Value and Exchange

With an inflationary or deflationary policy, a government does not promote the public welfare, the commonweal, or the interests of the whole nation

Presented by Rothbard at New York Polytechnic University in 1972.

Congress decreed that gold and silver dollars should be interchangeable and put upon the Treasury a mandate to keep them equal in value. How?

Economists can say little about population and its size, despite the gloomy views of Malthus. More people are a good thing because of the division of labor. Living standards are higher when populations are higher.

Economics begins with the concepts of scarcity and choice. If there was no scarcity it would all be free. Resources like time and materials need to be allocated to economically feasible uses. This will depend on the consumers' demand for the final product.

The way to bring the blessings of laissez-faire to the Polish people is first to secure it for ourselves. The enemies of free enterprise and private-property rights here in America are immeasurably benefitted when those who favor the free market are too busy worrying about the "tiger at the gate" to wonder at the absence of freedom right here.

Why is it that things like bread and water which have high use values are cheap while on the other hand luxury items like diamonds are very expensive? This paradox was not solved until it became understood that people choose only a marginal unit - this loaf or this diamond.

International trade routes revealed comparative advantages of the different shippers, whether New England or British. Merchants dealt with shippers with whom they had a history. Knowing market conditions was easier for local merchants. Crews were paid less in their home ports.

The thought mechanisms that lead some people to like (or, as economists say, have preference for) gambling are of no more economic interest than the reasons why some people like going to soccer games while others like to stay at home. Answering such questions may be a job for psychologists, but it is not one for economists.

"Bastiat knew what most educated people never learn, that the source of all injustice in society stems from violations of freedom."