Douglas French

Articles

A Reply to Shostak: Can Increases in the Gold Supply Cause a Business Cycle?

12/18/2024 Mises Wire Douglas French

Frank Shostak recently wrote that an increase in the supply of gold by itself cannot cause a boom-bust cycle as described by the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT). If that were true, then...

Some Depositors Are More Equal than Others

12/04/2024 Power & Market Douglas French

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”―George Orwell, Animal Farm The nation’s deposit insurer (FDIC) let slip the other day which large depositors were bailed out when...

Promises, Promises

11/06/2024 Power & Market Douglas French

Both presidential campaigns are making outlandish promises in the waning hours before election day. Kamala Harris claims she will stop corporate price gouging with government force. The legislative...

Publications

Walk Away: The Rise and Fall of the Home-Ownership Myth

11/18/2010 Douglas French

Housing, a central priority for government policy for many decades, collapsed in 2008; even today, millions of homes are under water. This poses many economic and ethical issues. This elegant and fact-filled book by Doug French examines the

Early Speculative Bubbles and Increases in the Supply of Money

08/19/1992 Douglas French

The Housing Bubble was hardly the first in human history. What’s eluded historians is the same issue that eludes commentators today: the underlying cause of bubbles. This book is the first (and only) book to solve the mystery of the most famous

Media

Today’s Pols Are All Bryanites

11/26/2024 Douglas French

In his failed 1896 presidential campaign, inflationist William Jennings Bryan declared that he would “not crucify mankind on a cross of gold.” But at least even Bryan favored silver money. Today‘s political candidates will crucify us on a cross of paper.

The Unsustainable AI-Driven Lending Boom

06/21/2024 Douglas French

The endless bubble economy has a new lending craze: loans backed by AI chips. The problem is that while the chips serve as collateral, companies right now cannot make enough revenue to cover their costs.

As the Dollar Falters, Gold Becomes Insurance, Not Speculation

05/17/2024 Douglas French

Many people are selling their gold to make ends meet. Others are buying gold as insurance against mounting price inflation.

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.

Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.