Business Cycles

I congratulate the Ludwig von Mises Institute for bringing back into print Hayek's writings on business cycles.

Presented to the Auburn University Economics Club, Auburn, Alabama, on 14 October 2008.

A return to sound money is needed. This would, as outlined by many Austrian economists, require putting an end to government's monopoly over monetary affairs.

With the US housing crisis metamorphosing into a full-blown financial crisis in the United States and Europe and the specter of a global stagflation looming larger every day, the Fed's credibility and reputation is evaporating with the value of the US dollar.

William Tucker says nuclear power is the most concentrated energy and is the cure for the nation's energy ills. And in his view there is no such thing as nuclear waste — it all is recyclable.

Main objection to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory is rational expectations - they can't prevent entrepreneurs from making use of loose credit because they would be left behind if they didn't.

"The ability of most market indicators is found to be weak, while the ability of the skyscraper index to predict severe changes in the business cycle is strong."

Building the world’s tallest building has been a matter of particularly bad timing by entrepreneurs.

Recorded at Mises University 2008.

A debate has been raging for some time among those in the finance industry about whether the United States is currently experiencing inflation, def