Balance of Payments

05/01/1969 Ludwig von Mises

The doctrine in favor of the balance-of-payments is the worst illusory idea. Governmental interventions that seek to regulate international monetary flows to provide the necessary quantities of money for the economy are superfluous.

In all cases, the undesired outflow of money can only be the result of a governmental intervention that endows differently valued monies with the same legal purchasing power. Mises' 1919 paper on Balance of Payments and Exchange Rates proved to be influential in turning Austrian monetary policy away from the path of hyperinflation before it was too late.

Recorded May 1,1969. Special thanks to Bettina Bien Greaves for making this important recording available. Note that this recording ends abruptly. [1:16:55]

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.

Become a Member