No extensive notes for this one, I just keep seeing people shilling for this idiotic unrealized gains tax, and I felt compelled to say something.
As Bastiat tells us, it’s not just the immediate effects of a policy we should look at, it’s the longer-term and more subtle effects that we must understand before we implement it.
Chapter seven of the book attempts to explain Hoover’s interventionist policies and chart their progress in the period from 1920-1929.
Show notes here.
One of the things I’m working on to promote libertarian values is working with the Free New Mexico Party, the state’s affiliate for the National Libertarian Party.
I’m the Vice Chair and the Secretary, and last week I sat down with the Chair, Dereck Scott, on the great web show Spoken Words in New Mexico.
You can find the show here, and I recommend checking out their other content, as well!
Dereck and I speak for over three hours about the difficulties facing the liberty movement in the U.S., including our worries about both Republican and Democratic policies.
Might as well plug the party website while I’m here, so:
I had a fun thought the other day: Why is it that Keynesian shills like Paul Krugman usually don’t like Modern Monetary Theory?
After all, both of them promote the same irresponsible and destructive policies of massive government spending and interference with the market…
This chapter is short, but really needs a little supplement from Rothbard’s other writings to really “get it.”
Don’t worry, I got your back. In the video, I identify two more passages that help explain why the goal of “stable prices” is counterproductive. They’re from Man, Economy, and State and Making Economic Sense.
This chapter is about the “genetics” of the inflation, rather than the “anatomy,” to use Rothbard’s words. Basically, in this chapter, we’re interested in the cast of characters and how they were interacting.
Our primary characters are Benjamin Strong, Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during most of the 1920s, and Montagu Norman, head of the Bank of England at the same time.
Rothbard describes their interactions and secret backroom deals to push more inflation and make the inevitable depression worse!
Read my show notes here.
This video is available on Odysee, BitChute, and YouTube.
References:
Harris, Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy
https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsoffed0000seym/page/n7/mode/2up
Lary, The United States in the World Economy: The International Transactions of the United States During the Interwar Period
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/united-states-world-economy-9204?page=3
Berglund, The Tariff Act of 1922
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1804045.pdf
Beckhart, The New York Money Market
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/beck93862/html?lang=en#contents
Smith, Facing the Facts; An Economic Diagnosis
https://archive.org/details/facingfactsecono0000smit
Putnam, What Shall We Do About Depressions?
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2349663
Aldrich, The Causes of the Present Depression and Possible Remedies
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Causes_of_the_Present_Depression_and.html?id=iijIAAAAMAAJ
Viner, Political Aspects of International Finance
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2349238.pdf
Hoover, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover
https://archive.org/details/memoirsofherbert0002hoov
Viner, Political Aspects of International Finance II
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2349531.pdf
Warren, Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression
https://archive.org/details/herberthoovergre0000warr_f2d0
Robbins, The Great Depression
https://mises.org/library/book/great-depression
Beveridge, Unemployment: A Problem of Industry
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1qgrAQAAMAAJ&rdid=book-1qgrAQAAMAAJ&rdot=1
Benham, British Monetary Policy
https://books.google.com/books/about/British_Monetary_Policy.html?id=cJovAAAAYAAJ
Clark, Central Banking Under the Federal Reserve System…
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/central-banking-federal-reserve-system-314
Rist, Notice Biographique
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24689652
Chandler, Benjamin Strong, Central Banker
https://archive.org/details/benjaminstrongce0000chan
Clay, Lord Norman
https://archive.org/details/lordnorman0000clay
Crosby, Commercial and Financial Chronicle (May 9, 1925)
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/commercial-financial-chronicle-1339/may-9-1925-518311
Palyi, Review: The Meaning of the Gold Standard
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2349926
Hardy, Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System
https://mises.org/library/book/credit-policies-federal-reserve-system
Adams, The International Gold Standard Reinterpreted
https://archive.org/details/internationalgol0002brow/mode/2up
Anderson, Economics and the Public Welfare
https://archive.org/details/economicspublicw0000ande/mode/2up
Warburg, The Federal Reserve System (Vol. 2)
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/books/frsorigin1930/frsorigin_warburg_1930v2.pdf
Willis, The Failure of the Federal Reserve
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25110746
Reed, Federal Reserve Policy 1921-1930
https://archive.org/details/federalreservepo0000haro/page/n7/mode/2up
Abbott, The New York Bond Market, 1920-1930
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_New_York_Bond_Market_1920_1930.html?id=z0wUAQAAMAAJ
Snyder, Capitalism the Creator
https://mises.org/library/book/capitalism-creator
Hoyt, The Effect of Cyclical Fluctuations Upon Real Estate Finance (Speech)
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/historical/fdic/speeches/hoyt_19470125.pdf
Hoyt, The Effect of Cyclical Fluctuations Upon Real Estate Finance
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2975516
Durant, Commercial and Financial Chronicle (April 20, 1929)
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/commercial-financial-chronicle-1339/april-20-1929-516890
Lawrence, Wall Street and Washington
https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/521500
https://books.google.com/books/about/Wall_street_and_Washington.html?id=93tEAAAAIAAJ
Irving, The Stock Market Crash–and After
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_stock_market_crash_and_after.html?id=mYREAAAAIAAJ
Beckhart, Federal Reserve Policy and the Money Market, 1923-1931
I could not find a good source, even paywalled, for this article. Best I could find was a citation, here:
https://www.econbiz.de/Record/federal-reserve-policy-and-the-money-market-1923-1931-beckhart-benjamin-haggott/10001892048
Willis & Chapman, The Economics of Inflation
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/will93390/html?lang=en
Hardy, Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System
https://mises.org/library/book/credit-policies-federal-reserve-system
Phillips, Banking and the Business Cycle
https://mises.org/library/book/banking-and-business-cycle
Noyes, The Gold Inflation in the United States 1921-1929
https://www.jstor.org/stable/418
We continue our deep dive into Murray Rothbard’s classic text on the Great Depression!
Today, we’re looking at the second half of Chapter Four, which examines four different sources of inflation that the Federal Reserve controlled and exacerbated in the period between 1921-1929.
A short video about the negative effects of egalitarianism, especially Marxian versions of egalitarianism, on economic policy, culture, and aesthetics, but especially on aesthetics.
Here is my summary and study guide for the first half of chapter four, up to (but not including) the section “Treasury Currency” on page 116 of the fifth edition.
Rothbard is hitting us hard with data and references in this part, so be prepared!
Very quick post here, but as a part of Mises University, the great Bob Murphy and Jonathan Newman did a fantastic talk about Modern Monetary Theory and some of the sticking points people walk into when they try to argue against it.
At the end of the talk, Dr. Newman mentions the book “The Theory of Idle Resources” by William H. Hutt. What he didn’t say is that the whole book is available free at the Mises Institute website.
Get your copy here!
Breaking down the fallacies and dangerous conclusions of MMT is one of the best things you can do today!