I have put together a memo to students interested in the Austrian School who are considering a PhD in economics. It addresses the question of where to go and who to study with once you are there. Granting that there is no perfect program, there are many options available. Here is my memo. Please email me with suggestions or corrections.
The fallout from the WTO ruling against the US should be interesting to watch, if you can stand it. The US was the world’s leading advocate of creating this administrative body in the first place. We were told how a world bureaucracy would miraculously bring about what every liberal mind for many centuries has called for: a world without commercial borders.
David Friedman maintains that the “Austrian Test” (the short edition that he took; here is the long version) is not a good means to evaluate views on economics, particularly as it relates to the Chicago School. Actually it is, and any problems that arise from it are caused by the unclear and incomplete answers given by Chicago economists.
James Grant, one of the most perceptive financial writers and publisher of Interest Rate Observer, is the subject of a story on MiningWeb: Go Long Silver, Short Fed Arrogance. Grant has long been a critic of the Fed’s policy of debasement of the dollar and an advocate for the monetary properties of gold. Quoting the article, “’Once a central bank is found unworthy, then all best are off,’ said the sardonic Grant”.
Rethinking Milton Friedman by Virginia Postrel (NYT): “Various controls, notably on energy prices, lingered throughout the 1970’s. But inflation did not go away, because all these policies treated the symptom, not the cause.”
But what about the first caused cause: the Fed itself?
Williamson Evers, once a contributor to the Journal of Libertarian Studies, is now a US Defense Department employee and adviser to the Ministry of Education in Iraq for the occupation.
In our offices, we continue to receive questions concerning Mises Institute commentary on Hernando de Soto’s book, The Mystery of Capital (NY: Basic Books, 2000). Two contrasting views.
CNN.com reports that the US Mint will release a new nickel today. The image of Monticello is gone. Instead of celebrating Jefferson’s domestic genius, the design will celebrate the Louisiana Purchase that vastly expanded the geographical jurisdiction of the federal government--just to remind us what really matters. Why is this being done?
