A grim tale out of Europe today in the Financial Post BRUSSELS — Eurozone unemployment has risen to its highest level since the euro single currency was introduced, data showed on Tuesday, a day after EU leaders promised to focus
Archive for January, 2012
Problem Solving and the Economy
While reading “Developing the Leader Within You” by John Maxwell, I was intrigued by the chapter dealing with problem solving. As I was going through it, it reminded me of what should be done to solve the problems with the economy and
Mark Carney and the Art of Deflecting Blame
“These are trying times.” I couldn’t think of a better way to start out a speech focusing on current economic circumstances. But given these words were uttered by a central bank governor, you can be rest assured that the speech
Some Problems with the Tobin Tax
With backing from both the George Soros-supported Occupy Movement and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the tax on financial transactions, otherwise known as the Tobin Tax, is looking more and more like a real possibility. Though the proposed rate is seemingly
The Triumph of Hope Over Experience: Why Government Failure Should Be No Surprise
[Originally published in Le Quebecois Libre, August 15th, 2011, No 291] On the morning of Sunday, July 31, Montrealers awoke to a depressingly familiar scene: the city’s infrastructure crashing to the ground. This time, it was a 15-meter concrete slab
Comments are off for this post
Can Austrian Economics Break Bricks?
Find out here! While you are at it, check out other ready-to-print zines on Invisible Molotov, a “Market Anarchist Zine Distro & Publishing Houseâ€. Authors include Joseph Stromberg, Roderick Long, Kevin Carson, Robert Murphy, Étienne de La Boétie and others.
Keynesian Mercantilism in Action?
In the New York Times “Economix” blog, Binyamin Appelbaum writes (in reference to the U.S.): Foreign buyers purchased more than $2 trillion in goods and services, the first time exports have topped that threshold. And those exports accounted for almost
Comments are off for this post
Krugman Sinks to a New On-Star Guided Low
With every New York Times column, it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate Princeton economist Paul Krugman from an unabashed political hack. Certainly Krugman has always played the role as champion of the Democratic Party, but this latest attempt to
Comments are off for this post
And the Global Liquidity Binge Continues
Forget Fed chairman Bernanke and his central planning cronies “considering additional asset purchases,” the unsettling truth is right before your eyes (charts via Bianco Research at The Big Picture): Here are some comparative charts (note the first is scaled in
Comments are off for this post
War, Peace, and the State
[“War, Peace, and the State.” The Standard, April 1963, pp. 2-5; 15-16, and Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays, R.A. Child, Jr., Ed., Washington: Libertarian Review Press, 1974; 2nd edition, Auburn, Alabama: Mises Institute, 2000, pp. 115-132.
Comments are off for this post
The New Soros Plan on How to Save Italy and Spain
Much like his last plan, Mr. Oligarch Insider once again makes another plea for the European Central Bank to intervene on behalf of the governments of Spain and Italy. Writing in the Financial Times, Soros stays infatuated with infinite liquidity
The Law Merchant and International Trade
[Originally published in The Freeman, May 2011, Volume 61, Issue 4] Is the State necessary for flourishing international trade? Conventional wisdom thinks so. According to that wisdom, private international commerce would wither without intergovernmental treaties, State courts dealing with international
Comments are off for this post
More Evidence That The Housing Bubble Has Yet to Be Liquidated
Government interference with the present state of banking affairs could be justified if its aim were to liquidate the unsatisfactory conditions by preventing or at least seriously restricting any further credit expansion. In fact the chief objective of present day
Comments are off for this post
Mark Thornton on the price of Gold in 2005
Excellent historical record of the continuing ability of the Austrian school to “predict” Redmond is the director of the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada.
Comments are off for this post
The Bernank Channels Keynes…
With Today’s Fed announcement from Bloomberg Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the Federal Reserve is considering additional asset purchases to boost growth after extending its pledge to keep interest rates low through at least late 2014. Policy makers are “prepared to provide further monetary
Comments are off for this post
Times Are Hard: On the Causes of the Business Cycle
[The following is an excerpt from Chapter 13 of Gene Callahan’s book, Economics for Real People. Read it here or buy it at mises.org] In the economies of most modern industrial nations, a central bank manages the nation’s money supply
Comments are off for this post
An Austrian Arguing for Deflation?
Austrian economist Antal E. Fekete has an interesting piece out arguing that many modern day Austrians misunderstand the relationship between speculators and central bankers and the means for which inflation takes hold in a credit-based economy. This misunderstanding has lead
Comments are off for this post
Government as a Customer
[Originally published in Le Quebecois Libre, January 15th, 2012, Number 296] Every week, homes across the nation receive advertising fliers from local businesses advising of weekly specials. Both customer and seller benefit from the price-reduced items. For the customer, it’s
Comments are off for this post
Fed Readying Inflation Target Strategy- Will It Matter?
Rumor is abuzz this week as Federal Reserve chairman Ben “Helicopter” Bernanke may be ready to announce a strategy of specific inflation targeting to boost the market’s confidence in the central bank. From Reuters: The Federal Reserve could take the
Comments are off for this post
