Keynes, Capital, and Commonsense

The other day I was talking to an open-minded economist who didn’t appear wedded to Keynesianism. I said I believed that all Keynes’ major nostrums were false and that included the citadel or sine qua non of Keynesianism, his theory of the Marginal Efficiency of Capital, (MEC) on which his postulate that capitalism ends up in mass unemployment depends.My colleague’s response was that whilst one could reasonably chip away at, or even demolish, several other elements of Keynesianism, surely the MEC was simple commonsense.

The Place of Religion in the Liberal Philosophy of Constant, Tocqueville, and Lord Acton

Ralph Raico’s doctoral dissertation, written under the direction of F.A. Hayek, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago, September 1970: The Place of Religion in the Liberal Philosophy of Constant, Tocqueville, and Lord Acton.
The most fundamental similarity among the three thinkers has to do with the ethical coloration of their liberalism.

Mises, Luxury Goods, and DiLorenzo

The famous yet not sufficiently rewarded economist—leader of the Austrian School to which Nobel Laureate F. A. Hayek belonged—Ludwig von Mises once noted that “Every advance first comes into being as the luxury of a few rich people, only to become, after a time, the indispensable necessity taken for granted by everyone. Luxury consumption provides industry with the stimulus to discover and introduce new things.”

Trade Barriers, Outsourcing, and Economic Development (lecture 27 of 32)

These notes are from the lecture Trade Barriers, Outsourcing, and Economic Development, given at the Mises University. Any errors are mine, feel free to point them out so that I can correct them. This lecture was given by Prof. DiLorenzo.


Introduction

 

  • Outsourcing is a big issue, although less than 1% of the job-force is outsourced.

     

  • Tarriffs had a very big impact on the cause of the Civil War

     

  • “If goods can’t cross borders, armies will” -- Bastiat

     

Bovard: Bush to End Scarcity

James Bovard has written a biting editorial in this week’s Barron’s Online Nothing Down: The Bush administration’s wrecking-ball benevolence ($ - paid site). Bovard critiques Bush’s plan to make federally subsidized home loans available to people who do not have the money to make the down payment on a home. The article features a number of astonishing quotes indicating a total unfamiliarity on the part of the Bush administration with the economic concept of cost.
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