Sweden is thriving. At least compared to other countries, Sweden has done pretty well during the financial crisis. Some people, like Paul Krugman, seem to think this is due to extensive bailouts and the nationalization of private corporations at the beginning of the 1990s that supposedly “saved” Sweden from market-imposed disaster. Whereas it is
Economists since Adam Smith have understood the enormous potential for productivity due to the division of labor. Overall productivity increases dramatically by splitting a job into several separate tasks performed by different people, each focused on their specific task. Ricardo further developed this understanding and showed that even in
Austrian economists have been prominent in developing the economic theory of money ever since Carl Menger wrote an acclaimed and still-read essay in 1892 on how moneys emerge: The Origins of Money (see also the chapter on money in Menger’s exceptional treatise Principles of Economics , chapter VIII ). Wieser further developed the theory by showing
I readily admit that I am a sucker for glam (or hair) metal to supplement my voluminous consumption of heavy metal. Unfortunately, the heyday of glam metal is long gone and what remains of this proud musical genre is the occasional but temporary reunion of long-since-retired band members for another last gig or tour. While the genre saw something
The development of modern neoclassical economics is the story of how a discipline lost its way. Before the mathematization of economics, economists tried to explain prices and macro patterns in the market place from individual human action. But modern “mathonomics” has evolved into a subfield of mathematics with no obvious ties to the real
While (re-)reading one of the chapters of Mises’s Theory of Money and Credit , I noted my underlining of the very clearly formulated definitions on page 240. Mises defines inflation as: an increase in the quantity of money (in the broader sense of the term, so as to include fiduciary media as well), that is not offset by a corresponding increase
Americans look out! Your empire may not be the only one in the world much longer. The European Union, often thought of by Europeans (and especially European power-hungry politicians) as a way of engineering a super power of their own to equal that of the United States, is consistently taking leaps toward creating a centralized continental super
Washington Post has an article today on “Five economic lessons from Sweden, the rock star of the recovery.” While it is certainly true that the economy of Sweden quite quickly bounced back after the short crisis, WaPo’s analysis is more of wishful thinking than statements of facts. Granted, the facts stated are true – but the offered
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.