Mises Search

Recorded in Vienna, Austria; 25 May 1988. [36:32]

Recorded on 27 July 1975.

The disappearance of oil has been forecast every decade. Prices were overlooked. When the price is high it is more profitable to look for oil. Total reserves on the ground are higher than they were in 1890. Treating demand as a fixed quantity, the oil industry tried to control production and prices. Gas rationing was implemented. 55 MPH limit was

Thou shalt not sell a certain product or service below a certain price, e.g. wheat, cotton, corn, cheese, sugar. This will result in an artificial unsold permanent surplus, as it does in the American farm situation. Initially resources are attracted into the field, but the artificially high price discourages buyer demand. This kind of

The peanut butter crunch was in 1980. Crop acreage and production was cut down by 45% by government price support, import quotas, and cartelizing of the industry. The price of peanuts more than tripled. Farm price supports also keep cheese prices above market levels. The minimum wage law imposes a wage above the laborer’s discounted marginal value

The objective of the corporate firm is to maximize profits and avoid losses - the same objective of the free market. But the costs are paid out before the income comes in. Stockholders will sell stock to shake up the managers. Government firms - agencies - do not have shareholders and there are no shares to be sold. Part 7 of 14. Presented in 1986

Business men must make sure they can cover their costs by incoming revenue. The production function will yield a certain quantity of a product. The firm considers marginal costs and average costs to weigh where along the demand curve production is.  Average revenues less average costs multiplied by quantity will reflect profits (or losses) for the

The words monopoly and competition have been changed. Competition meant rivalry or competing, either active or potential.  Businesses do not like this. Monopoly meant a grant of privilege by the government. It now means a falling demand curve. Government creates crazy regulations and the market works to get around them. Cheaper consumer products

The only cartels that have lasted have been government cartels. There is no essential difference between a cartel and an ordinary corporation or partnership. Not even the De Beers cartel is all powerful. The South African government nationalizes all land upon which diamonds are discovered. The government only licenses De Beers to work the mines;

As factors of production, supply and demand of labor, land and capital will determine how much the producer will get out of this process. This process occurs in different stages. In the earlier or higher stages, producers’ goods must be produced that will later cooperate in producing other producers’  goods that will finally co-operate in