The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris isn’t the first historically significant church to go up in smoke. The Basilica of Saint Paul’s Outside-the-Walls — after standing for more than 1,400 years — was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1823. It housed the tomb of the Apostle Paul, and was a major basilica, second only to St Peter’s as a pilgrimage site. Thanks to a construction worker, the church was accidently set on fire. 

While Republicans continue to profess their opposition to socialism, their love of socialism is being demonstrated in the healthcare arena. Do you remember when they were campaigning for control over Congress and the presidency with full-throated calls to repeal Obamacare? Not anymore. According to an article in the Washington Post, Republicans have come to love and adore President Obama’s signature achievement as president.

[Editors Note: The following article is excerpted from Huerta de Soto’s Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles, originally written in 2001]

The most characteristic feature of the business cycles which have followed World War II is that they have originated in deliberately inflationary policies directed and coordinated by central banks.

Institutionalism1 is used to ridicule the classical economists because they started with “Crusoe economics.” In the beginning a fisherman got the idea that he could catch more fish one day than he needed and then he could have some leisure time to manufacture fishing nets. These nets and saved fish are “capital goods”; I don’t call them “capital.”

Those that passionately advocate for political decentralization are often portrayed as fringe carpers whose ideas are entirely unworthy of consideration.

German pharma giant Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto is only one prominent case of leveraged buyouts (LBOs), which have been flourishing since the 1990s (see Figure). After Bayer has paid 66 billion dollars for Monsanto, the stock value of the merged enterprise has collapsed below Bayer’s pre-merger value. Bayer faces more than 10,000 US lawsuits over cancer allegations for Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides, which were foreseeable prior to the leveraged takeover. What is driving this LBO activity if not profitability?

Global LBO Deal Value

Yesterday’s terrible fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral reminds us how quickly centuries of accumulated “cultural capital” can be destroyed. Oak timbers dating from the 1200s in the roof and spire were lost forever; some priceless stained glass windows appear to have suffered damage. As the saying goes, France is the heart of the West, Paris is the heart of France, and Notre Dame is the heart of Paris—and as such the sight of the iconic church ablaze makes an uneasy if simplistic metaphor for the decline of the West.