Money and Banks

From Part V of Defending the Undefendable, “Financial.” Read by Jeff Riggenbach.

Government interventions are at the root of the problem as they disrupt the incentive structure that bankers face, limiting their propensity to abide by this sensible practice. The explicit guarantee by the Central Bank of Iceland altered bankers' risk preferences, and resulted in the risky undertaking being gingerly assumed to be sustainable.

The real threat to humanity comes from governments growing ever more powerful in the name of fighting climate change.

Presented as part of the Mises Institute’s Brown Bag Seminar series on April 15, 1997 in Auburn, Alabama.

Presented as part of the Mises Institute’s Brown Bag Seminar series on November 20, 1996 in Auburn, Alabama.

Delivered before the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, New York City, February 3, 1944.

The text of a speech given by University of California at Los Angeles professor of economics Benjamin M.

Chapter 13 in The Ethics of Money Production. From Part 2, “Inflation,” pages 175-191. Narrated by Floy Lilley.

A strong central bank is the creator of, not the cure for, inflation and the business cycle.

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.