The economist should not allow his readers to accept the current myth that inflation is a scourge that governments try, with varying success, to keep in check. This myth is one of the consequences of economists generally failing to make explicit their assumptions.
R.C. wouldn't tolerate news stories that referred to the "public schools," for example. His reporters were required to refer to them as "government schools." R.C. himself preferred the phrase "gun-run schools" and used it liberally on the editorial page.
On the contrary, the record of nearly every government in the world, in our time, is one of recurrent or continuous monetary inflation. It is to this monetary inflation that the apparent "successes" of full-employment policies are due.
Like today’s central bankers, John Law proposed to “supply the nation” with a sufficiency of money.
Like today's central bankers, John Law proposed to "supply the nation" with a sufficiency of money. The increased money was supposed to vivify trade and increase employment and production — the "employment" motif providing a nice proto-Keynesian touch.
This arms deal is aggressive and demeaning; and it in no way protects the interests of the United States. Until our military is completely out of the Arabian Peninsula, we cannot expect to make any peace with foreign nations.
A man who is obliged to justify his handling of a matter in the eyes of other people often resorts to a pretext. As the motive of his deviation from the most suitable way of procedure he ascribes another reason than that which actually prompted him.
Recorded at the Mises Circle at Furman University, November 13th, 2010.
Bernanke — with Paul Krugman looking over his shoulder and telling him where to put the paddles and how many volts to shock the patient with — thinks he can crunch the data, make a diagnosis, concoct the right monetary witch's brew, and inject lots of it to make us all employed and living happily ever after.
By their nature, capital goods cannot be redistributed among the people in any sense that results in equality and wealth. The redistribution of wealth, if taken seriously, necessarily means the complete and utter destruction of wealth.
