Volume 6, No. 4 (Winter 2003) In an age when deflation is widely feared and the threat of deflation serves as a justification for radical policy proposals, Bordo and Redish have done a great service in showing that deflation is not harmful to the economy, at least on the gold standard. However, they find an anomaly—a teaser—in Canada
Volume 8, No. 1 (Spring 2005) The skyscraper index, created by economist Andrew Lawrence shows a correlation between the construction of the world’s tallest building and the business cycle. Is this just a coincidence, or perhaps do skyscrapers cause business cycles? A theoretical foundation of “Cantillon effects” for the skyscraper index is
Volume 9, No. 3 (Fall 2006) Richard Cantillon was the first economist to successfully examine the cyclical nature of the capitalist economy. He lived at a time (168?–1734) when the institutions of the modern capitalist economy were first fully and widely established and the first major business cycles occurred. In contrast to the
Volume 4, Number 3; Fall 2001 This book is a long-awaited project among Austrian economists; some of the central contributions found in the book date back nearly a quarter of a century. The consensus of opinion is that it has been worth the wait and that the book is an important contribution to Austrian economics as well as to the
Volume 16, No. 4 (Winter 2013) ABSTRACT : Richard Cantillon is credited with the discovery of economic theory and was the first to fully consider the critical role of entrepreneurship in the economy. Cantillon described entrepreneurship as pervasive and he casted the entrepreneur with a pivotal role in the economy. Using a sample of models from
Volume 17, No.1 (Spring 2014) Mark Thornton Walter Block is at his finest when he subjects the most loathsome jobs and nastiest behaviors to logical libertarian scrutiny. Block’s Defending the Undefendable has needled and irritated an entire generation of readers and compelled many to re-examine long-held beliefs in favor of the logic of
Volume 16, No. 2 (Spring 2013) Over the last century America’s money—the dollar—has come to dominate the global monetary system. It is used not just by Americans, but is used in other countries, in the global black market, by importers and exporters, and is the primary reserve currency for central banks. This status is what the author rightly
Volume 13, Number 2; Summer 2010 Selgin (2009) offers a challenge to 100 percent reserve banking by noting that small change would be unprofitable with 100 percent reserve money. This minor challenge fails firstly because 100 percent reserve banking does not require 100 percent reserve money, only market determined money. Small change is shown
Volume 13, Number 3 (Fall 2010) A symposium was held in San Antonio, Texas at the Southern Economic Association convention in November of 2009. This issue consists largely of papers based on the lectures given at the symposium. During the symposium, the subject was the current economic crisis. Thornton, Mark. “Symposium Introduction: America’s
Volume 13, Number 3 (Fall 2010) Rothbard (1963) provides a compelling explanation of the Great Depression. He used the Austrian business cycle theory to show that the inflationary policies of the Federal Reserve caused a boom in the economy of the 1920’s that led to a bust in 1930. He then employed the Austrian theory of interventionism to show
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.