Hold up your hand if you think that the aggregate losses of an organization are an asset of that organization. No hands at all? Absolutely right. Losses are not an asset. That’s accounting 101. Yet the greatest central bank in the world, the Federal Reserve, insists on claiming that its continuing losses, which have accumulated to the staggering sum of $164 billion, are an accounting asset.
In our modern political culture, many people claim that profits are the outcome of some individuals exploiting other individuals. Hence, anyone who is seen trying to make profits is regarded as an enemy of society and must be stopped before inflicting damage.
On some level, all of us realize that traffic tickets are seen by local governments as a form of revenue. Supposedly, the intent behind issuance of fines for traffic offenses is to disincentivize behaviors which are deemed to be unsafe, such as driving over the speed limit or not wearing a seatbelt (despite the fact that the latter poses no risk to anyone but the driver). The punishment for this type of offense being almost always a fine, as opposed to any type of nonmonetary punishment, is suspect in itself.
In nature everything has a cycle. Birth, growth, maturation, death. Everything, including the planets and stars. Nothing stays the same.
So why does our government believe they can master economic cycles and not experience ups and downs the way nature does? Throughout history, economies haven’t worked that way.
For years, to enhance trade, countries tied their currencies to commodities that were scarce, valuable and had steady prices. Often, gold, silver, sometimes copper.
All times are CDT. Live stream is available at Mises.org/HA2024/Live.
Schedule updated on May 18 at 6:25 p.m.
9:45 - 10:00 a.m. Tom DiLorenzo, Welcome and Opening Remarks
We are excited for you to join us virtually for our Human Action Conference celebrating the 75th anniversary of Ludwig von Mises’s masterpiece. This page is the digital version of the event held at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. Here you will find the event schedule, live video, audio and video recordings, lecture slides, and information about the presenters. We are very happy to have you following along online with the on-campus attendees.
Price inflation is no coincidence. It is a policy. Governments, along with their so-called experts, attempt to persuade you that price inflation stems from anything other than the consistent, albeit slower, rise in aggregate prices year after year. Issuing more currency than the private sector demands, thus eroding its purchasing power and creating a constant annual transfer of wealth from real wages and deposit savings to the government.
