Hayek on Individualism
For the acclaim it received at the time, Friedrich A. Hayek’s small book owed nothing to style and everything to its intensity of feeling and the immediacy of the subject matter. It was written to make the British shudder.
A Note on the Supposed Independence of the Fed
Banking – whether commercial banking or central banking – works best when it is fully competitive and responsible. The more it is removed from the rule of civil law, the more damaging it becomes for the economy and society.
The Learned Extremist: Juan de Mariana
[This article is excerpted from Economic Thought Before Adam Smith.]
The Enduring Power of Mises
We had some sense that it was time for a new edition of Mises’s Theory of Money and Credit, first published in German in 1912, at the very dawn of the age of central banking. Mises patiently explains the origin of money and hammers out a solution to the circularity of value problem of money, postulating a “regression theorem” to underscore how money had to originate as a tradeable non-money commodity.
Tyranny and Finance
Dionysius, the storied tyrant of Syracuse, was a consummate financier. His gift stood him in good stead on the day he found himself in bankrupt condition, having borrowed from the citizenry more than he could repay.
Objectivists: “All Property is Intellectual Property”
So says Adam Mossoff, Objectivist law professor, here:
Qualitative Easing and the Crisis - Iceland Cometh?
Drastic times call for drastic measures. The current crisis has brought global central banks to their knees. Interest rates have been lowered to zero, or nearly so, in a concerted attempt to stimulate investment and consumption spending. The effect has been minimal.
North Korea issues new currency: citizens burn piles of old money in protest
North Koreans are protesting after the government “seized most of its citizens’ money and savings via a new-currency issue.”
“Pyongyang announced Nov. 30 its decision to issue new currency and limit the amount of old currency that could be exchanged to the equivalent of about $40, based on unofficial exchange rates, a step that essentially scrapped all other private money.”
Intermediate Macroeconomics: Teaching Business Cycles
I chose a neoclassical text that did a reasonable job of presenting Keynesianism, monetarism, and new classicism. What was missing, of course, was any reference to Austrian theory.
American’s Crazed Corn Habit
The increased use of ethanol is responsible for a rise in food prices of approximately 10 to 15 percent. Why? We’re turning corn into fuel — a highly inefficient one, at that — instead of food.
