In August, the money supply grew at the fastest rate in 23 months.
Politics
One of the important points made by Carl Menger in his 1871 Principles is that people ordinally rank their preferences, valuing some things more than others. While this seems to be a common-sense principle, it actually has important implications for economic theory.
One of the important points made by Carl Menger in his 1871 Principles is that people ordinally rank their preferences, valuing some things more than others. While this seems to be a common-sense principle, it actually has important implications for economic theory.
Long before there was Alan Greenspan to turn the Federal Reserve into Casino Central, there was John Law, France’s minister of finance more than three centuries ago. Like Greenspan’s infamous bubbles, Law’s money-printing scheme made people rich—for a very short time.
When people speak of “old school economics,” they generally mean the application of economic thinking that involves what we might call “common sense.” That would include permitting a price system to work, protecting private property, and so on. But there is more.
While F.A. Hayek contributed much to the Austrian School of Economics, he also supported the establishment of the welfare state, believing that it was compatible with the rule of law. Ludwig von Mises, however, knew that the welfare state is the ubiquitous slippery slope.
Republicans today are decrying the “lawfare” that Democrats are using against them, and rightly so. However, had Republicans not vastly expanded federal criminal law during the infamous Wall Street prosecutions 40 years ago, lawfare would not have become such a potent political weapon.