Probability, Common Sense, and Realism: A Reply to Hülsmann and Block

Volume 4, No. 2 (Summer 2001)

 

In my critique of Austrian economics, I carved out a virtually unique position: Despite the Austrians’ professed devotion to “realism” against neoclassical pragmatism, the latter approach is in fact far more realistic than the former. Hülsmann and Block remain unconvinced. The editor’s invitation to respond provides me with an ideal opportunity not only to defend myself, but to spell out the philosophical side of my original thesis in greater depth.

Free Banking and the Structure of Production: A Contrast of Competing Banking Systems

Volume 3, Article 14 (2011)

Introduction

The purpose of this note is to apply an argument developed in Hülsmann (2009) to a claim used in advocacy of fractional reserve banking (FRB) under a system of free banking (that is, a system of banks lacking any formal, central control [as characterizes the state-monopolized central banking systems of the modern Western world]). Hülsmann considers the effects on the structure of production of changes in the demand for money, under two contrasting monetary systems: a commodity money system, and a fiat money system.