It is probably safe to assume that the so-called Third World has always been difficult for those in more developed Western-style countries to understand. There have been several recent efforts with ground-level views of problems in these areas. Hernando De Soto and Jim Rogers have both written books in recent years that show many facets of
With JP Morgan’s acquisition of Bank One, America can claim to be the home of two banks with assets in excess of $1 trillion each (the other being Citigroup). On a list traditionally dominated by foreign banks, US banks will now claim two of the top three spots. The US banking system is also becoming more concentrated, according to Minneapolis Fed
The following article is from the April issue of The Free Market, available to members of the Mises Institute. Debt is an institution in American government, long established and widespread. A cursory glance at debt statistics will quickly show that there has been a lull in the truth about debt, namely, that it cannot grow indefinitely at the rate
Athanasios Orphanides’ recent Fed paper touches on aspects of Japan’s extended economic slump (his basic thesis: the BOJ should have done more). This paper served as a reminder of the inadequacies and limitations of mainstream analysis in explaining Japan’s long economic winter. Fortunately, though long unrecognized and unappreciated by the
A nice thoughtful piece by our man, Robert Blumen, on the the inflation and deflation debate. He takes a good look at some deflationist arguments in a fair and even-handed manner from an Austrian viewpoint. An excerpt: The inflation-deflation issue is indeed quite puzzling due to the myriad of interacting factors, both correlated and cantilevered.
Volume 24, Number 1 January 2004 “The world is in permanent monetary crisis,” Murray N. Rothbard once observed, “but once in a while, the crisis flares up acutely, and we noisily shift gears from one flawed monetary system to another.” Monetary systems built on floating fiat currencies are fragile things. Most of the world currently operates under
The Free Market 24, no. 2 (February 2004) There is a fly in the ointment of economic recovery: a dollar that just won’t seem to stop its fall. The impression that this trend portends something ominous is bolstered by the inverse relationship of the dollar’s value on international exchange and the price of gold. As the dollar has fallen in the
The Free Market 24, no. 4 (April 2004) Debt is an institution in American government, long established and widespread. A cursory glance at debt statistics will quickly show that there has been a lull in the truth about debt, namely, that it cannot grow indefinitely at the rate at which it has been growing—at least not without a serious
Austrians get some recognition in the Financial Times , in this piece by John Dizard (October 18, 2004; Business | US) A fair number of my libertarian friends, the more eccentric ones, that is, have for years described their economics theories as “Austrian”. That means they subscribe to a set of analyses based on the works of Ludwig Von Mises and
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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.