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I. INTRODUCTION The economics profession has recently neglected the connections between the purchasing power and the quality of money. In order to cover this gap, I will analyze the quality of money and how its changes affect the purchasing power of money. I will argue that changes in the quality of money can be far more important for the value of

In dark hours, when people fear for their lives, they eagerly deliver their freedom to the state. Many want the government take control of their lives, because they think it will be better for them. Ludwig von Mises has written extensively about the erroneous belief that in an emergency the state must take control of the economy because the market

Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The eurozone is a gigantic machine of monetary redistribution . Several independent governments can finance their expenditures through deficits that are monetized directly or indirectly by one printing press. More specifically, the European Central Bank (ECB) may buy eurozone government bonds

Listen to  the  Audio Mises Wire  version  of this article. On June 29 ,  the German parliament reacted as parliaments normally do when there is a problem, namely, by allowing the government to spend more. In order to respond to the economic difficulties due to the corona epidemic and the government restrictions, it passed a typical Keynesian

Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The theory of public goods is one of the main arguments that is usually employed to justify economically the existence of the state. There are some dangers in employing neoclassical terminology, as it systematically drives thinking away from sound economics. Nevertheless, for the sake of the

Four weeks ago I participated in a debate moderated by Bernardo Ferrero with Walter Block on the coronavirus quarantine . It is in English, but with the option of Spanish subtitles. (Which is why it took a while to

A few weeks ago I presented a libertarian take  on the ethics of the lockdown. Following Murray Rothbard in his Ethics of Liberty , I argued that the government has no right to confine or quarantine innocent people, even though it might lengthen some lives. The government is not the just owner of the streets. Rather citizens or taxpayers are, and

The history of mass hysteria , or mass sociogenic illness is fascinating. Cases of mass hysteria have been documented since the Middle Ages . Let me just mention a few of the more recent cases. When a radio play by Orson Welles, War of the World s , was broadcasted in 1938 shortly after the suspension of the Munich agreement , the play allegedly

Twenty-five years ago, on December 15, 1995, the fifteen heads of state and government of the then EU decided at a council meeting in Madrid to name the future common currency the ”euro” and to introduce it from January 1, 1999, initially as a book currency at a fixed exchange rate. The actual introduction of cash took place in 2002. Denmark,

Unsurprisingly, Javier Milei´s monetary reform plans are discussed intensively in libertarian circles. For the first time, a real libertarian reform of the monetary and financial system is in sight. One of the main issues of contentions is Milei´s plan to introduce a 100% reserve banking system. Such a move would be truly revolutionary. The