Booms and Busts

The European Central Bank plans to ramp up its own version of quantitative easing because it fears deflation. But deflation really means an increase in real wealth and an end to many malinvestments.

This paper analyzes the period 1867–1879 in American economic history from an "Austrian" perspective.

Mark Thornton Discusses the Fed's Non-Plan.

The government cripples the economy a little more each day, but thanks to the resilience of markets, we've avoided economic destruction. Nevertheless, we're still a lot poorer than we would have been without big government.

Baltic Dry Index Sinks to Historic Lows

At the individual level, we can't get rich by spending money, but Keynesian stimulus is built on the idea that yes, spending money does in fact make you richer. Unfortunately, it only makes some people richer, not including you.

In this fascinating interview, Mark Thornton explains how the Austrian business cycle predicted the housing bubble, and how those cashing in on it

One essential feature of private equity is the taking advantage of economies of scale in cronyism, and politicians hope private equity will provide them high-paid jobs when they quit Washington.

Thanks to high oil prices and years of cheap money, capital-intensive fracking operations became feasible in even some of the most marginal areas. But with easy money comes bubbles, and falling oil prices may soon help pop the fracking bubble.

There has been much hand wringing among popular blogger-economists in response to the breaking of the Euro peg by the SNB.