Before I Met Ayn Rand, I Was

But How Do We Know When Irrational Exuberance Has Unduly Escalated Asset Values, Which Then Become Subject To Unexpected And Prolonged Contractions As They Have In Japan Over The Past Decade?

I Believe That The General Growth In Large [financial] Institutions Have Occurred In The Context Of An Underlying Structure Of Markets In Which Many Of The Larger Risks Are Dramatically -- I Should Say, Fully -- Hedged.

I Have Long Argued That Paying Down The National Debt Is Beneficial For The Economy: It Keeps Interest Rates Lower Than They Otherwise Would Be And Frees Savings To Finance Increases In The Capital Stock, Thereby Boosting Productivity And Real Incomes.

Significantly Opening Up Immigration To Skilled Workers Solves Two Problems. The Companies Could Hire The Educated Workers They Need. And Those Workers Would Compete With High-income People, Driving More Income Equality.

Clearly, Sustained Low Inflation Implies Less Uncertainty About The Future, And Lower Risk Premiums Imply Higher Prices Of Stocks And Other Earning Assets. We Can See That In The Inverse Relationship Exhibited By Price/earnings Ratios And The Rate Of Inflation In The Past. But How Do We Know When Irrational Exuberance Has Unduly Escalated Asset Values, Which Then Become Subject To Unexpected And Prolonged Contractions As They Have In Japan Over The Past Decade?