Few ideas are as closely associated with Marxism, writes Ralph Raico, as the concepts of class and class conflict. But the concept itself, with a more realistic understanding, originates in liberal theory.
Grover Cleveland, who was pro-gold, anti-tariff, and anti-imperialist, was the last American president in the Jefferson/Andrew Jackson/John Tyler tradition.
Many economics textbooks claim that a function of money is to measure the value of goods. In fact, the value an individual attaches to a given sum of money or to any kind of good (including gold) is based on a subjective judgment and is without physical dimensions.
Indeed, if we look at the failure of the welfare state, the persistence of the business cycle, runaway inflation, and out-of-control debt, we'll see that each is addressed and predicted in 'Human Action.'
If one looks at the catastrophic consequences of the great paper-money inflations, one must admit that the cost of making and holding gold is the minor evil. It would be futile to retort that these catastrophes were brought about because the regime merely used fiat money improperly.
Never forget the Christmas truce of World War I, when troops refused to be pawns of empire for one blessed day.
Socialism and interventionism have not yet succeeded in completely eliminating capitalism. If they had, we would, after centuries of gains in prosperity, rediscover the meaning of hunger on a massive scale.
The meaning of economic freedom is this: that the individual is in a position to choose the way in which he wants to integrate himself into the totality of society.
One lesson learned should be that fiat paper money won’t work.
Study of business cycles must be based upon a satisfactory cycle theory. Gazing at sheaves of statistics without "pre-judgment" is futile.
