Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. In 1966, famed Chicago School economist Milton Friedman wrote a hugely influential essay on the methodology of economics entitled “The Methodology of Positive Economics” (contained in the volume Essays in Positive Economics ). In distinguishing economics as a “positive science”, Friedman
Among economists following an idea known as “market monetarism”, one of their core proposals is that the central bank should “target” a specific annual rate of increase in the nominal GDP figures, which are not adjusted for inflation. Typically, this involves targeting an NGDP annual growth rate of something like 5%. This, it is promised, will go
GDP is not a useful measure of the material prosperity of a nation, and the way GDP is measured tends to hide the benefits of free trade. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: “ GDP, Free Trade, and Prosperity
Key methodological differences between Austrians were highlighted in Milton Friedman’s “The Methodology of Positive Economics.” A key piece of conflict: Friedman’s focus on prediction rather than explanation. Original Article: “ Milton Friedman’s Methodological Mistake “ This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.
The Italians could learn some lessons about healthcare from the South Koreans, who still maintain a robust private market in health insurance. Although the Koreans have relatively ample resources for COVID-19 patients, Italy’s state-dominated system is quickly running out of options. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher
The natural response in the face of a pandemic like the one we are experiencing today with COVID-19 is to take immediate and direct action to curb the crisis. We are told we need to have extensive quarantines, citywide lockdowns, and shelter-in-place orders. We supposedly need to limit the number of goods people can buy so they don’t hoard them
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Everyone is vitally aware of the spread of the novel COVID-19 pandemic as it rages in early stages across the globe. Travel restrictions are everywhere as people are trying to get tested, prepare for possible quarantines, and worrying about their jobs and their families. Events involving
I have recently been reading Helen Zia’s Last Boat out of Shanghai , which presents a narrative history of a handful of refugees who fled Shanghai as the Communist Party took control of China in the late 1940s. In framing this flight from the city, Zia details the experiences of the refugees during the Japanese occupation during the Sino-Japanese
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. In my recent social media discussions on the subject of free trade, a certain thread of argument related to GDP has become more common. The argument, such as it goes, asserts that international trade is not very important as a component of GDP. The net impact of trade is a small impact on
While some people are increasingly concerned about (and others cheer) the political implications of censorship on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, few have engaged in any analysis of how things reached this point and why social media companies seem universally of the same mind in designing their policies. Ultimately, though, it
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.