With the launch of The Exchange, Minyans now have a forum in which to express their viewpoints, comment on articles and meet other like-minded financial souls. Minyanville publishes "A Best of the Exchange" each Friday to highlight the many insightful posts and discussions going on behind the scenes. 

Become part of The Exchange and let your voice be heard!

(Editor's Note: Some of the following posts may have been modified slightly from their original form.)

Prof. Payne wrote about how he felt America was doing better than many thought, inviting lively discussion from several Minyans.

Minyan Suzanne: Here here, Prof. Payne! That needed to be said. And it was said very well. Thank you. We need to have the same compassion for the USA that we have had for other countries in their times of change.

Minyan Jonathan: While I'm sure we all appreciate your patriotism, perhaps before criticizing "The Post-American World" you might consider reading the book.

Minyan David: I want the United States to reap the just rewards of this 'war on terror' in which the poor, oppressed, suffering people of the world are our enemies while we support dictators with money and weapons.

Prof. Depew talked about The Ghost of Crises Past in his Five Things You Need to Know piece, talking about Volcker's speech before Congress.

Minyan Lee:  So when Fannie and Freddie have to be nationalised, our wise leaders can reflect and say, " No one could have anticipated that reducing their capital requirements and increasing their market shares could lead to problems.

Minyan Mike: Kevin, you are right on about inflation. Unfortunately, so few people have an understanding of Austrian economics.

Minyan Dean: Your definition of inflation is an attempt to beg the question and prove monetarist economics by assuming monetarist economics.

Prof. Shedlock shared his opinion that if you want to fix the Federal Reserve, get rid of it and Minyans weighed in with their own takes.

Minyan Greg: Or at least audit the Fed. Mike is right, of course. The Federal Reserve should be abolished and we should return to free market banking before the Federal Reserve (private central bank cartel) was established in 1913. The Federal income tax should also be abolished.

Minyan Jim: It's truly hard to imagine that our Harvard educated financial leaders could not see this coming. It's harder to imagine that they are still in a state of denial and actually think that the worst is over.

Minyan Karl: Getting rid of something doesn't address the problem when its underlying function is necessary. And by the way, fractional reserve lending dates to Hammurabi. The Fed is not the cause of it, and it existed long before The Fed did, or, for that matter, any modern central bank.