Free Republic

The Florida House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would require former felons to pay all court fees and costs in addition to restitution before becoming eligible to vote. The measure passed 71-45, with the vote along party lines. The proposal's main sponsor, state Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, argued that the bill -- which would not restore voting rights to those convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses -- helps clarify a referendum on the issue that voters approved in November. He stressed that requiring ex-felons to pay the debts was not unconstitutional and not discriminatory, the Tallahassee...

James Grant’s The Forgotten Depression (2014) is a splendid account of an important period in U.S. economic history that is easily overshadowed by the Great Depression a few years later. It seemed to be, as Grant’s subtitle says: “The crash that cured itself.” This stands in contrast with the Great Depression, which remained uncured throughout the 1930's even after enormous government intervention; or our own experience, milder but equally prolonged, since 2008. I group it with Lawrence Kudlow and Brian Domitrovic's JFK and the Reagan Revolution (2016) as an example of a new sort of hybrid – a readable history...

A lawyer for the NYPD cop who allegedly engaged in mile-high group sex with a hooker paid for by a shady businessman said his client is no more guilty than the former secretary of state, who was cleared by the feds. “It’s similar to what the FBI said about Hillary Clinton and why she wasn’t charged,” said John Meringolo, a lawyer for James Grant, who pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court Wednesday morning. “She was unaware she was committing a crime. Here there is no crime whatsoever.”

Chief editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer debunks negative interest rates, banning cash, and helicopter money. ... Epoch Times spoke to Mr. Grant about the spotty track record of central bankers, deflation, gold and the gold standard, as well as negative interest rates and a ban on cash. A negative interest rate is not only a tax on saving, it is the destruction of saving. ... Negative interest rates are an attempt to tax thrift. The idea of earning dollar bills and putting those dollar bills in a bank and having them accumulate over time, the accumulation of which is...

James Grant is to be paid attention to. The interviewer has a couple of interesting points, too.

Interest rate historian and contrarian guru James Grant put the double-whammy actions of Ben Bernanke and President Obama into perfect perspective Thursday when he noted that the Fed had moved past "central banking into central planning." Bingo! Grant went on to say that the Fed was "trying to impose prosperity through manipulation." Bingo again! Think about that phrase -- "to impose prosperity through manipulation." It is brilliantly succinct and accurate in describing what is going on in our nation's economy.

Low interest rates, easy money and malleable accounting rules are what plunged Wall Street into crisis. Yet it is low interest rates, easy money and malleable accounting rules that top the list of federal fixes. The unifying theme of the new bailout bill, all 451 pages of it, is the hair of the dog that bit you. The unblinkable fact is that Americans own too much house. We overpaid and overborrowed, and many of us are "upside down," as the car dealers say. What to do? Recognize the losses and write them off. What not to do? Inflate the currency...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR TODAY marks the fifth anniversary of the peak of the great millennial stock market. What were you doing when the lights began to dim? Were you a bull or a bear? Rich or otherwise? What about today? Are you inoculated against the new alleged sure things? Or perhaps you believe in the permanent hegemony of the dollar in the world's currency markets? In the inevitability of rising house prices? Or of falling interest rates? Answer true or false: the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is clairvoyant. From the March 2000 top to the October 2002 trough, the...