We’re often told that international trade thrives on debt. In an especially risky line of business, financial intermediation, with its loans and guarantees, is the indispensable infrastructure for the progress of commerce. Perhaps entrepreneurs wouldn’t even consider selling goods to foreigners if it weren’t for banks and credit markets to finance them. Naturally, if and when markets fail in this role, Ex-Im Banks and other government intervention must provide ‘extra liquidity’ for trade.

As part of a follow-up to my article on cannabis industry and its many related industries, I picked up a copy of Culture magazine, which bills itself as “the #1 cannabis lifestyle magazine” at  a Denver pizza place. I was intrigued by the ads. A lot of them are what you’d expect: hippie or stoner-themed ads for, well, stoners.

Last week, the Mises Institute hosted a reception in Ward Conservatory in honor of Dr. Leland B. Yeager‘s 90th birthday.

Leland Yeager is Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Auburn University.

Here is a 1991 interview from the Austrian Economics Newsletter.

More photos are available here.

Richard Ebeling takes a look at the current economic situation and its bubble like appearance.

On the It’s Your Money Show: Select the Oct 5, 2014 show.

Beginning at 40:00, Mark Thornton discusses football, the stadium bubble, and recent employment data.

A reader writes after viewing this documentary and noticing some Mises Institute books in the background...

“As with all book-nerds, I’m ever eager to scan the background of images and video to see what books folks have on their shelf. No big surprise for a Bitcoin documentary, but I still got a kick out of what I saw in Charlie Shrem’s office.”

Scotland’s vote for independence resulted in a negative. There won’t be, for now, further discussions about what Scotland should do with its monetary institutions. Still, there is one more issue that I would like to discuss, because it transcends the particular case of Scotland, had independence been the result of the vote.

Reflective of the growing international participation at the Toronto Austrian Scholars Conference, the event will be rebranded as the International Conference of Prices & Markets in concert with the Mises Canada published Journal of Prices & Markets.

The 3rd iteration of the conference will be held on November 8th, with an opening reception the evening before, and the event continuing throughout the weekend.