This brings up something that I've learned over the years from the Austrian School of Economics and Ludwig von Mises in particular - and that is that history is complex. You can explain almost any theory by picking data points from history. To truly understand history, however, you must have a correct theory
I could be wrong, but I personally believe that the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle best explains the situation we are in now. Most other arguments I am hearing tend to lack some underlying mechanism that fuels the boom which leads to the bust. The Austrian Theory gives us that fuel in the guise of monetary expansion. Unless something is done about that underlying mechanism, we will continue to suffer from economic crises.
Anyway, here are some good articles about the current mess that aren't necessarily Austrian:
- Russ Roberts takes a look at tax policy changes in the 1990s. Be sure to check out other recent articles by Russ at CafeHayek - he is sorting out his thoughts on this matter.
- What role did Fannie and Freddie play? And did Bush try to regulate the FMs only to be thwarted by Congressional Democrats?
- Arnold Kling sees causes in both private markets and government regulators. BTW, EconLog is another good blog to keep an eye on.
- Sheldon Richman looks at greed and "lack of regulation" arguments
- Carpe Diem looks at the difference between Canadian and U.S. regulations during a previous economic meltdown
2 comments:
Ron Paul lays it down?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6rQ0U01Yc
Regarding Ron Paul:
It's nice that someone in government speaks this way. Too bad he is completely ignored.
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