At the Austrian Scholars’ Conference and again at Mises University, a number of people asked me what it takes to get into and succeed in a graduate program in economics. I hereby offer the following nuggets of wisdom to the aspiring economics graduate student. To begin, I’ll recount my own experience and mistakes in order to provide context for
“The science and evidence in Roland Emmerich’s anticipated blockbuster Independence Day may be flawed and the posited scenario may be impossible as far as we know, but the movie has the potential to do a lot of good. It will raise awareness of the possibility that a race of hostile aliens may someday attempt to exterminate humanity. What’s more,
Bill Jamieson writing in The Scotsman proposes 0.0% interest rates , and says: “For a generation of economists and commentators driven by the inflationary crisis of the 1970s into the arms of the Austrian school of economics, this is high heresy. The prime role of central banks was the control of inflation and the very first step was the halting
Not only does Mr. Phelps fail to address the “artificiality” of the boom faces , he blatantly mischaracterizes Austrian Business cylce theory as a theory of overinvestment . Everything I have read regarding Austrian theory explains how malinvestment occurs due to the distortion of the pricing/production process by excess creation of money and
The major point in Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT) that Phelps examines is that it is an overinvestment theory. In other words, the economy goes on a boom that causes an overinvestment in the capital structure, which then must collapse with the downturn. As his analysis goes, he paints a convincing argument if you allow a few
I was glad to see Bryan Caplan take up my invitation to join the Julian Simon Club . Other members now include Stephen Miller , Don Boudreaux , Eli Dourado , Matt Zwolinski , and a few people commenting under pseudonyms (if I’ve missed you, please forgive me!). Some of the comments on my original post and on Bryan’s post linked above raise a few
Friend and fellow Memphian Kevin Perk sent me a picture of the sign outside the local hall of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The sign reads: Middle Class economies don’t just happen. They are union made. Briefly, no: as I wrote last week , this is one of the enduring myths of American economic
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