Archive for Lawrence H. White
Lawrence White is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy
In 2001 Joseph Stiglitz was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics, a fact prominently noted on the dust jacket of Freefall, his book on the financial crisis. In 2002 Stiglitz and two coauthors produced a report, commissioned and published by the government-sponsored housing agency Fannie Mae, stating that the risk of a failure by [...]
4Jan2012 | Lawrence H. White | 2 comments | ContinuedThe End of Money and the Struggle for Financial Privacy
The first sentence of this provocative book reads: “Money—as we know it—is coming to an end.” Money “as we know it” consists of cash (notes and coins) issued by government and checkable deposits issued by regulated banks. Paying with cash preserves your privacy, but is inconvenient for many transactions. Paying by check or debit card [...]
1Oct2000 | Lawrence H. White | 0 comments | ContinuedA Competitor for the Fed?
About a year ago I received a phone call from an entrepreneur named Bernard von NotHaus. He was eager to tell me about a new private currency, backed by silver, that he had designed and that his nonprofit organization is issuing. I was naturally skeptical, but being a student of private money, I agreed to [...]
1Jul2000 | Lawrence H. White | 1 comment | ContinuedAsia Needs Capital Controls?
Citing the East Asian financial crisis, the well-known trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati has recently given support to retaining capital controls in developing countries. In essays in Foreign Affairs and more recently, the Wall Street Journal (“Yes to Free Trade, Maybe to Capital Controls”), Bhagwati cautions that the “overwhelmingly powerful” case for free trade does not [...]
1Mar1999 | Lawrence H. White | 0 comments | ContinuedSimEconomics
My daughter, at 13, has built a railroad across Europe. She has planned and governed a large metropolitan area. Recently she began a successful farm. Oh, and she’s conquered the world. She has done it all at our home computer—sometimes while I was waiting for my turn to play. Welcome to the world of personal [...]
1Nov1996 | Lawrence H. White | 2 comments | ContinuedSpending Money Freely
In the last year, I have begun to buy things without using coins, paper money, a credit card, or a checkbook. You may begin to do likewise next year, or you may have begun a few years ago, though neither of us could have done it ten years back. I’ve actually learned two new ways [...]
1May1995 | Lawrence H. White | 1 comment | ContinuedBanking Without Regulation
How well would the banking system work if there were no government regulation? One way to begin answering this question is to examine the historical record. In the nineteenth century many countries had relatively unregulated banking systems with few or none of the restrictions that face American banks today: legal barriers to new entry, deposit [...]
1Oct1993 | Lawrence H. White | 6 comments | Continued-
The Latest
Contraception: Insuring the Uninsurable
Update below. Controversy rages over the Obama administration’s mandate that all employers – including... Read More
The Snow Plowers’ Petition
The following might have happened in a small college town in upstate New York… In a cold and snowy... Read More
Super Bowl versus Education?
In the spirit of Super Bowl weekend I’d like to deconstruct a Facebook status update that a friend... Read More
Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are... Read More
Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet.... Read More
