Financial Markets

ABSTRACT: The impact of interest rates on investment choices is a key element in both Keynesian and Austrian theories of the business cycle. Fuller (2013) compares the Keynesian Marginal Efficiency of Capital approach to the Austrian Net Present Value approach, claiming that the two give different rankings of investment projects. This comment provides examples to show that this is only true if factor prices are held constant. If factor prices reflect the discounted present value of the project, then the different rankings between the approaches vanishes. This result further highlights a fundamental difference between the Austrian and Keynesian views: factor price stickiness. This difference in assumptions drives the opposing views of monetary policy.

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.

The homeownership rate is now back where it was forty years ago. So what did all that federally-subsidized homebuying over the past decade accomplish? There was a lot of malinvestment, and a lot of politically-favored interest groups that got richer.

The homeownership rate is now back where it was forty years ago.

Jeff Deist and Martin Armstrong discuss Armstrong's story—both as an economic forecaster and as a thorn in the side of federal prosecutors.

 A surprise move from Switzerland’s central bank (SNB) sent stock markets into panic today. In just a few minutes, the value of the Swiss franc rose by 30 percent, FTSE 300 dropped by 2 percent, Wall Street futures turned negative, and the recent feeble rise in commodity prices was reversed.

Mark Thornton reviews the first year of cannabis legalization in Colorado and the fact that the predictions of the prophets of dooms have failed to materialize. Meanwhile, the power of the state in this area continues to weaken.

As of this week, when Eurozone price inflation reached negative levels, ECB's Mario Draghi decided to throw caution to the wind and brace “for further measures, which could, if needed, be implemented in a timely manner”. Estimates for the European QE program are around €500 billion, but the overall size and timescale will most likely remain open-ended.

Peter Klein discusses the economics of sports business and the role that crony capitalism plays.

Interviewed by host Albert Lu, Mark Thornton talks about the collapse in oil prices.