Thu, 26 Apr 2007  Is Robert Samuelson an economist?  Boy, after
reading Samuelson's April 30 Newsweek column, I have to question
his right to the name "economist". First, he pursues the common
wisdom that inflation is caused by higher prices. It isn't.
Inflation is everywhere and always caused by an increase in the
supply of money. Money is just a thing that people are always
willing to trade for because people are always willing to accept
it. There's a supply and demand for money, and, yes, a price of
money.  But here's the thing you need to remember: the only
reason there is sustained inflation is because the government is
always creating more money. It does so because it gets to spend
the money first. It's a tax that nobody notices, if they even
understand it. So Samuelson's discussion of oil prices, food
prices, and core CPI is pretty much a waste of time, space, and
print.  Second, he talks about recession. It's clear to any real
economist that the Fed causes these recessions through its
manipulation of