Mad Money Machine

With Keynesianism on the march, are you wondering how Austrian Economics fits into today’s financial situation? I regularly listen to both the EconTalk and Bloomberg on the Economy podcasts. I recommend that you listen to these two particular episodes:

1. Bloomberg on the Economy, 12/24/2008:

Tom Keene interviews Gerald O’Driscoll ( subscribe in iTunes)

2. EconTalk, 1/5/2009: Russ Roberts interviews Peter Boettke (or subscribe in iTunes)

These are worth paying close attention to when you have a quiet couple of hours. Both hosts Tom and Russ are very knowledgable interviewers. They bring out what we need to know from their guests. Tom interviews O’Driscoll who is with the CATO Institute. O’Driscoll talks about the need for a “commodity standard” as being a possible substitute for a gold standard. I say it is an interesting notion, but neither wheat nor some of the other things in the basket qualify as being money.

On EconTalk, Roberts interviews Boettke and asks, “What would have happened if the government allowed Bear Stearns to go bankrupt?” Would the complete financial system have collapsed? Should the free market be allowed to work?