Contra David Merkel, Amity Schlaes says a choice can be made, and Bernanke’s worry should be inflation.
About Lance
I want to thank everybody who has encouraged me over the past few years to do this. I doubt it will hold but a few people's interest, but that is okay with me. Special thanks go to Peter over at http://www.liberalcapitalist.com.
I value my privacy a great deal, so I will guess you will have to get to know me over time to find out much. I am in the financial services, wealth management, investing or whatever you want to call it business. I have children, my oldest is entering college.
I have no great or imposing academic background, my grades varied from high enough to get invited to an honors program at my university to frustrating enough to cause my father great grief. My major was history, with a minor in ethics. My main interest towards the end was in the history of economic ideas before life took a turn and I ended up never going on to graduate school. However, I have a fair knowledge of history, economics, investing and would probably be considered well read. My tastes are eclectic and I pretty much find the entire world interesting.
I have an enduring interest in how people learn about and analyze the world; my posts here will examine this topic in detail over time. I make no claims to be above the very biases and errors I see in others, in fact it is my belief that we are incapable of escaping them, only moderating their control over us.
I am a member of no political party, but I would broadly consider myself a man of the right. I am inclined to free market economics, limited government and a fairly narrow view of the role of the state. A small L libertarian if you will. However, if you are looking for broad based "the left believes..." or "wingers are so...." types of attacks on liberals, conservatives, neo-cons or whatever enemy you want to slam, look elsewhere.
Lance
I’m not saying regulators won’t be forced to make a choice, or what that choice might be. My opinion on what should be done is not that far away from that of Ms. Schlaes. I just think that the FOMC is in a pickle; no matter what they do, they will continue to face asset deflation, and price inflation for the next few years.
Thanks for citing me, though.
David,
Thanks for stopping by. Actually, I don’t doubt you are pretty close. I intend short links to engage the reader to read and think it through. In fact, I think you are both saying the same thing, she is just willing to stake out the anti-inflation ground as the most important. The contra was in reference to the title of your piece, not the deeper substance. Probably me being too clever, well clever might not be the right word, but humor isn’t my strong point.
Anyway, I like your stuff. As an aside, I agree with you. We face inflation and deflation in asset prices. In fact, deflation in asset prices can feed consumer price increases, but that is a long discussion.