For some economists, the fact that entrepreneurs make cinnamon rolls instead of selling only celery sticks is a “market failure.” These economists have appointed themselves the arbiters of what is “best” for people, and therefore, what should be sold in the marketplace.
Many people mistakenly think of Austrian economics as nothing more than a radical defense of free markets, though it's really a framework for studying human action and its social implications.
Whatever the Fed imagines they can control and whatever their real intentions are, a central authority cannot optimally set prices that are in line with people’s preferences. This is especially important for interest rates, which have far-reaching influence throughout the economy.
The world waits to see if next week is finally the week that the Fed announces its rate hike. Can the economy survive whatever small bump the Fed deals out? Perhaps, but that won’t change the inherent instability of our current monetary regime.
We've been told that with enough data, we can use sophisticated computing methods to predict the future. That often works with the physical sciences, but predicting human action is something else altogether.
It’s not a coincidence that wherever war and socialism are implemented, the results tend to be the same.
Whether its drug prices, crushing debt, or unemployment, government can always come up with someone else to blame. Fortunately though, in spite of the lackluster economy the Fed and the government seem committed to giving us, there's hope for a much better future.
Never published before, this short essay about Ludwig von Mises by his personal assistant, Bettina Bien Greaves, outlines what it was about Mises's creativity and scholarship that made him truly unique.
There's no shortage of intellectuals eager to churn out new schemes for central planning.
Wu has written an outline of international price theories that map the theoretical development of international economics. It is a major achievement.
