Booms and Busts

The Mises Circle in Houston, Texas. Sponsored by Jeremy S. Davis. Recorded 22 January 2011.

The Federal Reserve Chairman, Bernanke, calls a fall in purchasing power of the dollar by over 95% stable. Interest rates have been pushed to zero.  Continual inflation is deliberate and designed. Bernanke pretends he knows what he is doing.

Fergusson presents a compelling argument that the central bankers of Europe did not believe that the quantity of money had anything to do with the price level. And I suppose you think that our modern Fed rulers understand at least this much.

When the state spends more money than it receives in taxes — a fact indelibly written into the bond — it is deliberately committing an act of bankr

Hoover's interventionist policies focused on labor markets with the goal of keeping wages and employment high. Bush's interventionist policies focused on capital markets with the goal of keeping financial markets functioning.

Recorded on 4 December 2010 in Rochester, New York.

Recorded on 4 December 2010 in Rochester, New York.

The strength of Whalen's book is that his monetary history, like Rothbard's, is about people, not policies. While Keynesians talk about unknowable constructs like aggregate demand, Whalen's story turns on the actions of people.

Booms are not periods of prosperity but of the squandering of wealth. The longer they last, the worse is the devastation that follows.

A pure gold standard is not conducive to business cycles. Contrary to mainstream economists, it is the attempts of the central banks to bring about price stability and full employment that set in motion the menace of boom-bust cycles.