Inflation

If wealth could be created out of scraps of paper or their digital equivalent, world poverty would be a thing of the past. Remember, the commodity money takes care of itself—and us too, if we let it.

With Fathers Day approaching, fatherhood is one more casualty of American progressivism, resulting in many social pathologies. Unfortunately, many conservatives and progressives seem united in the belief that the situation requires more government intervention.

The mainstream economic belief is that a growing economy needs a growing money supply to ensure “price stability.” Austrian economists, however, believe that there is no “optimum” money supply, which means government should not engage in monetary expansion.

MMT and chartalism claims that money is a creature of the state and is valued because of state action. The fact that tobacco acted as colonial money independently of the state demonstrates this to be false.

David Brady, Jr. reviews Jonathan Newman's latest children‘s book that explains money in a way that even modern adults can understand.

David Brady, Jr. reviews The Magic Coin by Dr. Jonathan Newman, a children‘s book that explains money in a way that even modern adults can understand.

It is easy to think of inflation as just being economic in scope. Yet, as inflation becomes an expected part of the body politic, it affects the culture as well, encouraging everyone to try to live beyond their means.

Rumor has it that the Federal Reserve was able to resist the president‘s demands to enable funding of the Korean War. However, a look at the record demonstrates conclusively that the Fed bowed to Harry Truman‘s wishes to do what it has done for a century: finance America‘s wars.

Mainstream economists define inflation as the increase in an imaginary “price level” that is relatively neutral in its effects. Austrian economists, however, know better, as they realize that the effects of inflating the money supply are anything but neutral.

Why do cultures degenerate? At the recent Natal Conference, Robin Hanson cites biological and evolutionary factors. However, if one looks to Mises and the Austrians, we look squarely at human action that begins with the human mind and purposeful action.