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.
Volume 13, Number 4 (Winter 2010) We explore several unaddressed issues in George Selgin’s (1988) claim that the best monetary system to maintain monetary equilibrium is a fractional reserve free banking one. The claim that adverse clearing balances would limit credit expansion in a fractional reserve free banking system is more troublesome
Volume 12, No. 1 (2009) It is with great trepidation and anticipation that we review Robert Shiller’s new book, The Subprime Solution . Trepidation as to the causes of the problem, which were expected to take a behavioral spin. Anticipation that, with gushing reviews from Austrian friendly writers such as Nassim Taleb , there would be a
“Balls, we need balls” is probably the most famous phrase of German goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn. Balls, too, are needed by someone who is patronizingly introduced by Klaus “The Great Reset” Schwab in Davos, only to tell the assembled political and economic elite to their faces that they betray the liberal-libertarian principles that have made
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
Currently at 10.7 percent, unemployment is one of the most severe problems in Germany. The main reason for this unemployment is wage agreements that are too high. These wage agreements are primarily legitimated by the “productivity norm theory” that states that wages should be raised according to increases in “labor productivity.” Thus when labor
In his classic book On the Accuracy of Economic Observation Oskar Morgenstern deals with a common, yet widely neglected problem with which economic historians are faced, namely the quality of economic data. For the economic historian in the Austrian tradition, the quality of economic data is of utmost importance, since false data or belief in
The best that mankind ever knew: Freedom and life are earned by those alone Who conquer them each day anew. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe According to many economists, we need the state to provide public goods. The assertion seems to be so crystal-clear that it is not even worth discussion in the mainstream. One typical and popular example of
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
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.