Frank Shostak

Articles

Marginal Utility Theory Versus the Mainstream

09/08/2025 Mises Wire Frank Shostak

Austrian economists differ with the economic mainstream in many ways, but the break on utility theory is especially critical in understanding the split between the two schools of economic thought.

Milton Friedman’s Guitar String Boom-Bust Cycle Theory

09/01/2025 Mises Wire Frank Shostak

In an attempt to explain business cycles, Milton Friedman came up with a plucked-string analogy. Like all Monetarist theories, however, this also had fatal flaws.

Does a Government Budget Surplus Contribute to National Savings?

08/25/2025 Mises Wire Frank Shostak

Keynesian economists claim government budget surpluses are national savings, but real savings drive capital development. A surplus just means more revenue to the government, not the private economy.

Media

Can Econometric Models Fulfill the Role of an Economic Laboratory?

08/11/2025 Frank Shostak

Mainstream economists claim that they can use econometric models to emulate human action and, thus, create an economic laboratory. These models, however, cannot tell us about cause-and-effect, which is vital to understanding praxeology and economic behavior.

How Does Money Acquire its Value?

08/04/2025 Frank Shostak

Thanks for modern Keynesian economics, most people believe money gains its value from the government that issues it. Money's value, however, is historically tied to the value of the commodity from which money was derived.

Can Surveys Provide Insight Into the State of the Economy?

07/28/2025 Frank Shostak

Surveys used to gauge optimism or pessimism about the economy may be interesting to read, but unless they are the product of sound and realistic economic theory, they are not economically useful.

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