Columnist William Fleckenstein says Don’t Take Mortgage Advice from Greenspan . Before quoting from the above, I would just note that Greenspan’s latest comments reminded me of a speech he gave on March 6, 2000, which I have dubbed “An Ode to Technology.” In the speech, he waxed on about the wonders of technology and how it had brought us a new
Greg Mankiw on how fiat money evolves naturally from commodity money, from his widely popular MACROECONOMICS (5th ed., pp. 78-79): “The government might first get involved in the monetary system to help people reduce transaction costs. Using raw gold as money is costly because it takes time to verify the purity of gold and to measure the correct
What if the people of a nation thought that they could borrow and spend their way to prosperity? That the more debt they took on, the wealthier they would be? And what if they were aided and abetted by the head of their central bank? This is what the world might look like [ ...article...
The National Post presents an essay reflecting on the 60th anniversary of Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom Hayek was an adherent of the “Austrian School,” which had revolutionized economics in the late 19th century by overturning flawed classical theories of value. As a student of business cycles, Hayek — like the rest of the Austrian School — believed
This article at FreeLiberal.com reports that California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is sympathetic to Austrian economics: Arnold has been a frequent attendee and speaker at Reason Foundation Banquets in Los Angeles over the years. Even more it was recently uncovered that Arnold once attended a hardcore libertarian conference. Former UCSD
According to the UK Telegraph, newspaper boys have been escaping the tax system , and that this will no longer be tolerated. They will be required to open bank accounts, if they do not have one, so that they can comply with tax regulations. A Revenue spokesman denied it was mounting a campaign to target newspaper delivery boys and girls to see
Property rights are not respected in China, according to a Los Angeles Times article . URUMQI, China — Bai Yiben worked hard to build up his property development business after retiring from a state-owned textile company in 1992, saving every penny and plowing it back into the company. After years of struggling, his firm turned the corner in 2000.
Just what we need — more advocates for the criminalization of voluntary market activities, this time aimed at those great engines of economic prosperity, the multinational corporations.
Another fine piece by columnist Peater Eavis draws attention to the consequences of the Chairman’s interest rate cuts: The extra debt may keep the economy afloat for a while, as it has since the crash of the Nasdaq economy and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But it does much more harm in the long run by preventing necessary restructuring of the
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.