Monetary Theory

What does ChatGPT know about money? More than one might think. George Ford Smith asks the AI program some questions about money and gets some surprising answers.

Bob explains the contributions of Menger and Mises to monetary theory. He then deals with the critique of David Graeber, who argues that the economists' story of the origin of money is bogus.

It should be clear from the articles in this book that the Austrian School is thriving. Per Bylund has rendered a great service in bringing the scholarship in A Modern Guide to Austrian Economics to our attention.

What we may call the “spending illusion” is perhaps the gravest error in the history of economic thought and has been deeply embedded in economics since the early twentieth century.

There is no general social benefit from government spending regardless of how it is financed.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on August 1, 2024.

What we may call the “spending illusion” is perhaps the gravest error in the history of economic thought and has been deeply embedded in economics since the early twentieth century.

Jason Purcell joins Bob to discuss his historical analysis of yield curves (in both UK and US) going back to the 1870s, which shows that central banks do indeed manipulate short-term interest rates.

Bob critiques MMT godfather Warren Mosler's recent interview where he argued that the Fed rate hikes have been fueling the strong economy.

A state without money or a state that must tax its citizens to raise money for its wars is necessarily limited in its imperial ambitions. Keep in mind that this is only a problem for the state.