[AndyJackson]

The economic error of Mises, incidentally, is his belief that it is possible to destroy the effects of gratuitious credit by a government edict or monetary law. The cycle is a permanent result of free action under capitalism and not a result of a specific legal framework for money. It isn't removable without destroying the capital market freedoms that give rise to it.

I cannot believe that you are arguing that what has been going on under Greenspan and now Bernanke is "free market" capitalism and what we are seeing is just the effect of markets doing what markets do. Apparently, you are one of those who do not believe that the gratuitous expansion of credit was a deliberate act under the control of the federal reserve.

Fine. Please explain why we even bother with this apprently powerless entity called the Federal Reserve when everything we see is "just" the actions of the markets. If the Federal Reserve is irrelevant, then why does their announcement of $200B in longish term loans cause the market to jump?

[JasonC]

Wrong, I deny that gratuitous expansion of credit picks your pocket, not that it occurs or is deliberate policy.