4 ms·

Indeed. And the strange irony is that HN millenials will defend central banking, "inflation targets", and ZIRP vehemently. I don't understand it.

• pembrook 8y ago
  It sounds like you haven't read anything about history in the United States before modern central banking took hold. See section 2, the free banking era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_Unit... With no central bank, our economy experienced regular depressions (worse than recessions--but lots of those too) and panics with unemployment fluctuating up to 20% during each of those times.
  • wycs 8y ago
    We also had pretty incredible productivity growth. Perhaps they are related. A sort of forest fire effect.
    • pembrook 8y ago
      I think you can attribute that less to a wildly volatile economy and more to the industrial revolution.