Category: Economic Theory
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Jaguar Inflation, Layman's Explanation of the Impact of Government Intervention / Economics / Economic Theory
This article is part of a syndicated series about deflation from market analyst Robert Prechter, the world's foremost expert on and proponent of the deflationary scenario. For more on deflation and how you can survive it, download Prechter's FREE 60-page Deflation Survival eBook , part of Prechter's NEW Deflation Survival Guide.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Slow Long-Term Economic Growth, And Government's Response / Economics / Economic Theory
This week I am really delighted to be able to give you a condensed version of Gary Shilling's latest INSIGHT newsletter for your Outside the Box. Each month I really look forward to getting Gary's latest thoughts on the economy and investing. Last year in his forecast issue he suggested 13 investment ideas, all of which were profitable by the end of the year. It is not unusual for Gary to give us over 75 charts and tables in his monthly letters along with his commentary, which makes his thinking unusually clear and accessible.
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Sunday, August 09, 2009
Efficient Market Hypothesis Destroying Industry and Forever Blowing Bubbles / Economics / Economic Theory
Six impossible things before breakfast, or how EMH has damaged our industry
The Dead Parrot of Finance
The Queen of Hearts and impossible beliefs
Slaves of some defunct economist
Prima facie case against EMH -- Forever blowing bubbles
The EMH 'Nuclear Bomb'
The Efficient Market Hypothesis, according to Shiller, is one of the most remarkable errors in the history of economic thought. EMH should be consigned to the dustbin of history. We need to stop teaching it, and brainwashing the innocent. Rob Arnott tells a lovely story of a speech he was giving to some 200 finance professors. He asked how many of them taught EMH - pretty much everyone's hand was up. Then he asked how many of them believed it. Only two hands stayed up!
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Monday, August 03, 2009
Defending Capitalism / Economics / Economic Theory
I recently got into an argument with a marketing executive of India's biggest mutual fund, Unit Trust of India. We were discussing the recent media coverage of the 'public' outrage over a new Indian TV show called 'Sach ka Samna', it is the Indian counterpart to the American show 'Moment of Truth'. I haven't seen the show but I did see the public condemnation hailed on Indian media. It didn't bother me that people were speaking out against the show, but it did bother me when I saw members of Government condemning the show as if whole families were being murdered. It is surprising that the one thing that offends the government happens to be the revelation of truth.1Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2009
How Paul Krugman Has Misconceived Austrian Business Cycle Theory / Economics / Economic Theory
David Gordon writes: Paul Krugman is an eminent economist, but he here reveals a woefully inadequate understanding of Austrian business-cycle theory. The rudiments of the theory are easy; one might have thought that even a Keynesian could grasp them.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Keynesians Can't Predict, Forecasts of Postwar Deflation Turned Out to be Entirely Wrong / Economics / Economic Theory
L. Albert Hahn writes: If you take the trouble to interrogate a large number of economists about the economic future of the country you will find that an overwhelming majority argues in the following way: In about two years at the latest, rearmament will be completed and the amounts spent for this purpose will be negligible. At about the same time the pent-up demand for investments will be largely satisfied. The productive apparatus will be sufficiently enlarged, improved, and modernized to meet the needs of an increased population and all other reasonable requirements. A depression — or at least a serious recession from the present high level of production and employment — must follow.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Meta Economics vs Quantitative Economics / Economics / Economic Theory
This brief essay is a summary of the idea "Meta-Economics" as introduced my E.F Schumacher in his classic book; "Small is Beautiful."
Economic: "Sufficient to give a good return for the money or resources expended."
Meta: "To transcend or go beyond."
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Has Paul Krugman Become an Austrian Economist? Not Quite…. / Economics / Economic Theory
William L. Anderson writes: Paul Krugman has looked at Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle and found it wanting. First, he mistakenly calls it a "hangover theory" when, in fact, it is a theory of easy credit leading to malinvestments. Second, he really does not understand that government cannot sustain a boom once the financial wave has crested. Third, he has no understanding of the heterogeneity of assets, assuming that capital and other assets are homogeneous for the purposes of economic policy.
