The recent passing of Nobel Laureate Gary Becker had me reflecting on some of his work. Specifically, his thought on how time is our most scarce resource. In his Nobel lecture he begins by explaining that economics impacts more than just the financial decisions that people make. Economics, when properly applied, allows the student to study…
I recently watched the critically acclaimed independently produced movie, “Blue Collar Boys” by director/producer Mark Nistico. What I experienced was an emotional ride with a blue collar family struggling to keep their construction business alive during the 2008 financial meltdown. The viewer can see, first hand, how such misguided Fed policy and political maneuvering damaged…
Janet Yellen recently gave her first press conference as the new Fed Chair-person. Being the stalwart Keynesian that she is, emphasis was given on the Fed’s targeted inflation rate. One of the problems here being in how modern economists define inflation. Over the course of history inflation has gone through a type of metamorphosis as…
The Austrian School of Economics has been at the forefront of price theory. Beginning with Carl Menger, the founding patriarch, through others such as, Böhm-Bawerk, Mises, Hayek, Rothbard, Lachmann, Kirzner and more have advanced the theory of prices. It is generally accepted that prices are a function of supply and demand. But, there’s more.
It is apparent that some who advocate for the Austrian School of Economic Theory haven’t quite grasped the basics tenants of Austrianism. One of the basic tenants is the Mengarian theory of subjective value. One of those advocates is none other than Peter Schiff.
One of the fundamental laws of economics is that human beings act on incentives. People make choices to act every day, all the time. The choices they make, are without fail, whether they will be left better or worse off. As a matter of fact, people remain inactive until they have made their choice whether…
How many have gotten themselves into that usual Twitter or maybe a Facebook debate about “capitalism” or “the free market” with someone who doesn’t even understand the definition of the terms? It can be equally frustrating because these social media environments aren’t really suited for an honest debate. When anonymity is introduced during any discussion, the…
The Blue Collar Economist 