July 2009 « Taking Hayek Seriously

Econometric Evidence Supporting Capital Based Boom & Bust Macro

By Greg Ransom, on July 31st, 2009%

Expect to see a lot more papers like these:

Francis Bismans and Christelle Mougeot, “Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Empirical Evidence”, Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 22, No. 3, (Sept.) 2009, pp . 241-257 (subscription pdf).

Abstract:

The Austrian approach to business cycles has been seldom examined in econometric terms. This paper first reviews the essentials of that . . . → Read More: Econometric Evidence Supporting Capital Based Boom & Bust Macro

Hayekian Economist Gerald O’Driscoll

By Greg Ransom, on July 31st, 2009%

On the housing market:

Government programs to prop up home prices have been half-hearted and ineffective overall, and mercifully so. A successful program to prop up home prices would have aborted the recovery process. It would have created an overhang of unsold, over-priced homes. Speculators would have held off buying and first-time buyers would have . . . → Read More: Hayekian Economist Gerald O’Driscoll

artificial boom: Steve Hanke July 2006

By Greg Ransom, on July 31st, 2009%

Another economist who identified what was happening prior to the 2007-2008 bust:

Excessively low interest rates and excess credit have generated other distortions and imbalances. Those schooled in the business cycle models developed by Friedrich Hayek in the 1930s know that excessively low interest rates result in a widening gap between savings and investment. People . . . → Read More: artificial boom: Steve Hanke July 2006

paul kasriel: A Hayekian Defense of Ben Bernanke

By Greg Ransom, on July 30th, 2009%

Paul Kasriel takes on Anna Schwartz, defending Ben Bernanke’s post-bust management of the Federal Reserve:

Ms. Schwartz asserts that Bernanke should not be re-nominated because of his sins of commission as well as his sins of omission. It is not clear to me to what Bernanke sin of commission Ms. Schwartz is referring. She alludes . . . → Read More: paul kasriel: A Hayekian Defense of Ben Bernanke

audio: Roger Garrison on Capital Based Macro

By Greg Ransom, on July 30th, 2009%

Here’s Garrison’s “Mises U.” lecture from Monday, July 27 (mp3). Watch the video with updated PowerPoint slides here, here, here, and here. Garrison adds lots of topical commentary on the current boom and bust. Great stuff.

Related – a new working paper by Foss, Klein, Barney & Agarwal, “Heterogeneous Resources and the Financial Crisis: Implications . . . → Read More: audio: Roger Garrison on Capital Based Macro

Barack Obama and The Fatal Conceit

By Greg Ransom, on July 30th, 2009%

A quick google of “Obama” and “fatal conceit” harvests over 16,000 links. The interpretation of Barack Obama and his government as an instantiation of what Friedrich Hayek examined in his classic book The Fatal Conceit has become one of the dominant narratives of today. In May John Stossel wrote a widely circulated piece on the . . . → Read More: Barack Obama and The Fatal Conceit

Stacy McCain Links to a Piece on Hayek & ObamaCare Because ..

By Greg Ransom, on July 30th, 2009%

“there is no such thing as “too much Hayek” … “ Here’s the link. Let me also recommend this one.

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Nonoy Oplas updates the “Rule of Law” entry at Wikipedia.

It’s Back To First Principles — And Hayek — At The Bank of England

By Greg Ransom, on July 30th, 2009%

The London Telegraph:

in a strange way, the by-product of this financial collapse has been to free economics of this burden. In the corridors of the Bank of England and Treasury, there is a distinct whiff of excitement. For the first time in decades, economists have been able to throw away their textbooks and go . . . → Read More: It’s Back To First Principles — And Hayek — At The Bank of England

George Selgin & Peter Schiff on The Federal Reserve

By Greg Ransom, on July 27th, 2009%

George Selgin speaks at 10:40 into the video and Peter Schiff begins at 25:55 into the video.

BONUS: Peter Schiff was right, and Ben Bernanke was wrong, wrong, wrong. So, which one studied Hayek? And which one was reading out of the Keynesian playbook?

. . . → Read More: George Selgin & Peter Schiff on The Federal Reserve

New To The Internet — F. A. Hayek on the “Decline of the Rule of Law” (part 1)

By Greg Ransom, on July 27th, 2009%

This is timely. A previously unavailable classic — F. A. Hayek, “Decline of the Rule of Law, 1″, from The Freeman, April 20, 1953, pp. 518-520 (pdf). Here’s the article in html:

Political wisdom, dearly bought by the bitter experience of generations, is often lost through the gradual change in the meaning of the words . . . → Read More: New To The Internet — F. A. Hayek on the “Decline of the Rule of Law” (part 1)

Distributed Knowledge & The Medical Economy

By Greg Ransom, on July 27th, 2009%

Jennifer Rubin discovers both Hayek’s knowledge problem and Hayek’s distributed knowledge and discovery procedure solution. Did she read John Stossel or The Constitution of Liberty?

keynes: Bursting The Myth of Keynes As a Genius Investor

By Greg Ransom, on July 24th, 2009%

The history of science is full of useful lies, myths created and repeated in order to advance a particular narrative. One of the great myths of economics is the myth of Keynes as an unerring investor of genius. In fact, Keynes had a very rich daddy who bailed him out whenever he got himself in . . . → Read More: keynes: Bursting The Myth of Keynes As a Genius Investor