Mises Search

Historically, many different goods have been used as money. On this, Ludwig von Mises observed that, over time, [T]here would be an inevitable tendency for the less marketable of the series of goods used as media of exchange to be one by one rejected until at last only a single commodity remained, which was universally employed as a medium of

“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” –John M. Keynes

Most economists are of the view that through the inspection of economic data it is possible to identify early warning signs regarding boom bust cycles. What is the rationale behind this way of thinking? During the 1930s the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) introduced the economic indicators approach to ascertain business cycles. A

For most commentators lending is associated with money. However, is this the case? When a saver lends money, what he/she in fact lends to a borrower is final consumer goods that he/she did not consume. Therefore, what a lender lends to a borrower is savings and not money as such.  Take farmer Joe, who produced two kilograms of potatoes. For his

According to popular thinking, it is held that by means of statistical and mathematical methods one can organize historical data into a useful body of information. This in turn can serve as the basis for the assessments of the state of the economy. It is also held that the reality is elusive. Hence, it is not possible to know its true nature. Some

Why does the dollar bill in our pockets have value? According to some commentators, money has value because the government in power says so. For other commentators the value of money is on account of social convention. What this implies is that money has value because it is accepted, and why is it accepted? because it is accepted! Obviously,

After closing at 0.53 percent in July 2020 the yield on the ten-year US T-bond moved relentlessly higher, closing on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at 1.55 percent. There is a growing likelihood that the July 2020 figure of 0.53 percent might have been the lowest point. How should we view this in the context of historical trends in bond yields?

By popular thinking, the key driver of economic growth is increases in the total demand for goods and services. It is also held that the overall economy’s output increases by a multiple of the change in expenditure by government, consumers and businesses. The popularizer of this way of thinking John Maynard Keynes, wrote, If the Treasury were to

Resources that are utilized to promote economic prosperity in normal times become underutilized during recessions. Some experts are of the view that what is required are policies which will increase the availability of credit to make greater use of underutilized resources. On this Ludwig von Mises wrote, Here, they say, are plants and farms whose

This year’s Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to David Card of the University of California, Berkeley, Joshua Angrist of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Guido Imbens of Stanford University. The laureates, according to the Nobel Committee have made an important contribution as to how to ascertain cause and effect from observational