Episode 17 – The War on Cash and Post-Debate

Mark Geise Show – Mark Geise

In this episode, I discuss an interview with Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff. I discussed Rogoff and the “War on Cash” in Episode 14 (linked below); I stumbled upon this interview a couple days ago and could not resist talking about his views yet again. Rogoff’s editorial that I discussed in Episode 14 was crafted in such a way to avoid disclosing too many of his biases, but this interview did not allow him to tailor his message in such a way. This interview supports my inferences in that previous episode: the war on cash is far more about increasing control and increasing the power of central banks than it is about reducing criminality or tax evasion. Rogoff’s pretentiousness comes through strong.

Also, I discuss Monday’s debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both candidates scare me pretty much equally. I do not think my life will be markedly different if either gets into office, so I frankly do not care about the election beyond analyzing the overarching trends. In this debate, Trump’s protectionism and ignorance of civil liberties concerned me most, while Clinton’s economic policies concerned me most. Both are scary, but in slightly different ways. Clinton clearly won the debate, but it does not appear to have markedly changed the polls. I am sure many out there feel similarly pessimistic, so my solution is to focus on local and state elections and to optimize your own personal and economic lives. You do not hold any sway on the national stage when one person is battling to represent 330 million people, but you can conceivably hold sway in your local elections. That is far more constructive than expending energy to watch two poor candidates battle it out in a chaotic election.

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mark-geise-show/Episode+17+-+The+War+on+Cash+and+Post-Debate.mp3

Suggested Readings/Referenced Articles:
“Big Bills are a Curse (Kenneth Rogoff interview transcript)” – Finanz and Wirtschaft
“The Trickle Down Lie – Thomas Sowell” – National Review
Podcast: “Episode 14 – Why Should We Care that Gary Johnson Doesn’t Know Aleppo?” – Mark Geise Show
“Federal Individual Tax Rates History (Inflation Adjusted)” – Tax Foundation
“Why Americans Need to Support Free Trade” – Heritage Foundation
“Why trade is good for you” – The Economist
Book: “Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt (free, legal PDF download)
Podcast: “Episode 23: Think Locally, Act Locally” – The Brion McClanahan Show