My letter to the Wall Street Journal re: Neither Political Overlords Nor Monetary Mandarins

Re: Political Overlords Shackle China's Monetary Mandarins Dear Sirs: China needs neither political overlords nor monetary mandarins to straighten out its economy and prevent inflation. All it needs is sound money and free markets. In his masterful essay delivered to the Foundation for Economic Freedom on May 18th, 1970 titled "Can We Still Avoid Inflation?", Nobel Laureate Friedrich A. Hayek has this to say about using monetary stimulus to spur economic growth: "Those who counsel underdeveloped countries to speed up the rate of growth by inflation seem to me wholly irresponsible to an almost criminal degree." The crime to which Hayek referred is robbing the many via inflation, which is difficult to quantify, for the benefit of the few, which can be quantified. Undoubtedly this is the process that will continue in China whether the monetary system is controlled by politicians or bankers. The only difference is which set of elite will benefit at the expense of the masses. Patrick Barron