Category Archive: 6b) Austrian Economics

“Trans Rights” Means Trans Entitlements and the End of Civil Society

A “civil society” is a community of individuals who are linked together by common interests and activities. Common interests include being able to walk the streets safely (peace) and to exercise such rights as freedom of speech (individual freedom). These shared interests allow common activities to flourish, including commerce and the education of children. Civil society is possible only because most people want to live securely, protect their...

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The Money Supply Has Plummeted in the Biggest Drop Since the Great Depression

With negative growth now falling to near –10 percent, money-supply contraction is now the largest we've seen since the Great Depression.  Original Article: "The Money Supply Has Plummeted in the Biggest Drop Since the Great Depression"

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The Lure of a Stable Price Level

One of the reasons that most economists of the 1920s did not recognize the existence of an inflationary problem was the widespread adoption of a stable price level as the goal and criterion for monetary policy. The extent to which the Federal Reserve authorities were guided by a desire to keep the price level stable has been a matter of considerable controversy. Far less controversial is the fact that more and more economists came to consider a...

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Finance Discovers Sting: “How Fragile We Are”

Despite the soothing hot air from the White House and Fed officials, the financial system is becoming increasingly fragile and unstable. Maybe all of that intervention the past decade was not wise. Original Article: "Finance Discovers Sting: "How Fragile We Are""

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Progressives Want to Eliminate Wealthy Entrepreneurs but Need the Wealth They Create

Modern culture is biased against those that are rich even while depending upon the wealth that successful entrepreneurs have created. Original Article: "Progressives Want to Eliminate Wealthy Entrepreneurs but Need the Wealth They Create"

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Where Is That Darn Recession?

Mark takes a look at all the wrong predictions of recession in recent years, including those of Austrian School economists. While the MSM and Fed officials try to downplay the coming of a recession, many of the statistics and facts that Austrian consider important are indicating a looming recession, if not a full-blown economic crisis. Check out Anatomy of the Crash: The Financial Crisis of 2020, edited by Tho Bishop:...

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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...

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As Interest Rates Rise, the Era of “Deficits Don’t Matter” Is Over

Back in 2002, then-Vice President Dick Cheney claimed "Reagan proved deficits don't matter" and went on to push for tax cuts combined with more federal spending. Indeed, the Bush administration would go on to push immense amounts of new spending, supporting a huge Medicare expansion and blowing hundreds of millions of dollars on costly and pointless occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The national debt grew by 70 percent during Bush's...

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Rothbard’s Button Doesn’t Exist, but It Needs to Be Invented

In 1948, Ludwig Erhardt rescued a German economy that was in shambles simply by invoking free markets and currency reform. Our economy needs its Rothbard moment. Original Article: "Rothbard’s Button Doesn’t Exist, but It Needs to Be Invented"

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Overcoming Government Intervention in the Economy

Once again, the economic system is trying to adjust to political and monetary interventions. The year 2023 marks the end of a historical period characterized by zero-cost credit. The monetary expansion that began in the early 2000s led to the great financial crisis of 2008 and the emerging markets boom. Exaggerated demand expectations and easy access to capital caused an overexpansion of production capacity and the subsequent industrial...

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Mises Book Club

In September 2023, the Mises Institute will hold the inaugural meeting of the Mises Book Club, its newest program to promote deep reading in Austrian economics.  In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, this iconic Austrolibertarian text will be the focus of our inaugural meeting. For eight riveting weeks, ten to fifteen specially selected undergraduate students will partake in rich...

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Fear-Mongering Over the Debt Ceiling

Heritage Fellow Peter St. Onge joins Bob to set the record straight on several popular talking points about the debt ceiling. Bob on selling Gov't resources to reduce the National Debt: Mises.org/HAP397a [embedded content]

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An Austrian Perspective vs the Financial Mainstream

This episode of Good Money with Tho Bishop features guest Ryan Griggs of Griggs Capital Strategies. During the show, Ryan discusses his work with Bob Murphy on an Austrian understanding of inverted yield curves as a signal for recessions and how it differs from the mainstream analysis. He also discusses Nelson Nash's infinite banking strategy as a means for capital accumulation, in contrast to traditional investment approaches. Ryan and Bob Murphy...

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Don’t Get on the Nationalist Bus

America and the Art of the Possible: Restoring National Vitality in an Age of Decayby Christopher BuskirkEncounter Books, 2023; xxv + 162 pp. Christopher Buskirk is the publisher and editor of the magazine American Greatness, and the title of that magazine, like that of the book, shows his principal concern. How can the American people regain the sense of optimism and purpose which we once had but have now lost? Buskirk says that in the public...

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Is There an Optimum Growth Rate of Money?

Monetarists believe there is an optimum growth rate of money. However, a fiat money system itself is unstable, so there is no optimum growth rate. Original Article: "Is There an Optimum Growth Rate of Money?"

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The Boston Brahmins, WASPs, and Nazis: The Pursuit of Eugenics

During the progressive era, academia hastily adopted the inhumane pseudoscience of eugenics, and its results on the world were devastating. The influence of the Boston Brahmins in New England can explain the fervent adoption of this malignant belief. This elite and well-educated class of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants reeked of pomp and snobbery. The origin of the term “Boston Brahmin” came from Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. in his 1861 novel Elsie...

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Socialism, Minority Groups, and Personal Liberties

People from socially and economically marginized groups in the USA tend to support socialism. Yet socialists have a long and bloody history of suppressing these very groups. Original Article: "Socialism, Minority Groups, and Personal Liberties"

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The Regime’s Lies Over the Debt Ceiling

On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop tackle the debt ceiling debate. As negotiations continue in Washington, the corporate financial press is hard at work warning about the potential for disaster. Ryan and Tho cut through the nonsense to look at the real state of America's finances, potential ramifications in the short term, and US defaults of the past and the inevitable future.  [embedded content] New Radio...

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Taxation as a Weapon against Prosperity

The Economist magazine in a recent editorial painted a rather positive image of the American economy. After encountering setbacks, the American economy often registers a buoyant recovery. Despite competition from rivals, America has retained her position as the world’s top economy. Some are bewildered by America’s enduring prosperity, but is it reasonable to expect less from a country designed to do business? The American Constitution is a fierce...

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Comprehensive Reform versus Piecemeal Reform

Should political reform be the result of a much-discussed comprehensive plan? Or should it come about through decentralized decision-making that deals with the situations at hand? Original Article: "Comprehensive Reform versus Piecemeal Reform"

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