Volume 12, Number 4 (2009) Much has been written about the quantity of money and its effects on money’s purchasing power. However, changes in the quality of money have been widely neglected. This paper analyzes changes in the quality of money and its influence on the purchasing power of money. Bagus, Philipp. “The Quality of Money.” The
Volume 13, No. 3 (Fall 2010) Recognizing different types of savings allows for a more fruitful analysis of the business cycle. Sustainable investment activities must be financed by an equivalent amount of savings, both in length of availability and quantity. Upward-sloping yield curves are a feature of the unhampered loanable funds market.
Bioethicist Garrett James Hardin, who coined the term “tragedy of the commons,” passed away this September at the age of 88. In his now famous 1968 essay, “ The Tragedy of the Commons ,” Hardin describes how common, i.e., public, property, is overused until it deteriorates or is destroyed. Because of his essay, many consider him to have fathered
Since August 15, 1971 the US dollar has been an irredeemable paper currency. Every irredeemable paper currency in history has failed. Yet, the experiment of the US dollar and the rest of the fiat paper world continues. During the current crisis, however, financial systems all over the world are increasingly struggling, and the end of the
“If the interest rate Greece has to pay for its debts keeps rising, the country may have to default on its obligations. The euro has been sliding against the US dollar for weeks. Concerns about the public finances of eurozone countries Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, the so-called “PIGS,” have emerged in financial markets. Greece is facing
[Excerpted from Tragedy of the Euro (2010)] When property rights in money are poorly defined, negative external effects develop. The institutional setup of the euro, with its poorly defined property rights, has brought it close to collapse and can be called a tragedy of the commons. Fiat Money and External Costs External costs and benefits are the
Both the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are owners of the printing press. They produce base money. On top of the base-money production, the fractional-reserve-banking system can produce money out of thin air. Both central banks produce money in order to finance their respective governments. As a result of their money
On Thursday, October 28, 2011, prices of European stocks soared. Big banks like Société Générale (+22.54%), BNP Paribas (+19.92%), Commerzbank (+16.49%) or Deutsche Bank (+15.35%) experienced fantastic one-day gains. What happened? Today’s banks are not free-market institutions. They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing .
On Tuesday, March 26, 2012, I was invited by Ron Paul and his staff to assist a meeting of the Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services . The title of the hearing was “Federal Reserve Aid to the Eurozone: Its Impact on the U.S. and the Dollar.” Unfortunately, Ben Bernanke had not come to 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.