September 25, 2013 – 9:40 am
Economist Earl Thompson (1938-2010) developed a theory which (pdf) postulated that defense externalities are what made (pdf) taxing imported consumer durables such a common tax policy. The idea being that build-up of local capital made a taxing-jurisdiction more of a target for aggression, so taxing such goods and various forms of capital adjusted for the increased danger; it […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Academia, Australia, Economics, History, Public Policy
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Also tagged asset bubbles, Black Death, china, club good, Cold War, David Glasner, Dutch Tulip Mania, Earl Thompson, Eastern Roman Empire, Elinor Ostrom, externalities, free rider problem, free trade, Glorious Revolution, Guilds, Heckscher-Ohlin, ibn Khaldun, industrial revolution, Mancur Olson, medieval era, medium of account, Opium Wars, Peter Turchin, principal-agent problem, protectionism, Qing dynasty, Second Hundred Years War, serfdom, slavery, Stolper-Samuelson, tariffs, transaction costs, Western Roman Empire
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August 21, 2013 – 5:30 am
Economist David Friedman’s theory about the size and shape of nations leads him to postulate that the increased importance of labour income–a result of the Industrial Revolution: one of the ironies of history is that greatly increased propensity to produce capital increases both the scale (through increased demand) and then the average income (through increased relative scarcity) […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Academia, Australia, Britain, Economics, History, Immigration, Public Policy, Religion, scotland, Society, Taxation, Welfare
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Also tagged Amerindians, Belgium, Branch Davidians, Cameron-Clegg Government, Clinton Administration, crime, culture wars, Danubian monarchy, David Friedman, fiscal policy, Flanders, france, George W Bush, Germany, Great Society, HDI, industrial revolution, ireland, Italy, Lander, Lebanese, Maronite, nativism, Obamacare, Orkney and the Shetlands, P J O'Rourke, Quebec, Richard Trudgen, Robert Fogel, Robert Putnam, Scandinavia, separatism, september 11th, SNP, trust, US republican party, Waco, Wallonia
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Came across this comment which made me laugh lots: Actually there is a cogent neo-Austrian case for fiscal stimulus, not that any self-described Austrian actually espouses it. As a result of the central bank keeping interest rates artificially low, the private sector, being made up of idiots, indulges in massive malinvestment in useless capital of excessive […]
The notion that “easy money” created asset booms is levelled (famously by Austrian school economists such as von Mises and Hayek) against the 1920s boom and by a range of commentators about the Great Moderation boom. In both cases, the Fed (dominated by Benjamin Strong as New York Fed Governor up to 1928 and by Alan Greenspan as Fed Chair 1987-2006) is held to be to […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, History, Law, Public Policy, Technology
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Also tagged Alan Greenspan, asset markets, Austrian business cycle, Bank of France, Benjamin Strong, bimetallism, bubble economy, china, ECB, expectations, FDR, Frederich Hayek, George L Harrison, GFC, gold standard, Great Depression, Great Moderation, Great Recession, housing booms, India, lost decades, milton friedman, monetary policy, natural interest rate, NIRA, permanent income effect, railway manias, Roger W. Garrison, silver standard, theory of the unsustainable boom, Time and Money, US Federal Reserve, von Mises, world war one
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What is the biggest difference in decision-making between buying equipment and hiring a person? The characteristics of the equipment are much easier to discern. Sure, there can be hidden flaws in machinery and buildings. You may have to take the equipment for a test run, you may need some expert to have a look at […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, Racism
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Also tagged assets, contracts, employment contract, expectations, feudal dues, James Heckman, labour hire, labour markets, money, risk, unequal bargaining power, unfair dismissal
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Who would want the global monetary system to be at the mercy of the Bank of China? Not conservative, free market types in the United States and elsewhere, one guesses. Actually, it turns out lots of them do; all the people who support some sort of return to the gold standard, who think that the […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, History, Public Policy
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Also tagged asset bubbles, Bank of China, Bank of England, Bank of France, Bank of Iran, Benjamin Strong, central banks, china, clipping, convertibility, equation of exchange, Euro, fixed exchange rates, Friedrich Hayek, George Selgin, gold, gold standard, Great Depression, India, jewellery, Marc Flandreau, real interest rates, reeded edges, silver standard, Thomas Sargent, US Federal Reserve, USA, William Garrison, Wizard of Oz, World Gold Council, WWI
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Dr Horwitz’s thoughtful and generous response to my original post is useful in clarifying what a serious Austrian school economist thinks and correcting some of my misapprehensions. It seems to have been a useful exercise, to provide reactions to Austrian commentary from someone much more familiar with mainstream economics. Even better, I now have something I […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Australia, Britain, Economics, Entrepreneurs, History, Public Policy
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Also tagged Austrian business cycle, credit, deflation, disinflation, Eric Hoffer, Frederich Hayek, housing market, Inflation, interest rates, John Maynard Keynes, macroeconomics, Matt Ridley, monetary economics, monetary policy, Sport, Steve Horwitz, unemployment, von Mises
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This is a guest post by Steven Horwitz which was originally posted at Critical Thinking Applied but which Dr Horwitz has kindly agreed to be also posted here. Dr. Horwitz is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He is the author of two books, Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective (Routledge, 2000) and Monetary […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, Guest Post, History
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Also tagged Austrian business cycle, Carl Menger, central banks, Great Depression, James Buchanan, Jean-Baptiste Say, John Maynard Keynes, money, Peter Lewin, Say's Law, Steve Horwitz
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I find Steve Horwitz, along with George Selgin (prominent advocate of free banking and supporter of a productivity norm [pdf] for monetary policy), the most accessible of contemporary Austrian school economists as they are both clear writers who seek to engage with those who are not of their school and are refreshingly free of the nastiness […]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, Entrepreneurs, History, Philosophy
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Also tagged Austrian business cycle, capital, David Glasner, deflation, Friedrich Hayek, George Selgin, Inflation, John Maynard Keynes, labour markets, monetary policy, Scott Sumner, Steve Horwitz, Tyler Cowen
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September 12, 2011 – 12:43 am
[SL: A frequent criticism of economics is that the ‘dismal science’ is now too big for its boots: it makes claims in rhetorical language that would do credit to a theologian or philosopher, and often appears to step far outside its remit. This criticism is particularly acute when some large rhetorical claim turns out to […]
By skepticlawyer
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Posted in Economics, Guest Post
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Also tagged Austrian business cycle, barter, commodity money, David Glasner, efficiency, efficient market hypothesis, fiat currency, gold standard, John Quiggin, Keynesian school, Lars Svensson, malinvestment, milton friedman, neo-classical school, Nordhaus, Plato, price, price bubbles, rational expectations, Stephen Williamson, The Money Illusion, Zombie Economics
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