Daily economy news from the American Institute for Economic Research: data, stories, research, and articles touching on economics, politics, culture, education, policy, opinion, technology, markets, healthcare, regulation, trends, and much more.
“Capital Theory, Inflation, and Deflation: The Austrians and Monetary Disequilibrium Theory Compared”
“It can be argued that two apparently divergent macroeconomic schools of thought that have persisted in the history of economics are both part of a larger theoretical view which is capable of meeting most of these criteria. The Austrian theory
“Another Perspective on the Effects of Inflation Uncertainty”
This paper examines the effects of inflation uncertainty on real economic activityb y utilizing a flexible, dynamic,m ultivariatef rameworkt hata ccom-modates possible interaction between the conditional means and variances. The empirical model is based on a familiar identified vector autoregressive
“The Cost of Inflation Revisited”
“Neoclassical treatments of inflation understate the costs associated with inflation, even at very low levels. A comparative institutions perspective that recognizes the epistemological properties of prices and the institutional process by which inflation takes place, reveals the costs of inflation
“Stock Returns, Real Activity, Inflation and Money”
“There is much evidence that common stock returns and inflation have been negatively related during the post-1953 period. Zvi Body, Jeffrey Jaffe and Gershon Mandelker, Charles Nelson, and my article with G. William Schwert document negative relations between between stock
Meltdown
“President Obama rammed through his new stimulus bill, warning of an irreversible recession if Congress failed to act. But bestselling author Thomas E. Woods Jr. warns that Obama’s “stimulus package” will do far more damage to our economy than even
“No More Central Banks”
“Currency crises have become more and more frequent in part because speculators can mobilize more and more money. A generation ago, central banks, like the U.S. Federal Reserve System, had more money than anyone else and weren’t afraid to use
Bernanke is Time’s Person of the Year
Bernanke is Time’s Person of the Year Steve Horwitz The Austrian Economists
Ron Paul: The People’s Champion
Ron Paul talks inflation and economics with CNN.
Without Sound Money, Markets Fail
“Nobel Economics Laureate F.A. Hayek summed up the enigma of money succinctly: “Money, the very “coin” of ordinary interaction, is [hence] of all things the least understood and—perhaps with sex—the object of greatest unreasoning fantasy; and like sex it simultaneously
“Gold Standard Policy and Limited Government”
Are monetary and banking problems due to a few misguided policies or incompetent managers? Or are there fundamental flaws in monetary and financial institutions, principally central banks and the legal and monetary frameworks that accompany them? “Gold Standard Policy and
“A Match Can Cause a Forest Fire: A Response to Brad DeLong”
“My essay on causes of the financial mess focused on trying to identify the initial “impulses” that set the boom-bust cycle in motion because (as this symposium shows) economists have a variety of views about the impulses, and because identifying
“What Really Happened”
“Our ongoing financial turmoil began in the mortgage market. Real-estate loans at commercial banks grew at a remarkable 12.26 percent compound annual rate over the four-year period from the midpoint of 2003 to the midpoint of 2007.[1] The expanded volume
“The Monetary Theory”
“The Monetary Theory” Chapter 3 of: Economics as a Coordination Problem: The Contributions of Friedrich A. Hayek Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and MkMeel Inc., 1977.
“Monetary Nationalism Reconsidered”
“Monetary Nationalism Reconsidered” from Money and the Nation State by Lawrence H. White The Independent Institute
“Rational Expectations, Politics and Stagflation”
“Rational Expectations, Politics and Stagflation” Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr. Chapter 7 of: Time, Uncertainty and Disequilibrium: Exploration of Austrian Themes ed. Mario Rizzo Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1979.
Interest on the Debt Will Make Things Interesting
Interest on the Debt Will Make Things Interesting The San Francisco Examiner Ralph Benko
“Washington Is Quietly Repudiating Its Debts”
“Washington Is Quietly Repudiating Its Debts” Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr. The Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2008.
