Booms and Busts

"Just like Obama's and FDR's 'deals,' John Law's prescription for what ailed France required no sacrifice."

But if you follow the Austrian recipe of allowing liquidation of bankrupt firms and debt, allowing prices to fall without monetary inflation, not propping up employment or subsidizing unemployment, and not discouraging hoarding, you will end up with the quickest possible recovery and minimize the magnitude of economic pain.

It is perhaps the finest introduction to the thought of a major thinker ever published in the discipline of economics.

We are also constantly told — this time by Chicago economists, not Keynesians — that "we learned in the Depression" that the Fed needs to rapidly expand the monetary base to avert disaster. Oops, turns out that's bogus too.

Modern macroeconomists failed to forewarn against the dangers of the recklessly inflationary monetary policy pursued by the Fed in the first half of this decade. They now are at a complete loss for a coherent explanation of its consequences in the deepening financial crisis and recession that afflicts the global economy.

But no area of commercial property will be spared the bloodbath.

Central economic planning and laissez-faire capitalism are completely incompatible concepts — by definition.

The Panic of 1819 lasted about three years — the Great Depression lasted well over a decade. When looking for solutions to our current mess, we should study a winning team.

The Mises Circle in Colorado, sponsored by the Limited Government Forum of Colorado Springs, 4 April 2009.