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Keynesian Economics, the Usual Suspects / Economics / Economic Theory
Fred Buzzeo writes: In 1977, the prolific economic writer Henry Hazlitt wrote, [T]here has been a profound change in the economic reputation of Keynes' General Theory. It is no longer accepted as the new gospel. Professors of economics can openly declare themselves to be non-Keynesians and even anti-Keynesians and still be treated with respect.[1]
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Keynesian Economic Revolution and the Neo-liberal Counter-revolution / Economics / Economic Theory
Dr. Eric Toussaint writes: As a result of the depression of the 1920s and 1930s, a new wave of critics tackled the neo-classical creed on a largely pragmatic basis. This new wave was international and involved political leaders and economists from differing belonging to various currents backgrounds: enlightened bourgeois thinkers, socialists and Marxists. In a context of mass unemployment and depression, proposals came forward for major public works, for anti-cyclical injections of public money, and even for bank expropriations.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Keynes, Monetary Cranks Promoting Fiat Currencies and Deflation / Economics / Economic Theory
Gary North writes: John Maynard Keynes changed his economic views every few years. His 1936 book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, was his last book. He spent the war years in the British Treasury. He died in 1946. So, he did not change his mind again.
Keynes' final book was a defense of government spending. This is why the book was hailed as a masterpiece. It backed up what all Western governments were already doing: spending money on welfare projects and running massive deficits.
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Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Minimum Wage is Maximum Economic Stupidity / Politics / Economic Theory
In a free market, demand is always a function of price: the higher the price, the lower the demand. What may surprise most politicians is that these rules apply equally to both prices and wages. When employers evaluate their labor and capital needs, cost is a primary factor. When the cost of hiring low-skilled workers moves higher, jobs are lost. Despite this, minimum wage hikes, like the one set to take effect later this month, are always seen as an act of governmental benevolence. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Credit Expansion, Crisis, and the Myth of the Saving Glut / Economics / Economic Theory
George Reisman writes: Readers who are already familiar with the nature of credit expansion and the concepts of standard money and fiduciary media should skip the first section. Readers who are also already familiar with the role of credit expansion and fiduciary media in generating the stock market and real estate bubbles should skip the second section as well and proceed directly to the third section "Evasion of Responsibility for the Bubbles."
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Friday, July 03, 2009
A Message for Armchair Economists / Economics / Economic Theory
Betsy Hansen writes: At some point in our intellectual development, we libertarians are naturally drawn to study economics. I think this stems from the fact that we love to explore the forces which drive our world. Economics is, in a broad sense, the study of human cooperation. A solid understanding of economics enables us to see how and why our world looks and behaves as it does.
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Friday, July 03, 2009
The Keynesian System, the Economics of Illusion / Economics / Economic Theory
[This is the title essay of Hahn's The Economics of Illusion, his frontal attack on the Keynesian system. It is based on a lecture delivered at the Studiengesellschaft fur Wirtschaftspolitik, Zurich, Switzerland, September 12, 1947.]
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Inflation Deflation Debate and Myth of the Kondratieff Wave / Economics / Economic Theory
Gary North writes: Do you want to lose money? Invest in terms of the Kondratieff wave.
Do you want to misunderstand completely the relationship between economic production and prices? Adopt the Kondratieff wave as your tool of explanation.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Miracle of the Market / Economics / Economic Theory
Ludwig von Mises didn’t like references to the "miracle" of the marketplace or the "magic" of production or other terms that suggest that economic systems depend on some force that is beyond human comprehension. In his view, we are better off coming to a rational understanding of why markets are responsible for astounding levels of productivity that can support exponential increases in population and ever higher living standards.
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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Carl Marx was the First Real Globalist / Politics / Economic Theory
William Bowles writes: If nothing else, the wholesale plunder of the planet’s natural resources has brought into sharp focus the necessity for some kind of global (and globally enforceable) regulation of what’s left of the planet’s precious cargo of life. But can capitalism undertake such a task? Not only that, is it willing to do so and is even some kind of ‘reformed’ capitalism capable of doing so given that the basic drive of capitalism is expand or die.
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Conservative Economics Based Upon Greed / Politics / Economic Theory
Cage Innoye writes: In life we have the problem of self management. If we don’t manage ourselves, then disaster occurs. Self control is a key trait of this behavior, taking calculated risks is another, a strategy of balance is another. Most people accept this.
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Lessons for Economists on Deflationary, Deleveraging Recessions / Economics / Economic Theory
There is a debate in academic circles on the lessons of the current economic crisis. While most ivory tower debates are of little concern to our daily affairs, this debate should concern you, as it will inform those who hold central bank and political power. Remember, there is no playbook of rules for what to do in deflationary, deleveraging recessions. They are making it up as they go along.
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