Murray Rothbard had a saying about economics: “It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to
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Wrong policies for Greece
From today’s Open Europe news summary: Greek PM refuses to change course ahead of crucial week of meetings with Eurozone partners “…Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras…reiterated his plan to increase the minimum wage, halt privatisations, reopen closed public broadcaster ERT
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The real interpretation of high German exports
From today’s Open Europe news summary: German exports hit record high in 2014 German exports hit a record-high of €1.13 trillion in 2014, a 3.7% increase from 2013, the Federal Statistics Office announced on Monday. German imports increased by 2%
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Private Property the Only Solution to Vaccine Controversy
A measles outbreak in the U.S. has prompted a national debate over vaccinations, a debate that quickly turned ugly because both sides think they are protecting their children from harm. Some parents say that they should have the right to
Getting Serious About Keeping Children Safe
The following is a work of satire. A recent outbreak of measles has concerned citizens questioning how we can protect the lives of innocent children from neglectful, or even downright abusive, parents. Some have argued that vaccination should be mandatory,
February Mises Meet with Pierre Desrochers!
Love is in the air… and so is the smell of Liberty! Join the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada and special guest Professor Pierre Desrochers for our monthly meet up this Tuesday, February 17, at 7 pm, at the
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Reconciling Marginal Productivity Theory With Zero Profits in Equilibrium
This post will be an exercise in microeconomics which I hope interests and enlightens. A reader thought he had found a contradiction in Rothbard’s treatise, Man, Economy, and State, regarding how workers are paid and what happens in long-run equilibrium.
Be Careful With State-Level Job Growth Stats
There is a very intriguing chart making the rounds on social media, showing the impressive job growth in Texas versus the rest of the United States: Here is AEI’s Mark Perry writing up the full discussion to accompany the
The Complexity of Economic Growth
What is economic growth? Economists talk incessantly about it. Whether in newspapers or textbooks, the dismal science appears predicated on the idea of increasing growth. Politicians love pointing to economic growth that occurs under their watch, and shrinkage under the
Fractional-reserve car rentals?
I recently got into a discussion with Philipp Bagus about what the real market test for fractional-reserve banking would be. One potential market test to at least test for the potential viability of the banking model would be to see
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Solving the Great Piketty Minimum Wage History Mystery
Long-time Mises Canada readers know that I have devoted several posts to a critique of Thomas Piketty’s 2014 bestseller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. For example, here I talk about the poverty of Piketty’s capital & interest theory, and here
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The Reason for Hyperinflation-phobia
The New York Times can be forgiven for blaming the empty shelves in Caracas to the plunge in oil. However, a raging hyperinflation cleared the cupboards before the price of oil was cut in half. William Neuman’s front page story
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Scott Sumner’s Incredible Arguments on the Swiss Currency Peg
Recently the Swiss National Bank (SNB) dropped the peg it had established in September 2011, holding the Swiss franc at 1.2 to the euro. Unlike the pegs of weaker, less trustworthy monetary authorities, the aim of the Swiss policy was
In Denmark You Are Now Paid To Take Out A Mortgage
As per my thougths on “the logical end of Keynesianism is just handing people money”, this article is republished from zerohedge With NIRP raging in the Eurozone and over €1.5 trillion in European government bonds trading with negative yields, many
I beg to differ…
Re: CAT CEO says strong dollar bad for US economy Here come US exporters, right on schedule, complaining that a strong national currency is bad for them and for the US economy. Not so. When a nation debases its currency
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Why the welfare state grows, and grows, and grows…
Re: George Will on the mushrooming welfare state Columnist George Will puts recent research into the adverse consequences of the welfare state into words that we all can understand. However, I do not think that he gets to the heart of
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Loose Fed, Scared Bank Directors
The Fed’s balance sheet now foots to nearly $4.5 trillion, a great leap from early July 2008, when its total assets were less than $900 billion. Interest rates have been held just above zero since then as well, all in
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Financial Myth Busting: The Bubble Economy
This weekend, I had the pleasure to be a guest on the radio program Financial Myth Busting with Dawn J. Bennett. We discussed the inability or unwillingness of politicians and economists alike to learn from past mistakes, and the consequences
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My letter to the NY Times re: Not really a favorable market reaction
Re: Stimulus for Eurozone, but it may be too little or too late Dear Sirs: Your analysis of the likely effect of the European Central Bank’s proposed massive quantitative easing program is full of economic fallacies that, unfortunately, masquerade as
PhD-Standard Monetary Crack Up
The hills are alive with the panic of central bankers. First there was the fallout from the Swiss National Bank’s decision to unshackle the Franc from the Euro. Then, how much Q Mario Draghi put with his E. It turns
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