While politicians like Bernie Sanders and AOC tout the Scandinavian welfare model for the USA, there are a few things to understand about these countries and the economies that support their welfare programs.
Niccolò Machiavelli, who often is criticized for his views on using political power, understood the dangers of unchecked government spending. Perhaps our own political leaders should read "The Prince."
Bastiat reminded his readers that economic analysis involves not just what we see on the surface, but also the costs that are hidden from view.
Read the New York Times (or even National Review) and you'll learn that the budget standoff is between congressional “adults” and right-wing House nutjobs. This is not the case.
Much of modern neoclassical economic theory depends upon assumptions that do not reflect real world conditions. Austrian economists, however, know that realistic assumptions matter.
Forget Vegas sports betting for reckless speculation. When the Fed officials make projections, the markets assume they are accurate. However, as Jerome Powell himself admits, forecasts are speculative at best.
On yet another crusade, US authorities have sanctioned Chinese cotton imports. The sanctions won't change Chinese policies but they will create hardships for many.
From the various compromises pushed by "Beltway Libertarians" to the anti-free market rhetoric of conservative Sohrab Ahmari, government intervention has a lot of new friends. This will not end well.
The common belief is that inflation is the general rise in consumer prices. However, rising prices are a symptom of inflation, which really is expansion of the money supply.
One of the canards of mainstream economics is that only government can provide the "optimum" number of nonrivalrous, or public, goods. Austrian economists have never accepted that theory.
