The Unlearning Economics blog offers a supposed list of inconsistencies inherent in the free market. Unfortunately, the reasons are themselves a convoluted, inconsistent collection of strawmen. Below is a response to each of his twenty four points.
1. Credit expansion does, indeed, cause boom-bust cycles. Many Austrians agree that outlawing fractional reserve banking would eliminate…
In this month’s Vanity Fair renowned economist Joseph Stiglitz discusses important lessons economists should take from the Great Depression. The article is lengthy, but interesting if you have the time. Stiglitz, a Keynesian, gives the expected presentation: manipulating financial markets (monetary policy) is ineffective in combating recessions and we need greater government spending (fiscal policy)…
When asked about the minimum wage over the weekend, leading GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave the following response:
“My view has been to allow the minimum wage to rise with the CPI [Consumer Price Index] or with another index so that it adjusts automatically over time. I already indicated that when I was governor…
It’s not uncommon for presidential candidates to tout their business experience, often claiming that they know “how the economy works.” Surprisingly, in a recent post, Krugman correctly shot this idea down, noting, “The idea that what America needs now is an executive type is just foolish.”
Unfortunately, Krugman does not arrive at this conclusion through…
Those of us who are mature, sophisticated, and all grown up know that without government regulation we would all live in slums and be poisoned by the food we eat. Or so Huffington Post writer Carl Gibson would like you to think in his hit piece on Ron Paul’s free market ideas. In this article,…
It’s that time of year! Earlier today, the Heritage Foundation released it’s highly-anticipated 2012 Index of Economic Freedom. As expected, the United States fell even lower on the index, landing between Ireland and Denmark at tenth place.
Now I have no quibbles with the way the index is compiled. Indeed, I highly recommend it to…
There seems to be a growing trend in economics news: discredit Austrian economics. Slate did it about a week ago, and The Huffington Post, not to be outdone, did the same thing. The themes are similar, Austrians are kooky and wrong. Unfortunately, the authors fail to comprehend what Austrians are saying.
“For them [Austrians], one…
Saving our economy is only a minimum wage hike away, according to James Galbraith. Galbraith is not the first to commit such a basic economic error, as we have pointed out. In Galbraith’s words:
“Raise the U.S. minimum wage. By a lot — let’s say, to $12 an hour, from the current rate of $7.25.”…
It seems hardly a day goes by when the financial press fails to warn us about the looming dangers of deflation, despite the fact that the last period of price deflation in the United States was during the mid-1800’s. In fact, the threat of deflation is extremely slight given Bernanke’s well-documented deflationphobia.
This USA Today…
Ron Paul’s economic philosophy and book End the Fed got some crucial publicity and thoughtful debate on Saturday. Simon Johnson, MIT economist and former IMF chief-economist, wrote in the New York Times economics blog that more people should take Dr. Paul seriously. Unfortunately he advises Dr. Paul promote some very anti-free market, and counter-productive measures.…
