Richard Cantillon saw the essence of the business-cycle problem long ago. When the government's national bank inflates the money supply by increasing the supply of banknotes, he writes, it reduces the rate of interest and can increase the price of stocks. This is a corrupt process.
Just as more and more analysts are worried about the economy imploding again, the NBER announces that the recession ended back in June 2009. The whole episode underscores the crudity of mainstream economics.
However, it is perhaps not too optimistic to assume that those governments and parties whose policies have led to this crisis will some day disappear from the stage and make way for men whose economic program leads, not to destruction and chaos, but to economic development and progress.
"Under deflation, it is those non–wealth generating activities that end up having the most difficulties in serving their debt, because these activities were never generating any real wealth and were really supported or funded, so to speak, by genuine wealth generators."
"Deflation is one of the great scarecrows of present day economic policy and monetary policy in particular,"
"The Rothbardians level an objection, saying the free bankers are ignoring an important real-world consideration; then Woolsey assumes away the problem and declares that he has met the Rothbardian objection."
Compares Austrian and mainstream views of prediction and their relative success. Recorded at Mises University 2010
Recorded at Mises University 2010. Includes an introduction by Mark Thornton.
Or will we stick to principle, pay whatever price that involves, and leave the world a better place? I submit to you that anyone who has ever truly loved liberty has chosen the second course.
A more realistic view is that a housing boom and bust happened to strike a fragile financial system whose fragility was worsened by ill-conceived government interventions.
