Wooden Nickels and Steel Pennies

“Don’t take any wooden nickels” was an admonition to be careful in your dealings because someone might try to pay you with worthless money. Wooden coins were actually used in trade in America in certain limited circumstances on a local level. A contemporary equivalent could be “don’t take any steel pennies.” The United States House Of Representatives has already passed a bill, HR 5512, authorizing the Treasury Department to substitute steel for the nickel and copper now used in American pennies and nickels.

Sudha Shenoy, 1943-2008

We are all very saddened to hear that Professor Sudha Shenoy of the University of Newcastle died yesterday (a blog notice here). She was a long-time associate of the work of the Mises Institute, and was scheduled to give a week-long series of lectures on F.A. Hayek this fall in our offices. In the last 10 years, she spent many weeks with us, doing research and writing and lecturing. Her areas of specialization included the history of economics and the history of ideas.

Revisiting Richard Grasso

Richard Grasso, the former head of the New York Stock Exchange, is in the news again. Back in 2003, he was the pariah du jour, the newest emblem of corporate greed for the new decade. Over the years, it appears that Grasso has maintained a low profile, rejected settlements, and adhered to the principle that a contract is a contract, and that unless the NYSE is bankrupt, it must honor his and pay him the full $188 million. Good for him.

The Cause That Won’t Go Away

Ron Paul did heroic work this year and last — as he has throughout his career — in constantly reminding people of the need to discuss foundational issues of monetary policy. His work led many people to look up further resources. And what do they find? They find essays and books by Rothbard, Mises, de Soto, and so many others on Mises.org. Here is the world center of good intellectual work on the gold standard. It took all these years to put together this treasury of writings. We did it, under the inspiration of Murray Rothbard, while hardly anyone else cared about it, or bitterly opposed it. Generous donors supported us in this cause when it was unpopular to do so. But because of the resources devoted to it, these works are all available when they are needed most. This is what it means to do entrepreneurial intellectual work. You write and talk about principles during times when people say what you are doing is ridiculous. Only later is your work seen as visionary. Why is the gold standard back again as a topic of debate?

Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XV

Chapter XV. The Market

Chapter Summary

1. The Characteristics of the Market Economy

The market economy is a social system where individuals specialize in their occupations and the means of production (natural resources, tools, etc.) are privately owned. Although everyone acts to serve his own interests, in a market economy this is achieved by aiming to satisfy the desires of other people.

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