In Finance and Philosophy, Alex Pollock, formerly Chief Executive Officer at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and now a distinguished senior fellow at the R Street Institute, asks why we’re always surprised by financial crises. In fact, we shouldn’t be surprised at all.
The question of questions: Why did we have so much volatility in the financial markets in the Fall and early Winter? This was extreme volatility by any measure. The fact that it happened while the U.S. was in an extreme…
Despite all of the world’s information available at the tip of their fingertips, taxpayers are still completely in the dark about the sorry state of Illinois’ finances. Overdue bills are rapidly accruing due to processing delays and a lack in…
Ironically, the acting-up of Occupy Wall Street led to Donald Trump’s presidency. At a moment ripe for populist anger, the left, aided by mainstream media, turned it instead into an elitist temper tantrum. As a result, Middle Americans saw how…
The ongoing presidential race has occasioned an impassioned, if not exactly enlightened, consideration of the causes of the 2008 financial crisis, nearly all of it based on misinformation, fallacy, and unfocused populist outrage. While much of that outrage is quite…