A Tale of Two Houses (or: Why we Need to End the Fed)

It is interesting how the vagaries of Federal Reserve-driven economics drive cultural matters. Two recent articles are illustrative windows into how bureaucratic policy translates into the real world of life for ordinary people:

First, this CNBC article chronicles the recent seismic shift in demand away from large houses. Second, this Global Economic Trend Analysis blog post captures a new cultural trend toward extremely small houses.

Part of the danger of our current Federal Reserve system (the darling of both major parties) is the boom and bust cycle. So long as interest rates are held artificially low by a collusion between private bankers and government, so long as the system rewards debt and punishes thrift (which is exactly what happens during a time of "stimulus" according to Keynesian economic theory), so long as paper money is forced into currency through a central bank and legal tender laws while constitutional hard currency is spurned - these kinds of shifts between extremes will forever be the rule.

A few lessons this teaches:

1) Paper is just that: paper.

2) What goes up must come down.

3) There is no free lunch.

4) Debt is best avoided if possible.

5) It's time to "end the Fed" and stop the shell game of paper money.