Mises Search

In his new book Who Needs the Fed? , John Tamny makes a convincing case that the Federal Reserve is wholly unnecessary. Chapter after chapter, he offers examples of individuals engaging in credit transactions and explains how any government manipulation of these transactions is counterproductive or, at best, unnecessary. From sports to Silicon

Steven Horwitz has written about the limits of Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT). He outlines three limits of ABCT as he sees it: “[ABCT] tells us nothing about exactly when the boom will break or the precise factors that will cause it.” “ABCT tells us little to nothing about how the bust will play out.” “Not every recession requires the ABCT

California is on the verge of increasing the statewide minimum wage to $15, from $10 . The plan involves incremental steps up to $15 per hour by 2022. According to one pro-minimum wage policy advisor, “It would mean a raise for one of every three workers in the state.” If this were the case, then why stop at one-third of the workers in California?

Ever since the Fed paused their plans to increase the Federal Funds Rate, many commentators have guessed that the Fed might be expecting another crisis and downturn, and that any “brake tapping” might bring it about too soon. And while there is debate over whether or not zero is actually a lower bound for the central bank’s targeted Federal Funds

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article on rising student loan default and delinquency rates on the same day Ryan McMaken posted about rising tuition and fees at universities across the country . The statistics are harrowing. Per the Education Department and the New York Fed, 43 percent of federal student loans are in postponement,

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office updated their 2015 national income figures and revealed a staggering 26.3% increase in real GDP from 2014 to 2015. Paul Krugman called it “ leprechaun economics .” Joseph Salerno said “ that’s unbelievable! ” I say it’s just one more reason to doubt official macroeconomic statistics. While some initially

The net neutrality public debate is back, and this time with even more blatant disregard for common sense and consistency.  A small minority of the net neutrality proponents are consistently applying their own wrong-headed rule, but the majority have either misplaced their outrage or have conveniently retreated now that they see that a consistent

The FOMC has consistently overestimated future Fed Funds Rate (FFR) hikes. For a body that prides itself on super-scientific research methods and has teams of economists (self-described) and statisticians, it’s interesting that they can’t even predict their own behavior. The graph is comical. These errors can be either unintentional or

Many Americans have received more telemarketing and scam calls than usual over the past few months, and they are wondering what their number is doing on the National Do Not Call Registry, maintained by the FTC. Some of the calls are clearly only meant for the most gullible, like those from some generic “card services” who somehow represent Visa,

Economists have a grumbling and cynical stereotype. This might be because even the most basic economic principles are ignored by those who should know better and vehemently denied by those who don’t. Case in point: a restricted supply of gasoline is expected across the Eastern United States because of a busted pipeline, and state governors enact