Here at Mises.org, we don’t often follow the ins and outs of elections, since no single election tells us much of anything about the direction in which the country is headed. And this certainly remains true for the election of 2014.
It was made clear today that the recently elected minority government constellation of social democrats (progressive liberals) and environmentalists, under the social democratic party leader Stefan Lofven, resigns. They became the shortest reign in the history of the Swedish democratic state.
According to the World Bank, total expenditures for health care goods and services averages about 6-7% of GDP around the globe. There are about a dozen recognizable countries that spend more than 10% of GDP on health care, but far and away the biggest spender is the US with 17.9% and rising--more than 5% more than any other country and up from 13.5% just 15 years ago!
I’m happy to report that Nicolai Foss and I have received the 2014 SDAE/FEE Prize for the best book in Austrian economics published during the last three years for Organizing Entrepreneurial Judgment: A New Approach to the Firm (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
In aggregate American have done some minor repairs on their balance sheets. However, looking below the aggregates we find American getting less mortgage debt but even more consumer credit and credit card debt. Consumer debt peaked at almost $2.7 trillion during the Housing Bubble. This dropped back to about $2.5 trillion during the recession. However, since that lull in consumer borrowing consumer debt has expanded to $3.15 trillion. This represents a 25% increase since the recession and an all time high. Will American continue to borrow and spend this holiday season?
The Swiss gold initiative has come and gone. It can be summarized as much ado about nothing. Even if it had passed, the initiative would have had no real impact on the central bank’s ability to print money or conduct monetary policy.
When the central bank meets to decide on the level of interest rates, most people care about only one thing: are my home loan, car, and credit card repayments going up, down, or staying the same? Although this is no trivial concern given the importance of managing a household budget, such a limited view does scant justice to the broad, critical, and complex role interest rates play in an economy.
Toward the end of her remarkable speech at this year’s One Young World Summit in Dublin, North Korean defector and human rights activist Yeon-mi Park listed three ways in which ordinary people can help freedom-seekers in North Korea:
One, educate yourself so you can raise awareness about the human crisis in North Korea. Two, help and support North Korean refugees who are trying to escape to freedom. Three, petition China to stop repatriation.
