Archive for Warren C. Gibson

Warren Gibson teaches engineering at Santa Clara University and economics at San Jose State University.

Money Market Funds: Success Must Not Go Unpunished

Money market funds have been in the news recently, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new rules aimed at “strengthening” them. This has provoked substantial blowback on the part of both fund managers and customers. As this was written, the proposals were stalled by disagreements among SEC board members. A brief summary [...]

26Apr2012 | | 1 comment | Continued

The Volcker Rule

Paul Volcker is a man of considerable stature, and not just because he’s six feet, seven inches tall. He gained a reputation for courage and plain talk as chairman of the Federal Reserve System under Presidents Carter and Reagan because he broke the back of the 1970s inflation. He did so by (mostly) sticking to [...]

23Feb2012 | | 8 comments | Continued

Unemployment: What’s To Be Done?

In Part 1 I outlined natural unemployment, government-caused unemployment, and the attempts to measure these. We saw how ambiguous and subjective some of the concepts of unemployment are and how the government, specifically the Federal Reserve, is charged with managing it. Now we turn to current conditions and what can be done about them. There [...]

30Nov2011 | | 9 comments | Continued

Unemployment: What Is It?

Unemployment has regained center stage now that the debt crisis has receded from that position, at least for a time. Unless things change dramatically over the next year unemployment will be the number one issue in the forthcoming presidential election. Hardly any proposal will escape being labeled “job-killing” or “job-creating” or both. To begin with [...]

26Oct2011 | | 2 comments | Continued

Making Whistle-Blowing Pay

The federal bureaucracies are hard at work churning out rules to implement the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” act. In May the Securities and Exchange Commission announced rules for its new whistleblower program, which rewards individuals who provide the agency with “high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement acts.” The minimum amount of recovered funds that can [...]

21Sep2011 | | 2 comments | Continued

Sardines at Midnight

Sardines at midnight? If the mood should strike me, I can zip down to the local Safeway store here in Belmont, California, which is open 24/7, and be back with a can in 20 minutes. My biggest problem would be choosing from among Thai, Canadian, Polish, or Norwegian sardines packed in water, olive oil, tomato-basil, [...]

24Aug2011 | | 3 comments | Continued

Shoot the Shorts

Rather than indulging in Schadenfreude, we in the United States would do well to apply European lessons to our own troubles.

22Aug2011 | | 12 comments | Continued

What’s Up with Inflation?

Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been almost nonexistent for several years, though it started creeping higher in the first half of 2011. Yet many prices have been rising at double-digit percentage rates. Are official figures trustworthy? And what of expectations? There is a great deal of buzz right now about inflation [...]

22Jun2011 | | 14 comments | Continued

Making Whistle-Blowing Pay

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced rules for its new corporate whistleblower program. The mind boggles at the incentives they establish.

21Jun2011 | | 6 comments | Continued

Boombustology: A Review

Boombustology is a worthwhile read for anyone who seeks a better understanding of business cycles.

25May2011 | | 5 comments | Continued

An Act of Self-Defense: A Review

Like Ayn Rand, Erne Lewis gives us heroes who are inspirational and yet of this world.

2May2011 | | 9 comments | Continued

Who Owns the Fed?

Have you heard? The Federal Reserve System raked in profits of $79.3 billion last year, almost triple what runner-up ExxonMobil made. The Fed’s business model is a snap—just print money—and unlike poor beleaguered Exxon, the Fed has no competition to worry about. This means a gigantic windfall for the big banks because, although they don’t [...]

21Apr2011 | | 20 comments | Continued

Gold and Money, II

Last month we examined some propositions about gold as money, drawing from theory and history. This month we ask whether and how gold might once again serve a monetary function. Money of any sort, commodity-based or not, derives its value in large part from what economists call a “network effect.” Like a fax machine, whose [...]

23Mar2011 | | 10 comments | Continued

Gold and Money

Nothing seems to arouse passions—pro and con—quite like suggestions that gold should once again play a role in our money. “Only gold is money,” says one side. “It’s a barbarous relic,” says the other. Let’s turn down the heat a bit and look into some propositions about gold. That should lead us to some reasonable [...]

24Feb2011 | | 26 comments | Continued

Inside Insider Trading

Insider trading is something we hear a lot about these days. To most people, the practice smells of foul play, and federal law restricts it. But the inside story of insider trading is something very different, as we shall see. The alleged ill effects on shareholders in particular and on the economy in general are [...]

22Dec2010 | | 28 comments | Continued

Does Saving Reduce GDP?

Warren C. Gibson’s article, “GDP: Who Needs It?” in the May 2010 edition of the Freeman, asserts an inconsistency. He correctly denigrates the Keynesian notion of promoting consumption spending as a means of promoting GDP growth: “The predominance of consumption seems to have spawned the bizarre notion that if we can only get consumer spending [...]

24Nov2010 | | 2 comments | Continued

Rare Earth Elements: Stockpile or Markets?

Quick, what do you know about lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium, or dysprosium? If you said they are chemical elements, you are right: numbers 57, 59, 60, and 66, to be exact. They and their neighbors on the periodic table, collectively “rare earths,” were once mere curiosities tucked in between barium and tungsten. Now they’re having their day [...]

24Nov2010 | | 3 comments | Continued
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