Bank lending is contracting, and it is important to understand why. At this stage of the credit cycle, which began expanding following the aftermath of the Lehman crisis over a decade ago, a sharp contraction of bank credit to nonfinancials is normal. It is what drives periodic recessions, slumps, and depressions, and monetary stimulus by central
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. In seeking to measure everything, econometricians gave us the dubious gift of gross national product and gross domestic product, the latter being in fashion today and the former in times past. Although there are different ways of measuring it, GDP is commonly taken as a measure of spending,
President Reagan memorably said that the nine words you don’t want to hear are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Governments in all the major jurisdictions are now making good on that unwanted promise and are taking responsibility for everything from our shoulders. Those receiving subsidies and loan guarantees are no doubt grateful,
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The credit cycle drives the business, or trade, cycle. It should be obvious that changes in the quantity of money, mostly in the form of bank credit, have an effect on business conditions. Indeed, that is why central banks implement a monetary policy. By increasing the quantity of money
Measured in dollars, the current bull market for gold started in December 2015, since which its price in dollars has almost doubled. Other than the odd headline when gold exceeded its previous September 2011 high of $1,920, only gold bugs seem to be excited. But in our modern macroeconomic world of government-issued currencies, which has moved on
In a macroeconomics-driven world, economic fallacies abound. They are periodically trashed when disproved, only to arise again as received wisdom for a new generation of macroeconomists determined to justify their statist beliefs. The most egregious of these is that inflation can only occur as the handmaiden of economic growth, while deflation is
Ahora que la administración Biden se ha asentado, es el momento de reevaluar la política estadounidense hacia Rusia, China y la escena asiática en general. ¿Va a ser una continuación de las políticas de la administración Trump, o hay algo nuevo? Teniendo en cuenta la permanencia de los funcionarios del Pentágono de antes de la presidencia de
La emisión de deuda normalmente está sujeta a un contrato que se pagará al final de su plazo, junto con el interés del cupón. La excepción son los bonos sin fecha, cuando solo debe cumplirse el contrato de intereses. En la práctica, los gobiernos y muchas corporaciones transfieren la deuda a nuevas obligaciones de bonos al final de sus términos,
Después de años de incertidumbre luego de la crisis del país en 2009, el gobierno corrupto de Grecia fue reemplazado en enero de 2015 por un gobierno de extrema izquierda, elegido porque prometió a los votantes que rechazaría los onerosos rescates de Bruselas. Pero resultó que, en lo que respecta al BCE y a Bruselas, los problemas de Grecia se
Es el vigésimo aniversario de la existencia del euro, y lejos de celebrarse, se le culpa de muchos, si no todos, de los males de la zona euro. Sin embargo, no se puede culpar al euro por los fracasos monetarios y políticos del BCE, los bancos centrales nacionales y los políticos. Es solo una moneda fiduciaria, como todas las demás, solo con una
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.