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Written by James Grant
- The Wall Street Journal |
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Wednesday, November 07, 2012 |
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In 1801, Albert Gallatin, Thomas Jefferson's Treasury secretary, vowed to extinguish the public debt, then in the sum of $83 million. It would be gone in 16 years, he vowed. But 16 years later, it had grown to $127 million.
President Bill Clinton, too, produced a plan to pay down the debt in 16 years. This was in 1999, when the nation owed $3.6 trillion. Though the clock's still ticking, it looks as if 2015 will find the debt weighing in not at zero but at something like $12.9 trillion (not counting the IOUs held Read more |
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Written by James Grant
- The Washington Post |
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Tuesday, September 04, 2012 |
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More important than anything that Ben Bernanke might say in his long-awaited speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is the thing he won’t say, but should.
Positively out of bounds for the chairman of the Federal Reserve is the admission that he is in the wrong line of work. The institution he leads was created to conduct a central banking business. But Congress and he have steered it into the central planning business. In so doing, the Fed has exchanged a job it could do for one it can’t.
When the Fed opened its doors in Read more |
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Written by James Grant
- The Wall Street Journal |
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Monday, June 11, 2012 |
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Bailouts, bear markets and joblessness will surely put capitalism on the November ballot. How do you like your enterprise, Mr. and Ms. American Voter—free or stifled or a little something in between?
The 2012 election promises a clear ideological divide. Mitt Romney may be no Ron Paul, but neither is there any mistaking him for Barack Obama. The former private-equity titan will likely take his stand with a kind of almost-free-enterprise—the welfare state as we knew it before ObamaCare, so-called quantitative easing an Read more |
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Written by James Grant
- Zero Hedge |
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Monday, April 02, 2012 |
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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has invited some of its public critics to visit the bank to unburden themselves of their criticisms. On March 12, it was Jim Grant's turn. The text of his remarks follows. (highlights added)
Piece Of My Mind
My friends and neighbors, I thank you for this opportunity. You know, we are friends and neighbors. Grant’s makes its offices on Wall Street, overlooking Broadway, a 10-minute stroll from your imposing headquarters. For a spectacular vantage point on the next ticker-tape p Read more |
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Written by James Grant
- The Wall Street Journal |
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Monday, April 02, 2012 |
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From George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the national debt tended to grow in wartime and shrink in peacetime. Because the dollar was generally convertible into gold or silver at a fixed and statutory rate, the central bank, when there was a central bank, couldn't just materialize money as the Federal Reserve does today. You had to dig the metal out of the Earth, or entice it into American vaults with money-friendly financial policies. The Treasury could borrow, all right, but not without limit. Wars aside, Read more |
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