Another interesting article from the LaRouche site shows how the inflation statistics are distorted to produce a lower reported rate of inflation. The government incurs a number of costs from a higher reported rate of inflation (CPI). There are direct costs such as pensions that are indexed to the CPI, the “cost” of lower tax revenuje because
The New York Times has a story today based on a leak from a former employee of Fannie Mae, alleging that Fannie Mae’s risk of loss due to to interest rate movements is larger than they had previously admitted. Fannie and Freddi are “Government Sponsored Enterprises”, large quasi-public entities that issue large amounts of debt and use the money
The Wall Street Journal reports ( $ ) that the US Navy has discovered the benefits of the free market in setting wages for jobs. Under the old system, all sailors in the same job classification were paid the same wage, and job assignments were made by navy command. ‘”The old system was Stalin-like,” says Rear Adm. Jake Shuford, who is in charge
States and municipalities typically offer defined-benefit pension plans to their employees. They are supposed to set aside money every year to fund their future obligations. The amount of money depends on the size of the obligation and the rate of return that they get on the assets in the pension plan. With the collapse of the central bank
Peter Foster, writes in Canada’s National Post about Paul Krugman’s Con Job . In response to Krugman’s recent piece in the New York Times, The Tax-Cut Con , Foster writes: That truly great economic journalist, Frédéric Bastiat, who saw the first waves of socialist humbug sweeping across Europe in the late 19th century, wrote, responding to the
The GSEs (government-sponsored enterprises) are large quasi-governmental financial institutions that own or insure about half of the nation’s mortgages. They are fueling a housing bubble by injecting purchasing mortgages, bundling them into securities, and re-selling them or holding them. They are able to borrow to fund their activities at
Gene Epstein, writing in Barron’s ($) , continues his assault on the Fed. Auburn University economics professor Roger W. Garrison points out that the enduring capacity of monetary and fiscal policy to do harm derives directly from their adaptability. One period is never the same as the next. But the 1920s and the 1990s have a lot in common. Of
Mises Institute scholar Guido Hülsmann on fractional reserve banking versus 100% redeemeable gold in the Independent Institute’s excellent journal The Independent Review . Has Fractional-Reserve Banking Really Passed the Market Test? by J. G. Hülsmann Some economists suggest that because fractional-reserve banking is the rule in Western banking
Gene Epstein, economics writer of Barron’s (a paid subscription web site), continues his assault on the Fed and explains why it should be abolished. This week he responds to questions that he has received on his previous three articles. Here is a quoted passage from Epstein’s article in which he answer one question: 3. Weren’t these policy
Morgan Stanley analyst Joachim Fels has penned an analysis of the bubble and crash cycle that could have been written by an Austrian economist. Fels has a very good idea of the way that injections of inflation by the central banks works its way into asset markets, causing bubbles and economic distortions. The heroes and the villains in this
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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.