Tag Archives: market

Bubble Economics

A comment on Paul Krugman’s post on the housing market, interest rates and Ben Bernanke. By looking at irrelevant statistics one does nothing to avert future crises of the same nature—credit bubbles do not only form in housing. Continue reading

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Why I Don’t Accept Pay Raises

My low hourly wage rate makes me an attractive employee. By accepting a higher wage rate I decrease my appeal by that much, meaning that it would make far more sense to remain relatively cheap. Unfortunately, minimum wage laws have disallowed me to reduce my wages even further, to remain competitive in a market with a labor surplus. Continue reading

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Joseph Stiglitz’ Words of “Wisdom”

Joseph Stiglitz, in “Making Globalization Works”, fails to understand the root causes for market instability. He blames “market fundamentalism”, while the real case is in fact the very regulation he supports. Continue reading

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In Search of that Mythical Free-Market Road Network

There may be many things that the private sector can do better than the State, but roads will always be a public good. A free-market road network would only exist in a world of fantasy. omeone should make this fact aware to the people of El Provencio, a small town in the province of Cuenca (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain). They have been living in a fantasy world for centuries. Continue reading

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Thoughts on Fractional-Reserve Banking

One of the most heated topics within the school of Austrian Economics is whether or not fractional-reserve banking would or should exist in a free market. There are considerable arguments put forth in support of either opinion by various scholars, but ultimately it seems as if fractional-reserve banking does not pass the test. Continue reading

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The Confusion About Gresham’s Law

F.A. Hayek disproves Gresham’s law when applied to multimetallic coinage in a free-market, without fixed exchange ratios. Continue reading

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Forestation through the Free-Market

Roughly half of the world’s original forested surface area no longer exists. We depend on these forests for our survival. The key to long-term ecological sustainability is the free-market and private property rights. Continue reading

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When Charity Saved Rome

The Roman Army was not invincible, and the Roman State did not always have a bottomless treasury. During the First Punic war, Rome found herself penniless and fleetless and soon found herself in debt with the generosity of her private sector. Continue reading

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Winning the War on Drugs

As Federal spending towards drug-use prevention increases, more and more people are using illicit drugs. It is becoming blatantly obvious that higher Federal spending will not solve the drug “problem”. Indeed, history has shown that prohibition has only made the situation worse (such as with the prohibition of alcohol). The only sensible solution is the free market, the economics of choice and liberty. Continue reading

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