[ Reprinted from the site Austro Libertarian . ] The debate over the proper philosophical foundation for economics, ethics, and political theory (which, being focused on the justification for the use of force in society, is a particular application of ethics), are all grounded in the study of knowledge; or, epistemology. This is why the first
Signs of a looming recession are everywhere. Durable goods orders plunged and the Atlanta Fed’s GDP estimate was lowered to 1.4% from 1.9%. Meanwhile, existing home sales “ tumbled ” in February and the difference between pro forma and GAAP corporate earnings numbers are at the highest since the previous financial crisis. Writes Barron s:
Under the title “Target increases minimum wage to $10 an hour,” Reuters reports that Target is increasing its “minimum wage:” Discount retailer Target Corp has started raising employee wages to a minimum of $10 an hour, its second hike in a year, pressured by a competitive job market and labor groups calling for higher wages at retail chains,
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans spoke on Friday, expressing his fear that there was risk to the downside on the inflation outlook. These people! Unlike the Austrians, who define inflation and deflation in terms of the supply of money and fiduciary media , the mainstream defines them in terms prices. Thus, when Evans and others like him
Politicians, bureaucrats, and media talking heads specialize in saying one thing but meaning something else. In Fed world, something referred to as “balance sheet normalization” would be thought to be a return of balance sheet levels to pre-crisis numbers (roughly $850 billion). But common sense does not prevail. Instead, as it turns,
For the past year or so, the Fed has come across as more or less “hawkish;” preferring to position themselves as ready to tighten monetary policy via continued interest rate hikes. Following the recent several hikes, the Q1 GDP numbers came in terribly low and the Fed’s anticipated source of “economic growth,” consumer spending, hasn’t been up to
May’s FOMC minutes were released at 2:00 eastern today and included the same self-confidence about the strength of the economy, the progress on inflation, and the good employment numbers. Any sign of weakness, especially in the GDP numbers were waved away as being “transitory.” Besides these things being used as justification for further rate
I hate to be the bearer of bad news before a three day weekend, but St. Louis Fed President James Bullard informs us that ”U.S. prices are now 4.6 percent below the price level path established from 1995 to 2012, when inflation was growing near the Fed’s target of 2 percent each year.” This lower than expected price level is deeply “worrisome,”
San Francisco President John Williams spoke last Sunday, reiterating his position that the Fed would hike 3 times this year. Looking only at the inflation rate (as measured by the PCE) and the unemployment levels, the Fed considers its dual mandate as having been met. On the surface this justifies a rate hike, according to mainstream economic
The Fed’s economists are always coming up with deranged new ideas and when they fail to reach their goals the first time, they double down. In the recent decade they picked the completely arbitrary inflation growth rate of 2% (as calculated by the misleading PCE) and stated that for the economy to be on a strong trajectory, 2% inflation was a
What is the Mises Institute?
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.