Where Does Money Come From?

“What is money? How is it created? How does it enter into circulation? These are simple and vital questions it might seem, but the answers remain contested and often muddled.”

via Where Does Money Come From? – Positive Money (BSD).

Bitcoin explained for 5-Year Olds

Here is an explanation of Bitcoin suitable for a 5-year old: https://medium.com/p/73b4257ac833.

BitCoin Plunges Following US Government Seizure Of Silk Road Website

That the US government would crack down on BitCoin and all affiliated services should not be surprising and is happening just as we warned it would back in March when we first charted the initial ramp of BitCoin. This move was especially inevitable considering none other than the ECB “warned” in November of 2012 against virtual currency Ponzi schemes though it has no problem with fiat equivalents.

via BitCoin Plunges Following US Government Seizure Of Silk Road Website | Zero Hedge.

Somebody Stole 7 Milliseconds From the Fed

Last Wednesday, the Fed announced that it would not be tapering its bond buying program. This news was released at precisely 2 pm in Washington “as measured by the national atomic clock.” It takes 7 milliseconds for this information to get to Chicago. However, several huge orders that were based on the Feds decision were placed on Chicago exchanges 2-3 milliseconds after 2 pm. How did this happen?

via Somebody Stole 7 Milliseconds From the Federal Reserve | Mother Jones.

China’s American Bailout?

The twenty-first-century economy has thus far been shaped by capital flows from China to the United States – a pattern that has suppressed global interest rates, helped to reflate the developed world’s leverage bubble, and, through its impact on the currency market, fueled China’s meteoric rise. But these were no ordinary capital flows. Rather than being driven by direct or portfolio investment, they came primarily from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), as it amassed $3.5 trillion in foreign reserves – largely US Treasury securities.

via China’s American Bailout? by Alexander Friedman – Project Syndicate.

The Banking Revolution that Would Wipe Out Britain’s Debts

Banking reform has been back in the headlines over the past week, with calls from a parliamentary committee for consideration to be given to more radical options – including the break-up of the Royal Bank of Scotland – and a scathing attack by MPs on Dame Clara Furse’s fitness to serve on the Bank of England’s new financial stability committee.

via The banking revolution that would wipe out Britains debts – Telegraph.

Money: The Unauthorised Biography by Felix Martin

A book review…

[M]oney is more than the oil in the engine – a mechanical lubricant – but a socially-created system of transferable credit, a way of keeping account of what people owe each other, while allowing them to transfer their various “IOUs” to others. Crucially, it is not just governments that create money – others can, too.

via Money: The Unauthorised Biography by Felix Martin – review | Books | The Guardian.

Controlling China’s Currency

“It is indisputable that China is over-issuing currency. But the reasons behind China’s massive liquidity growth – and the most effective strategy for controlling it – are less obvious.”

via Controlling China’s Currency by Zhang Monan – Project Syndicate.

Sundown in America

Whilst I agree with parts of Chicken Little’s David Stockman’s OpEd piece, it is quite reductionist and misses as many points as it hits.

Over the last 13 years, the stock market has twice crashed and touched off a recession: American households lost $5 trillion in the 2000 dot-com bust and more than $7 trillion in the 2007 housing crash. Sooner or later — within a few years, I predict — this latest Wall Street bubble, inflated by an egregious flood of phony money from the Federal Reserve rather than real economic gains, will explode, too.

via Sundown in America – NYTimes.com.

Why Is Socialism Doing So Darn Well in Deep-Red North Dakota?

North Dakota is the very definition of a red state. It voted 58 percent to 39 percent for Romney over Obama, and its statehouse and senate have a total of 104 Republicans and only 47 Democrats. The Republican super-majority is so conservative it recently passed the nations most severe anti-abortion resolution – a measure that declares a fertilized human egg has the same right to life as a fully formed person.

via Why Is Socialism Doing So Darn Well in Deep-Red North Dakota? | Alternet.