The Bernanke-Yellen bubble is impacting many sectors of the economy. Agriculture land, motor vehicles and auto loans, banking, bonds, contemporary art, corporate stocks, higher education and student loans, mergers and acquisitions, ocean shipping and cruise lines, social media, technology, housing, real estate, and land markets have been
Nobel prize winning economist Robert Shiller recently revisited the Housing Bubble in an article published in the New York Times (“How Tales of ‘Flippers’ Led to a Housing Bubble,” May 18, 2017). He is troubled by the lack of consensus on what caused the bubble-bust that left the world mired in the financial crisis. He states: “We need to
Economists have long played semantic games with business cycles. In particular, they try to downplay the significance of the crisis and to obfuscate its cause. First of all, bubbles and economic crises are initially denied and then usually not named until after they end and particular sectors of the economy are revealed to be what Lionel Robbins
The Economist declares there is no such thing as a Skyscraper Curse and they have the mainstream empirical evidence to support that declaration. I wrote them a letter to the editor, but apparently they are not going to publish it. Here is my letter: Dear Editor of The Economist : Thank you for discussing my research and referencing my journal
Super tall buildings, or skyscrapers, are being built at an astonishing rate. Ninety-seven buildings that exceed 200 meters (656 feet) high were constructed in 2014, setting a new record. The previous record was eighty-one buildings completed in 2011. The total number of skyscrapers in existence now is 935, a whopping 350 percent increase since
The pages of Mises.org have been filled with analysis on the impacts of ZIRP, or Zero Interest Rate Policy (of the Federal Reserve) for many years. Even though the recession officially ended 6 1/2 years ago, the policy has remain in place for the last 7 years. The main results of the policy has been to benefit the large banks and to generate
The signatures have been collected and submitted paving the way for a vote to establish 100% reserve banking in Switzerland. In doing so, the Swiss people join with Iceland in attempting to abolish fractional reserve banking. According to the Telegraph : Under Switzerland’s direct democracy, a referendum can be held if a motion gains 100,000
Barron’s is writing about skyscrapers and the Skyscraper Curse: The Bigger Asia Builds, The Harder It Falls : Could the opening of the world’s second largest building in the heart of Shanghai portend a financial crash? They also quote me on the subject: Could there be more to so-called Skyscraper Curse than just fun and games? Let’s hope not as
I have lived in Auburn, Alabama, for more than three decades and have never seen a super-sized construction crane here. Last week two were erected in the middle of town. One is being used to build a seven story building for retail, apartments, and parking. The other is on the Auburn University campus and is being used to build something in front
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.