The Economic Theory of Costs: Foundations and New Directions
Matthew McCaffrey, Ed.
London and New York: Routledge, 2018, xiv + 270 pp.
Karl-Friedrich Israel (KF_Israel@gmx.de) is lecturer at the Department of Law and Economics at the University of Angers, France.
Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 21, no. 3 (Fall 2018) full issue, click here.
Through their power to control banking, central banks are unnecessary barriers to commerce. Even those who have spent their entire lives in banking, often in positions of great importance and responsibility, assume that cooperative exchange of goods and services requires a central bank’s oversight. But consider a typical trade, whether foreign or domestic. Joe Smith in the US produces widgets. Of course he desires to produce and sell as many as he can at a profit. He has willing buyers in both the US and overseas.
I really enjoyed Antony Sammeroff’s article last month about how the distinguishing characteristic of markets is free and voluntary exchange. Although many people like to speak of “competition” as the defining characteristic of markets, they’re wrong. There is competition for resources in every political and economic system. In markets, however, that competition for resources is more free and less violent than in other systems.
As a true disciple of Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises began the presentation of his theory of money with an analysis of the nature of money itself. He then went on to deal with the determination of money’s purchasing power and with the impact of what he called Umlaufsmittel (fiduciary media) on the monetary system.
It is becoming increasingly fashionable to agitate against the very existence of billionaires.
The golden rule—“Do to others as you would have them do to you” being the most common variant I have heard--may be the most common ethical touchstone for human interactions. After all, Simon Blackburn wrote in his 2001 book, Ethics, that the Golden Rule is “found in some form in almost every ethical tradition.” I doubt there is anyone I know who has not heard of it.
With fewer than 50 days left to go until Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union, it is becoming increasingly certain that politicians on both sides will fail to reach any sort of formal agreement on Britain’s future relationship with the EU before the date of Brexit arrives.
Traditional studies on natural law and justice have been eclipsed by the development of a concept of economic science that has tried to apply a methodology originally formed for the natural sciences to the social sciences.
Mark Thornton explains why socialism can never work, the history of the death and misery its caused and we discuss a better way to help everyone live a more free, peaceful and prosperous life. We need look no further than Venezuela.
Thousands of people are killed or seriously injured on Canadian roads and highways every year. Traffic congestion is common. Perpetual road construction/repairs. Cars lined up at a red light while non-existent cross traffic faces a green light. Idling cars, frayed nerves, road rage. If this was the performance record of private firms who owned and managed the roads, politicians would go ballistic and seize control of the roads in order to “ensure consumer safety.”
