Quotes from Steve Hanke

With the passing of Milton Friedman on November 16, 2006, we lost one of the great champions of free markets.

A minimum wage leads to higher levels of unemployment.

The most important lesson to take away from allowing the minimum wage and unemployment benefit data to talk is that abstract notions of what is right, good and just should be examined from a concrete, operational point of view. A dose of reality is most edifying.

In Argentina, if the weather is bad, critics will blame it on the currency board.

There has never been a failure of a currency board anywhere in the world. These are tough systems, and when I say they are foolproof, that's exactly the case.

During the Greenspan-Bernanke era, the Fed has embraced the view that stability in the economy and stability in prices are mutually consistent. As long as inflation remains at or below its target level, the Fed's modus operandi is to panic at the sight of real or perceived economic trouble and provide emergency relief.

Until the Fed dumps inflation targeting and the U.S. abandons its weak-dollar policy, inflation will rule the day.

When the dollar goes down relative to other currencies, the price of wheat, corn, rice and oil all go up in dollar terms.

During the last two centuries, there have been many deflations throughout the world. Almost all of them have been good ones precipitated by technological innovation, rising productivity, global capital flows, and sustained economic growth. If farm mechanization cuts the price of wheat, you get a rising living standard. This is good.

Government buffer-stock schemes are rife with politics, and instead of generating profits from buying low and selling high, they tend to generate losses.

Sanctions historically are quite counterproductive in the sense that if you impose sanctions on your enemy, it tends to strengthen your enemy.

Why is it so hard for the IMF and the U.S. government to understand that putting out the fire comes before fireproofing the building?

In April 2013, Nathaniel Popper of 'The New York Times' reported on Bitcoin in an article titled, 'Digital Money is Gaining Champions in the Real World'.

After the maxi yuan depreciation of 1994 and until 2005, exchange-rate fixity was the order of the day, with little movement in the CNY/USD rate.

Most economists use 'fixed' and 'pegged' as interchangeable or nearly interchangeable terms for exchange rates.

Although floating and fixed rates appear dissimilar, they are members of the same freemarket family. Both operate without exchange controls and are free-market mechanisms for balance-of-payment adjustments.

Trade balances are determined by national savings propensities, not exchange rates.

Following its recognition as a state in 1832, Greece spent most of the remainder of the 19th century under the control of creditors. The pattern started with a default in 1832. In consequence, Greece's finances were put under French administration.

Since China embraced Deng Xiaoping's reforms on 22 December 1978, China has experimented with different exchange-rate regimes. Until 1994, the yuan was in an ever-depreciating phase against the U.S. dollar.

Following Greece's defeat at the hands of Turkey in 1897, Greece's fiscal house was entrusted to a Control Commission. During the 20th century, the drachma was one of the world's worst currencies. It recorded the world's sixth highest hyperinflation. In October 1944, Greece's monthly inflation rate hit 13,800%.

Contrary to what most people think, bank money is much more important than state money. In Greece, for example, bank money makes up 84.26% of the total money supply.

The IMF is set up to deal with liquidity crises.

Mercantilism was an insidious economic theory that held Europe in its thrall in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

In 2008, Bitcoin was mysteriously introduced to the world in an obscure, technical paper written under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. By late 2013, the financial press was filled with reportage on Bitcoin and its dramatic price increase.