over for “a routine traffic stop” in November. It turned out the 68-year-old Cukurs had a little bit of pot and a...

By Douglas French Vote18 7

Breaking the Law with Uber Dec 30, 2014

“We love Uber. We love Uber,” one of our party joyously shouted as we slipped into a spotless SUV after dinner and drinks at a Fort Lauderdale beach restaurant. “Uber loves you too,” our driver/entrepreneur said softly. However, Broward County’s opinion of our transaction between consenting parties continues to be, well, not so enthusiastic. “Broward commissioners said they're not necessarily opposed to having the 21st Century, app-driven ride service in town,” reports the Sun Sentinel. “But the company's brash approach to business — operating outside the laws that govern cabs and limos — rankled them. “ Our group lost its...

By Douglas French Vote6 1

Ode to Dagny Gentry Dec 23, 2014

“Ode to Billie Joe” is haunting story tune that never leaves your head. My hand instinctively hits the volume button when Bobbie Gentry’s distinctive guitar opens the song.  Just what did Billy Joe McAllister and the singer throw off the Tallahatchie bridge. And why did Billy Joe jump? But while the song is always just a click away, the singer/songwriter has vanished. “Where is Bobbie Gentry?” It’s as stirring a question as “Who is John Galt?” She is now in her early 70s and is never seen or heard from. Someone said to me, “who cares, she’s just a one...

By Douglas French Vote15 2
Solider

The Invisible Front: Suicide in a State Controlled World Dec 18, 2014

A new poll shows Americans, by almost a 2 to 1 margin, are A-OK with government torture methods: 9/11 justifies whatever it takes they say. The president won a Nobel Prize but has constantly kept the country at war. None of his supporters has complained. No one marches for peace. No artist can make money singing anti-war songs. Death and destruction far, far away, might as well be a video game. While Dick Chaney says he'd torture all over again, I'm happy to report there is an anti-war book out--although I’m sure the author wouldn’t call it that. The Invisible...

By Douglas French Vote23 5

America: Land of the Whipped and Whimpering Dec 15, 2014

In this land of the free and home of the brave, a friend of mine wrote about an experience he had at the airport recently. Having taken his watch off to pass through the TSA scanner, he forgot to retrieve it. He was nearing his gate when an announcement was made. “Could the person who left their watch behind please return to Concourse B to retrieve.” He returned to the TSA screening area, and here’s what happened.

By Douglas French Vote8 1

Changing the World: Technology Versus Politics Nov 7, 2014

We were all supposed to go vote on Tuesday. It’s our civic duty, we’re told. If you want change, your vote is more important than anyone else’s. What a crock. Technology has replaced politics as the way toward a freer, more prosperous world. The easiest example is one everyone understands: once upon a time, communications were controlled by employees in blue suits. The post office had everyone over a barrel. There was a problem, and government wasn’t going to fix it because the postal service was the government. Then came FedEx and the like, along with fax machines. Now everyone...

By Douglas French Vote1 0

The Fed: Strangling the Saving Ethic and Values Oct 28, 2014

Saving was once drummed into our heads as the prudent thing to do. How many times did you hear, “A penny saved is a penny earned”? Now some argue it’s not worth anyone’s time to pick one up.

By Douglas French Vote6 1

Login