The always interesting and informative Richard Ebeling is doing regular commentary at EPICTiMES . His most recent is “ Don’t fear Deflation, Unless Caused by Government .” Here Ebeling effectively refutes arguments made by Bernanke and Yellen that the Fed’s massive monetary base expansion was necessary to fight recession and prevent deflation.
p>My replacement at Metro State, Nicolas Cachanosky, continues to write interesting, challenging papers in the Austrian tradition faster than those of us used to the slower pace of retirement can read them. His most recent is “ Hayek’s Rule, NGDP Targeting, and the Productivity Norm: Theory and Application. ” Cachanosky notes: The 2008 crisis
President Obama recently commented that he wanted a next Fed chairman who would do good for all not just for Wall Street and the rich [and politicians and chrony capitalists supporting government spending at unsustainably high levels), but for everyone. Perhaps if what he has in mind is a real “helicopter Ben” who, instead of buying $85 billion in
From the University of Chicago’ John H. Cochrane a very good read on the dangers to liberty built into the Senate version of “immigration reform” in today’s WSJ . See: “ Think Government Is Intrusive Now? Wait Until E-Verify Kicks In - There’s a monster lurking in proposed immigration reform, one that bureaucrats will find irresistible .”
“Obama’s false history of public investment” A don’t miss is Larry Schweikart and Burton Folsom in today’s Wall Street Journal . These are two excellent economic historians whose works I frequently used during my teaching days, especially for the economic history of the U. S. Highlights: “Entrepreneurs built our roads, rails and canals far better
Peter Boettke highlights more nonsense from Paul Krugman. Krugman again demonstrates a complete lack of appreciation for and understanding of Hayek’s (and Mises’s) significant contributions to what is now called macroeconomics. Krugman writes re Hayek and Keynes, “back in the 30s nobody except Hayek would have considered his views a serious rival
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had a nice short summary of how bad housing policy over several administrations misdirected greed (self interest or prudence) into actions by private actors that created the bad paper underlying the financial crisis. Unfortunately the authors, Gramm and Solon, greatly understate the role of the Fed in this calamity.
In case you missed it, L. GORDON CROVITZ ( WSJ, “TV’s Unnatural Monopolies ”) makes excellent use of Austrian analysis of market process and monopoly to support his argument that “The rationale for government regulation is collapsing in the face of technological change” in what used to be called the television market. Tipping the hat to Thomas
In today’s Wall Street Journal an editorial examines the impact of Fed Policy on the developing world ( Ben Bernanke’s Global Adventure : The markets show unwinding QE is not so easy ). The emphasis is, as it maybe should be for now, on the difficulty facing not only the U.S, but the world economy if and when the Fed begins to unwind QE infinity:
The Danger of an All-Powerful Fed or the Danger of a Central Banking: Cochrane and Cochran John H. Cochrane: The Danger of an All-Powerful Federal Reserve : ‘Macroprudential’ policy thinkers want central banks to micromanage the entire financial system. John P. Cochran: Can Fed policy get any worse? – Bernanke A Tenure of Failure Macroprudential
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.