Category Archive: 6b) Austrian Economics

Does Cost Cutting Undermine Economic Growth?

Keynesian economists claim that cutting costs in a business slowdown is counterproductive. As usual, the Keynesians have it backward. Original Article: "Does Cost Cutting Undermine Economic Growth?" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Elizabeth Warren’s Contradictory Demands for Easy Money and Strict Financial Regulation

As the financial ripples following the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) continue to run through the financial sector, a predictable voice has weighed in on the affair, and, as always, giving bad advice. Elizabeth Warren, never one to skip a chance to publicly gnaw on a financial carcass, writes in the New York Times that the entire problem is lack of government regulation. Of course. The US senator from Massachusetts has spent most of...

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The Last Lie Government Will Ever Tell

Western governments seem to relish a clash with Russia, despite the specter of nuclear war. If so, it will be a conflict built on government lies. Original Article: "The Last Lie Government Will Ever Tell" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Understanding the Difference between Praxeology and Psychology

It has been proposed that praxeology has potential not only as the foundation for growing the Austrian school of economics but other sciences as well. The utility of Austrian economics is immense, and similar achievements in other domains would be welcome. However, it seems like a difficult task, as demonstrated by a recent effort to expand praxeology to psychology. The present article discusses the scope and power of praxeology and the conditions...

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Governments Can’t Blame Inflation on Energy and Putin Anymore

At the end of February 2023, the price of oil (WTI and Brent), Henry Hub and ICE natural gas, aluminum, copper, steel, corn, wheat, and the Baltic Dry Index are below the February 2022 levels. The Supply Chain Index and the global supply-demand balance, published by Morgan Stanley, have declined to September 2022 levels. However, the latest inflation readings are hugely concerning. Considering the previously mentioned prices of commodities and...

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Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System

Canadian politicians tout their healthcare system as morally superior to private medicine. There is nothing moral about relegating thousands of people to death each year for lack of medical care. Original Article: "Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Is It Real Money or Just Artifice?

In his 1884 article “Mind as a Social Factor,” Lester F. Ward attacked the laissez-faire doctrine in an “inversion of values” that would have made Friedrich Nietzsche blush. “But how shall we distinguish,” Ward asked, this human, or anthropic, method from the method of nature? Simply by reversing all the definitions. Art is the antithesis of nature. If we call one the natural method we must call the other the artificial method. If nature’s process...

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Karl Marx Was Not an Economist

Karl Marx may have been a philosopher or just someone with an opinion. He was not, however, an economist. Original Article: "Karl Marx Was Not an Economist" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Politics Is Turning Us into Idiots

Political correctness in Western societies fosters polarization and a toxic culture of ignorance. Although people are rightly outraged by the cancellation of prominent figures, the most glaring consequence of political correctness is the proliferation of ignorance. When speakers are cancelled for contradicting sacrosanct opinions, this leads to an environment where people never arrive at the truth because ideas are not disputed in the public...

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Banking crisis: The new bailout strategy

Part II of II To be fair, it is true, this time is different. Indeed, this time the rescue plan for the bust banks is not comparable to what we saw in 2008. In the US, the guarantee for deposits up to $250.000 comes from funds that are maintained by participating banks and not from the taxpayer. The official answer to how they’re going to pay everyone back is also plausible and possible: Some, or even most, of the money can and will be recovered...

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Economics from the Ground Up: Intellectual Community in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

The Ralph Raico Memorial Commencement Lecture. Recorded at the 2023 Austrian Economics Research Conference hosted at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, March 16–18, 2023. [embedded content] The Austrian Economics Research Conference is the international, interdisciplinary meeting of the Austrian School, bringing together leading scholars doing research in this vibrant and influential intellectual tradition. The conference is hosted by...

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Did Colonialism Impoverish Africa and Asia? Perhaps Not

Decolonization is a popular academic and media buzzword. But is colonialism actually responsible for poverty in developing countries? This question deserves an honest answer. Original Article: "Did Colonialism Impoverish Africa and Asia? Perhaps Not" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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To Fight the State, Build Alternatives to the State

Throughout its history, liberalism—the ideology today called “classical liberalism” or “libertarianism”—has suffered from the impression that it is primarily against things. This is not entirely wrong. Historically, liberalism coalesced as a recognizable and coherent ideology in opposition largely to mercantilism and absolutism throughout Western Europe. Over time, this opposition extended to socialism, protectionism, imperialism, aggressive...

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Why Most of the World Isn’t on Board with the NATO-Russia War

As the war in Ukraine drags on into its second year, protest demonstrations have been taking place in major European cities. They express the growing sentiment that the people are tired of the protracted conflict and fearful of what could come should the war continue even longer. Memories of the catastrophic world wars that ravaged Europe in the first half of the last century and the terrible threat of nuclear annihilation that divided the...

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Is the Fed Trying to Bail Out the World? Sure Looks Like It

The collapse of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse recently was a catastrophe long in the making. A quick perusal of the bank’s financial statements from recent years shows that we’re dealing with something analogous to a classic bank run. Credit Suisse’s pool of liquid assets declined more than 50 percent from 2021 to 2022, mostly in October 2022, from CHF 229.9 billion to CHF 118.5 billion as depositors withdrew their money. Despite the timing,...

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Graceann Bennett: Brands Are Value-Generating Assets, Marketing Is Just Tactics

Peter Drucker famously identified the only two value-generating functions of the firm as innovation and marketing. We propose to differentiate brand building (or branding) from marketing, especially in this digital age. Brands are the vehicle for framing, establishing, nurturing and enhancing relationships with customers. In the digital age, marketing has become mechanized and mathematicised; it’s about numbers more than about human values and...

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American Dissident: The Legacy of Murray Rothbard

Murray Rothbard was an elite economist, historian, and avowed enemy of the state. His legacy lives on nearly three decades after his untimely passing. Original Article: "American Dissident: The Legacy of Murray Rothbard" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Bipartisanship Is Not a Substitute for Voluntary Exchange

Besides using bipartisan comprehensive political reform as a cover for evasion and extortion, the many political abuses of posturing, window dressing, and maneuvering enabled do not exhaust the problems involved. Those problems are, instead, far more comprehensive, especially when it comes to the amount of usable information that is accessible, including accurate information about the true costs of government programs. As Ludwig von Mises,...

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ESG En Route to Etatism

The Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture, sponsored by Harvey and Mei Allison. Recorded at the 2023 Austrian Economics Research Conference hosted at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, March 16–18, 2023. [embedded content] The Austrian Economics Research Conference is the international, interdisciplinary meeting of the Austrian School, bringing together leading scholars doing research in this vibrant and influential intellectual tradition....

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No, We Don’t Need More Nuclear Weapons

Advocates for more military spending tell us the taxpayer must pay to expand the US's nuclear arsenal.  Because of China. In truth, the US's arsenal is in no danger of not "keeping up." Original Article: "No, We Don't Need More Nuclear Weapons" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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