Category Archive: 6b) Austrian Economics

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The Truth About Bidenomics: More Debt, More Inflation

2023-07-10

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2023-07-10

Estimates of United States growth have improved but remain massively below the Federal Reserve projections. After the largest monetary and fiscal stimulus in recent years, growth remains well below trend, and debt is significantly higher. It is interesting to hear Janet Yellen say that “trickle-down economics did not work” when this is the failed trickle-down: massive government deficit spending leads to negative real wage growth and weaker GDP....

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Wall Street to the Fed: Inflation Is Over. Give Us More Easy Money!

2023-07-09

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2023-07-09

The problem here not that the central bank is "setting" the "wrong" interest rate. The problem is the Fed has long been relentlessly forcing down interest rates to satisfy various politically determined "needs." Original Article: "Wall Street to the Fed: Inflation Is Over. Give Us More Easy Money!"

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Call Rent Control What It Really Is: Theft

2023-07-08

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2023-07-08

Rent control is all the rage with progressives, with several states and localities trying to impose it. However, when people have their property effectively—and legally—stolen, there are long-term consequences. Original Article: "Call Rent Control What It Really Is: Theft"

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How “Squatter Democracy” Created America’s First Welfare Program

2023-07-08

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2023-07-08

After 1820, growing numbers of propertyless squatters were voters, and this was an opportunity for politicians to offer cheap land in exchange for loyalty to the Democratic Party. Original Article: "How "Squatter Democracy" Created America's First Welfare Program"

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Two More Elephants in Your Electric Vehicle

2023-07-08

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2023-07-08

On this week's episode, Mark summarizes the many problems with EVs, and focuses on two consequences funded by taxpayer subsidy. Large, overpriced, long range vehicles have been subsidized at the expense of more efficient technological applications. These EVs are significantly heavier compared to their fossil fuel counterparts (which have engines and gas tanks). These heavier vehicles create greater crash risks for passengers and pedestrians....

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To Smoke or Not to Smoke: The Cigarette Economy in Postwar Germany, 1945–48

2023-07-08

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2023-07-08

During the three years after World War II, Germans—facing a ruined economy and wildly depreciating currency—turned to cigarettes as a medium of exchange on a massive scale. Allied occupation authorities strictly forbade this black-market currency exchange, but it literally saved the lives of many German civilians—and inadvertently made many American GIs rich. The cigarette had already made its appearance during the war as a currency in both the...

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Paleoconservatives Need Better Critics

2023-07-08

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2023-07-08

Paul Gottfried is no stranger to criticism from “conservative” gatekeepers. Like his friend and colleague Murray Rothbard, Gottfried has been a target of Buckleyite conservativism ever since he was ousted from the National Review in the 1980s. Also, like Rothbard, Gottfried’s ideas have continued to inspire new generations of Americans sincerely interested in grappling with societal issues as neoconservatism has waned everywhere outside of...

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MMT’s Warren Mosler Argues Fed Rate Hikes Cause Growth and Inflation

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

Bob walks through a recent interview of MMT champion Warren Mosler, in which he claims that Fed rate hikes lead to larger government interest expenses and hence support economic growth and inflation. Bob presents both theoretical and empirical evidence against Mosler's claims. MMT's Warren Mosler Argues Fed Rate Hikes Cause Growth and Inflation Video of MMT's Warren Mosler Argues Fed Rate Hikes Cause Growth...

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The Backstops for Banks Are Full of Holes

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

First Republic, Signature Bank, and Silicon Valley Bank have all failed, and that’s not the only thing they have in common. Western Alliance Bank’s Ken Vecchione was jealous of these three large regional banks. The chief executive admitted to the New York Times, “We were, I have to admit, a bit envious of them.” Obviously Vecchione was and likely still is oblivious to problems at his bank and others. He doesn’t understand the fragility of...

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When Slave Owners Chose Federal Power over Local Sovereignty

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

A recurring theme in American politics is the cynical use of federal power by those who simultaneously pretend to favor "states' rights" or "local control." We see this today when Republicans one minute say they favor local control with gun laws or Obamacare—and then demand the federal government impose nationwide drug prohibitions. We see it among Democrats who want local control over "sanctuary cities" for illegal...

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The GDPR Paradox: Empowering Government in the Name of Data Protection

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation supposedly protects people from government data abuse. In reality, it empowers governments. Original Article: "The GDPR Paradox: Empowering Government in the Name of Data Protection"

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Cracked-Up Slobodian

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracyby Quinn SlobodianMetropolitan Books, 2023; 336 pp. Quinn Slobodian, a professor of the history of ideas at Wellesley College, has a good deal to say about Murray Rothbard, and I have attempted to respond to that in a review that is to be published in the next issue of The Austrian. Slobodian also includes some comments on the Mises Institute, Lew Rockwell, and...

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Socialists Should Support Government Default: Their Forebears Certainly Did

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

Socialists like Bernie Sanders and the editors of Jacobin have decried the possible US government debt default. Marx and Lenin would have vociferously disagreed. Original Article: "Socialists Should Support Government Default: Their Forebears Certainly Did"

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Cultural Change Is Necessary for Capital Development

2023-07-07

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2023-07-07

Preserving culture is so crucial to a group’s identity that it has become sacred. For many the contents of culture don’t matter as long as they are preserved. But such a nihilistic approach to culture has led to failure and will continue to do so. Culture is a social technology that allows societies to function within a specific institutional setting. So, a constellation of traits could be useful for people living in a premodern setting but...

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America: A Nation of Debt

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

On this episode of Good Money with Tho Bishop, Ryan McMaken joins the show to talk about America's debt crisis. Tho and Ryan discuss both the damage done to the economy by runaway government spending, as well as how Federal Reserve policy has incentivized consumption and punished savings, which has resulted in record-high credit card debt. Good Money listeners can order a special $5 book bundle that includes How To Think About the Economy...

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The Problem with Nationalism

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

Ryan, Tho, and Kerry Baldwin take a look at why some politicians say they're "nationalists." Is nationalism a good thing or is it just another way to justify more government meddling in our lives?  New Radio Rothbard mugs are now available at the Mises Store. Get yours at Mises.org/RothMug  PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off

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The demise of the dollar: What comes after that?

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

Part II of II A good start Whatever one might think about which currency is better suited to be used in trade or as a benchmark or as a central bank reserve, the fact remains that the USD’s days as the “only right answer” to that question are numbered. It might not happen tomorrow, but a credible challenger will eventually emerge.  As Patrick Barron also highlighted in his analysis: “Led by China and later by Russia, some nations of the...

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My Forty-Year War on Reefer Madness

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

Forty years ago last week, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner published my first attack on the federal drug war. The previous year, the Reagan administration had unleashed its “Just Say No” program, vilifying anyone who smoked a joint, sniffed the wrong powder, or used nonapproved hallucinogens. I was mortified to see Ronald Reagan—who was elected on a promise to get “government off your backs”—double-cross his supporters with what morphed into the...

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Huerta de Soto Reigns in Spain

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

Jesús Huerta de Soto, who is professor of economics at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid, is the leading representative of the Austrian school of economics in Spain. He is a renowned teacher, and two of his many doctoral students, David Howden and Philipp Bagus, both now themselves professors of economics, have edited a festschrift in his honor. The contributors include students, colleagues, friends, teachers, two of his daughters, and his...

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Licensing Laws Deepen South Africa’s Electricity Crisis

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

South Africa is suffering from rolling blackouts and other power outages. These could be avoided if the government would permit competition in electricity markets. Original Article: "Licensing Laws Deepen South Africa's Electricity Crisis"

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