Peruvians were pleasantly surprised, if a little bewildered, by the news that on the 8th of October they were to receive an extended weekend holiday. The reason for the impromptu vacation was the arrival of the “international community” in Lima for the IMF and World Bank’s annual board of governors meeting.
James Bond is not a name that’s typically mentioned in discussions of humble foreign policy or the importance of enforceable property rights. Bond is a symbol of the dying power of the British Empire, and the general theme of his franchise is that the Empire isn’t going down without a fight.
The yearly growth rate of the US consumer price index (CPI) fell to 0 percent in September 2015, from 0.2 percent in August and, 1.7 percent in September last year.
The yearly growth rate of the European Monetary Union CPI fell to minus 0.1 percent in September from 0.1 percent in the previous month and 0.3 percent in September last year.
The Pew Research Center reported last week that the murder rate was cut nearly in half from 7 per 100,000 in 1993 to 3.6 per 100,000 in 2013. Over the same period, overall gun deaths (including accidents and suicides) have fallen by one-third from 15.2 to 10.6 per 100,000.
A just-released poll of Los Angeles residents found that 55 percent of respondents indicated their greatest concern was “traffic and congestion,” far ahead of “personal safety” — the next highest area of concern — at 35 percent. So if their city government was working in their best interests, it would be doing something about automobile congestion.
It is. Unfortunately, it will make things worse.
Critics of Austrian macroeconomics often resort to strawmen when trying to challenge arguments against central banking, fiat money, and expansionary monetary policy. For example, it’s common to paint Austrians as doom-and-gloom prophets of economic collapse, with little to offer besides paranoid predictions of hyperinflations and monetary collapses lurking around every corner.
Listen here. Dr. Michal Accad is a practicing cardiologist who has written several articles about healthcare for mises.org. You won’t find many MDs as well versed in Austrian economics.
In a recent New York Times article, Robert Shiller takes aim at the idea that “an unregulated competitive economy is optimal for everyone.” While a defender of certain aspects of the free market, he has misgivings about the amount of manipulation and deceit that permeates it. A competitive economy, in his eyes, features numerous entrepreneurs preying on consumers making decisions that run counter to their best interests.
