Monetary Policy

What Do Cryptocurrencies Mean for Liberty?

The Cato Institute’s mission is to originate, disseminate, and advance solutions based on the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Within the Center...

Modern Monetary Theory Is an Old Marxist Idea

Modern monetary theory, or MMT, has been getting a lot of attention lately, often celebrated as a revolutionary breakthrough. However, there is absolutely nothing...

Japanization: 30 Years of Failed Economic “Stimulus”

In Europe, the danger of “Japanization”—a long-lasting economic stagnation accompanied by expansionary monetary and fiscal policies (Schnabl 2015)—is now discussed more intensively, as the...

Why the World Has a Dollar Shortage, Despite Massive Fed Action

How can the Fed launch an “unlimited” monetary stimulus with congress approving a $2 trillion package and the dollar index remain strong? The answer...

What “Lender of Last Resort” Is Supposed to Mean

Modern central banks have already moved far beyond what was once considered the proper role for a central bank as a "lender of last...

The Market Economy Has Been Replaced by a “Fiat Economy”

The COVID-19 pandemic has torn the veil off what we can now can call a "fiat market. It has stripped away all pretense of a true market. Governments and...