Sunday, June 20, 2010

Hazlitt's Battle with Bretton Woods by Lew Rockwell - Henry Hazlitt - From Bretton Woods To World Inflation A Study of Causes & Consequences


Hazlitt's Battle with Bretton Woods
Mises Daily: Friday, June 18, 2010 by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.

From the Ludwig von Mises Institute:
http://mises.org/daily/4511

"The Austrians were right" is a phrase we hear often now, and for good reason. The housing bubble and bust were called by the Austrians and, essentially, no one else. The Austrians were right about the dot com bubble and bust. The Austrians were right about the 1970s stagflation and the explosion in the price of gold after the gold window was closed.

You can tick through the issues and see that the Austrians have been right again and again throughout history: on price controls, on protectionism, on bailouts, on wars, on regulation, on prohibitions and civil liberties, and so on.

But issues concerning fiat money and the business cycle stand out because the Austrians possess unique insight. Only the Austrians have consistently warned that fiat money creates the wrong incentives for the banking industry, that central-bank manipulation of interest rates distorts the structure of production, that the combination of paper money and central banking leads to economic calamity.

"There can be no such thing as a Keynesian state on the gold standard, any more then a cocaine addict or compulsive gambler can be on a strict budget."

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