Andreas Granath



Articles by Andreas Granath

Why Interest Rates Are Not the Price of Money

According to mainstream economics, interest rates are the price of money, but the Austrian school says differently. To understand these conflicting ideas, we must understand what prices, money, and interest are.First of all, prices are exchange-ratios between goods and/or services. An apple might be exchanged for a pear or two bananas. In that case we can conclude that the price of an apple, at that moment, is either one pear or two bananas. However, direct exchange has many disadvantages, and one of them is the price system. Expressing an apple’s price in pears and bananas doesn’t tell a dairy farmer or baker much about his product’s purchasing power. The exchange-ratios (prices) in a barter system are vast, specific, and ever-changing.Money solves this problem. Since money is a

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Anarchy Is Neither Chaos nor Hard to Find

In mundane speech and in perhaps any dictionary, anarchy is synonymous with chaos and disorder. This may not come as a surprise since left-wing anarchists have worked hard on destroying anarchy’s reputation.As a former statist, I used to share this view of anarchy—a chaotic dystopia. But, as I’ve learned over the years, anarchy is the opposite of that. However, this can only be realized by looking at it logically.Defining AnarchyThe word anarchy stems from ancient Greek and means “without ruler or authority.” In defining anarchy it is crucial to define the role of a ruler. Left-wing anarchists oppose natural hierarchies, private property, and government. By their logic, a ruler is someone who owns private property, holds a managerial position, or is a government official.On the other hand,

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True Money Supply Is the Correct Measure of Inflation, Not Consumer Price Index

Historically, inflation always referred to an increase in the money supply, whereas nowadays it refers to an increase in prices.
This shift in the definition of inflation lets central banks get away with their fraudulent business. Thus, the original definition must be reestablished. We must, by all means, switch the focus from the symptoms to the disease.
The CPI Deserves Less Attention
The lure of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) doesn’t just undermine price inflation, but also camouflages monetary inflation. Everywhere in the media and academic circles CPI is used as the main measure of “inflation.” Along with this index, “experts” sometimes talk about producer price indexes and personal consumption expenditures.
Although these indexes can provide an estimation of where the economy is

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Can We Protect Ourselves from Inflation?

Despite all of the inflation-fighting talk from the Fed, the truth is that the government benefits from inflating the currency. We need to know how to defend ourselves.

Original Article: "Can We Protect Ourselves from Inflation?"

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Can We Protect Ourselves from Inflation?

Rulers found out early on that they could debase gold and silver coins for their own gain. As a consequence, the money supply increased, whereas money’s purchasing power fell. This pseudoalchemy is the true definition of inflation and has been a policy for more than a thousand years.
What’s more, an increase in the money supply leads to rising prices. This symptom of inflation is often mistaken as inflation itself. The correct term, though, is price inflation.
Moreover, inflation creates boom-bust cycles and redistributes wealth, which results in winners and losers.
In a world of governments, inflation is inevitable since it is advantageous to the ruling class. Though we can’t escape this dreadful disease, we can learn to better deal with its symptoms—starting with knowledge.
Hence, I

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Time Preference and Success: Is There Any Link?

Every human acts purposefully using scarce means to attain ends. From this action axiom, we can deduce further human behavior and its effects. One such behavior is time preference.
Time preference is the idea that people value present ends above future ends. Since we must choose between various ends at any given time, we must have a preference to achieve the chosen end sooner rather than later. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have acted at all.
High Time Preference versus Low Time Preference
People have different time preferences. Thus, we distinguish between low and high time preferences. What is considered low and high in this aspect is relative.
People with (relatively) high time preferences are more present oriented. Thus, they place extra value on consuming sooner. They prefer instant

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