“Do We Really Need a Central Bank?” – A Talk by Steve Horwitz
Economic Liberty Lecture Series: Steve Horwitz from The Future of Freedom Foundation on Vimeo. Professor Steve Horwitz, Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics at St. Lawrence University, gave a talk entitled, “Do We Really Need a Central Bank?,” during a
FISA Destroys the Rule of Law
“Evidence…cannot be challenged by opposing counsel and are highly classified. This has resulted in the drone-like ‘rubber stamping’ of warrantless surveillance conducted without oversight or challenge.” ~Spence Purnell
Protectionists’ Cheap Tricks
“Gains from trade are mutual, a reality that isn’t changed one iota by imposing a political boundary between the traders. Protectionism therefore strips both foreigners and Americans of these gains.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
Bootlegger in a Baptist’s Mask
“Bob Lighthizer wants you to join him in what he claims is a moral crusade to save a few American jobs. He fails to mention that ultimately, we will all pay much higher costs to do this.” ~G. Patrick Lynch
Proof That Net Neutrality Was Never about ‘Saving the Internet’
“Net Neutrality isn’t so much about creating a better Internet as much as a key step toward an Internet under government control.” ~Jon Miltimore
Are You a Servant of Tyranny or Liberty?
“What happens to a country with no constitution or deep-seated commitment to curbing the use of power? Absent those limits, virtue wanes, and it is easy for people to become servants of tyranny.” ~Barry Brownstein
When Ideological Bubbles Trump Economic Thinking
“That a Nobel Prize-winning economist can hold these naïve views and fail to use simple economic reasoning should give us pause about how ideology and echo chambers can dull our reasoning.” ~Paul Mueller
‘Consumer Reports’ Jettisons Objectivity on Climate Change
“Scaring the public into action simply does not work — indeed, Chicken Little can proclaim only for a short time that the sky is falling until people begin to see through the ruse that Chicken Little is really Chicken Liar.” ~David Legates and E. Calvin Beisner
April’s Disinflation Delivery
“In the first quarter of 2024, the US economy expanded at a rate of 1.6 percent per year. That’s hardly an impressive growth rate, but it’s significantly faster than money supply growth. Money looks somewhat tight.” ~Alexander W. Salter
Private Governance Will Make You Free
“Enforcement of these emergent rules can be accomplished largely by what Adam Smith called ‘propriety,’ rather than by armed employees of the state.” ~Michael Munger
Sloppy Utopia
“The book is irrelevant in the exact meaning of that word: It does not answer the question it sets for itself, does not rise to the task of chronicling the big economic changes of the extended twentieth century, does not adequately and accurately capture a believable grand narrative.” ~Joakim Book
AIER Everyday Price Index Rises for Fifth Consecutive Month
“April’s core CPI data represents the lowest of 2024 and may signal the resumption of disinflation, particularly where shelter costs are concerned. Despite some favorable signs, though, there remains a persistent inflationary pressure in certain categories.” ~Peter C. Earle
Japanese Immigrant Exclusion: 100 Years Later
“Scientists and academics nationwide embraced these outward intentions to divide the ‘desirable’ immigrants from those more susceptible to crime, disease, and incompetence.” ~Will Sellers
Is The Fed Manipulating the Market?
“We cannot just look at the Fed’s target rate to determine whether it is manipulating the market. We must consider its target rate relative to the natural rate.” ~Bryan Cutsinger
Substitution Effects and Steering-Wheel Daggers
“Because of substitution effects, we should always be aware that outcomes quite different from those that seem most obvious are possible. Mandating greater automobile safety might reduce traffic fatalities. Or it might not.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
Unleashing Educational Freedom: A Blueprint for Future Generations
“We should ‘fund students, not systems,’ as DeAngelis loves to say, and empower parents, not politicians and bureaucrats.” ~Vance Ginn
Illiberal Youth Threaten Freedom
“Like National Socialist youth, individual rights mean nothing to young people today. The loss of talented people with different opinions was a plus for the Nazis.” ~Barry Brownstein
Importing Votes, Not Steel
“Cooperation between conglomerates can be swept aside by the government for political gain. Ultimately, it is the public who pays for these political plays.” ~Stefan Bartl
Climate “Reparations” Numbers Are Rigged
“Human living standards have improved in unprecedented ways over the past 300 years. These remarkable improvements in human welfare are not limited to wealthy, developed economies but are enjoyed around the world.” ~Paul Mueller