Obama Economics Are A Blast From The Past

And not a good blast either.

From Arthur B. Laffer, the economist who created the Laffer Curve, comes this op-ed in The Wall Street Journal titled, "Taxes, Depression, and Our Current Troubles. Tariffs, rising state and federal taxes, and currency devaluation ruined the 1930s, and they could do the same today."

The 1930s has become the sole object lesson for today's monetary policy. Over the past 12 months, the Federal Reserve has increased the monetary base (bank reserves plus currency in circulation) by well over 100%. While currency in circulation has grown slightly, there's been an impressive 17-fold increase in bank reserves. The federal-funds target rate now stands at an all-time low range of zero to 25 basis points, with the 91-day Treasury bill yield equally low. All this has been done to avoid a liquidity crisis and a repeat of the mistakes that led to the Great Depression.