Monetary Policy and Finance

The Austrian Academy 2021: Liberation from Academic Lockdown

Capitalism and the market economy are the foundations of our prosperity, which, thanks to globalization, is also spreading to places in which poverty still prevailed decades ago. At the Austrian Academy 2021 experts explain to twenty-two young people why this is so.

Paper Money Tricksters: From John Law to Today’s Central Banks

Today’s money experiments follow to the letter the procedure of one of the greatest money tricks in history: the paper money experiment of John Law in France 1716-1720.

Private Currencies Terrify the Central Banks

Private currencies are currently making central banks sweat. The flood of paper money is making alternative private currencies increasingly attractive. They are based on a technology that is almost unassailable, and the central banks are reacting as you would expect.

Navigating Crises without a Compass: Politics in the Quicksand of Interventionism

Under the guise of the COVID-19 crisis, attempts are being made to use the crisis for a political agenda that would not have found majority support before. The role of the state is expanding. A new policy approach is necessary to secure prosperity.

Low Interest Rate Policy Cripples the Economy and Reduces Prosperity

Japan’s low interest rate policy began 30 years ago, about 15 years earlier than in the EU. But three decades of low interest rate policy meant three lost decades for Japan. In an interview with Stefan Beig, economist Gunther Schnabl explains why the low interest rate policy is so damaging to prosperity.

A New Era: Politicians and Central Banks Reinvent the Wishing-Table

Unbelievable national debts and deficits, direct access of politicians to the printing press and unconditional payments to citizens in the USA. The EU, for its part, is embarking on the path of massive new national debt. Can this possibly end well?

Germany’s Poverty: Imported and Homemade

In Germany’s super-election year, the eternal debate about social justice is taking on even more teeth. One-sided interpretations are used by the Greens, SPD and Left Party to justify even more redistribution. The real causes are being concealed.

No More Growth—And Happiness Is Just Around The Corner

Critics of growth call for zero growth or even “degrowth”. Their fears are based on economic misconceptions and a failure to recognize the capitalist dynamic of decoupling growth from resource consumption. Moreover, they fail to recognize the needs of poor countries.

The Primacy of Politics and the “Other” Socialism

The “primacy of politics” over the logic of the economy is repeatedly and categorically demanded. Insofar as such efforts undermine the private property-based power of disposition over the means of production, it is the first step in the direction of the “other socialism.”

Currency Competition: The Renewed Interest in Cryptocurrencies

Only the sovereign of a liberal democratic community, the citizen, can set limits to state action. Challenging the state’s monetary monopoly through monetary competition would be one means of doing so.

The Discovery of “Capital” in the Economic Ethics of the High Middle Ages

The pioneers of modern economics were moral theologians of the Middle Ages. Petrus Johannis Olivi discovered, among other things, “capital,” the subjective theory of value, and distinguished interest from usury. He thus paved the way for a positive view of commercial activity.

Money Glut, Debt, and Rolling Central Bank Guarantees: Full Steam Ahead towards the Abyss

Central banks have become prisoners of their own policies with their perpetual monetary glut. Everyone knows this, and everyone knows that everyone knows it. But proclaiming a different message, they shirk responsibility. The party must go on at all costs.

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