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THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS VOLUME 22 | No. 3 | FALL 2019 WWW.QJAE.ORG ARTICLES Interest Rates, Roundaboutness, and Business Cycles: An Empirical Study ........................ 311 Mark Gertsen Negative Inflation Targeting: A Proposal of a Non-Distortionary Monetary Policy ...........336 Tomáš Frömmel Intra-Firm Coordination through Rule-Following and the Emergence of Hierarchy .........357 Aidan Walsh and Malcolm Brady Over the Cliff: How Brazil’s 2004–2016 Business Cycle Became Its Worst Recession in a Century .......................................................................................................................................383 Henrique Lyra Maia, Dale Steinreich, and Bruno Saboia de Albuquerque Brazilian States’ Economic Freedom Index: Applying Fraser’s Methodology for 2003-2016 Data ..................................................................................................................................428 Vladimir Fernandes Maciel, Ulisses Monteiro Ruiz de Gamboa, Julian Alexienco Portillo, Mariangela Ghizellini On Understanding France and the French Situation .................................................................453 Pascal Salin Book Review: Gun Control in Nazi-Occupied France: Tyranny and Resistance By Stephen P. Halbrook ...................................................................................................................470 Audrey D. Kline Book Review: The Origin of the Prolonged Economic Stagnation in Contemporary Japan: The Factitious Deflation and Meltdown of the Japanese Firm as an Entity By Masayuki Otaki ..........................................................................................................................477 Jason Morgan Book Review: People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent By Joseph E. Stiglitz .........................................................................................................................486 David Gordon Book Review: Political Capitalism: How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained By Randall Holcombe ......................................................................................................................492 David Gordon Book Review: Reflections on Ethics, Freedom, Welfare Economics, Policy, and the Legacy of Austrian Economics By Israel M. Kirzner. Eds. Peter J. Boettke and Frédéric Sautet ...............................................498 David Gordon Book Review: Money, Inflation, and Business Cycles: The Cantillon Effect and the Economy By Arkadiusz Sieroń ........................................................................................................................503 Mark Thornton FOUNDING EDITOR (Formerly The Review of Austrian Economics), Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) EDITOR, Joseph T. Salerno, Mises Institute and Emeritus, Pace University BOOK REVIEW EDITOR, Mark Thornton, Mises Institute ASSISTANT EDITOR, Timothy D. Terrell, Wofford College COPY EDITOR, J. Mark Stanley PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR, Judy Thommesen, Mises Institute ASSOCIATE EDITORS Per Bylund, Oklahoma Jeffrey M. Herbener, Grove David Howden, St. Louis State University City College University–Madrid Matthew McCaffrey, University of Manchester CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Philipp Bagus, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Mateusz Machaj, University of Wroclaw Carmen Elena Dorobăt, Leeds Trinity University G.P. Manish, Troy University Lucas M. Engelhardt, Kent State University–Stark Xavier Mera, University Rennes Nicolai Juul Foss, University of Copenhagen Robert P. Murphy, Mises Institute David Gordon, Mises Institute Malavika Nair, Troy University Randall G. Holcombe, Florida State University Alexandre Padilla, Metropolitan State University Jörg Guido Hülsmann, University of Angers of Denver Peter G. Klein, Baylor University Shawn R. Ritenour, Grove City College EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD D. T. Armentano, Emeritus, University of Hartford Jesus Huerta de Soto, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos James Barth, Auburn University Frank Machovec, Wofford College Robert Batemarco, Pace University Yuri Maltsev, Carthage College Walter Block, Loyola University John C. Moorhouse, Wake Forest University Donald Bellante, University of South Florida Robert F. Mulligan, Indiana University East James Bennett, George Mason University Hiroyuki Okon, Kokugakuin University Bruce Benson, Florida State University Ernest C. Pasour, Jr., Emeritus, North Carolina Samuel Bostaph, University of Dallas State University Mark Brandly, Ferris State University William Poole, University of Delaware Peter T. Calcagno, College of Charleston Thorsten Polleit, Degussa Bank AG Anthony M. Carilli, Hampden-Sydney College W. Duncan Reekie, University of Witwatersrand Dan Cristian Comanescu, University of Bucharest Morgan O. Reynolds, Texas A&M University Raimondo Cubeddu, University of Pisa Pascal Salin, University of Paris Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Loyola College in Maryland Frank Shostak, Sydney, Australia Richard M. Ebeling, The Citadel Josef Sima, CEVRO John B. Egger, Towson University Gene Smiley, Marquette University Robert B. Ekelund, Emeritus, Auburn University Barry Smith, State University of New York–Buffalo Lowell Gallaway, Ohio University Thomas C. Taylor, Emeritus, Wake Roger W. Garrison, Auburn University Forest University Fred Glahe, University of Colorado Richard K. Vedder, Ohio University Steve H. Hanke, The Johns Hopkins University Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Emeritus, University of Nevada–Las Vegas THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS VOLUME 22 | No. 3 | 311–335 | FALL 2019 WWW.QJAE.ORG Interest Rates, Roundaboutness, and Business Cycles: An Empirical Study Mark Gertsen* JEL Classification: B53, C33, E23, E32, E43, E50 Abstract: I show evidence of Austrian boom-bust dynamics in historical data on the production structure of 28 developed economies. I employ an autoregressive distributed lag model to find that policy-induced deviations from the natural rate of interest increases roundaboutness. This could instigate an unsustainable boom. Additionally, I find that early-stage industries have higher cyclical sensitivity than late-stage industries, consistent with Austrian time-value dynamics in the structure of production. INTRODUCTION he influence of interest rates on the production structure of the Teconomy is a key concept within the Austrian framework. In * Mark Gertsen ([email protected]) is on the faculty of economics and business at the University of Groningen. This paper is based on my MSc thesis. For valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper including the thesis I thank Prof. Dirk J. Bezemer, Dr. Mark Skousen, Prof. Roger W. Garrison, and Prof. Lex H. Hoogduin. Last, I thank the editor and an anonymous referee for helpful suggestions that considerably improved this paper. All errors remain my own. Quart J Austrian Econ (2019) 22.3:311–335 311 Creative Commons https://qjae.scholasticahq.com/ BY-NC-ND 4.0 License 312 Quart J Austrian Econ (2019) 22.3:311–335 particular, interest-rate-setting central banks are deemed to be insti- tutions distorting the market, often with a combination of artificially low interest rates and expansionary monetary policy. During the Great Moderation some economists claimed that the central banking puzzle was solved, but the 2008–09 global financial crises reignited the debate around this topic. A decade later, central banks are still dealing with the legacy of this crisis, for which the consequences are yet unclear. In this paper I provide an uncommon (to most poli- cy-makers) though sensible view that could enrich the debate about the consequences of policy-induced monetary expansion inevitably followed by boom-bust episodes similar to the one in 2008–09. To substantiate, I attempt to quantify the difference between the natural rate of interest, defined by Wicksell ([1898] 1962) as the unobserved equilibrium price of savings and investments, and the market interest rate set by the central bank. Subsequently, I explore the effect of this interest rate gap on the production structure, or roundaboutness, of 28 OECD economies over the years 2000–14. Roundaboutness as originally pioneered by Menger (1871) and later expanded by Böhm-Bawerk (1891) explains the indirectness and lengthiness of the process in which consumption goods are created. To capture the roundaboutness of an economy, I make use of the Gross Output (GO) metric pioneered by Skousen (1990, 2015, 2018). GO measures the combined value of all stages of production in the economy.1 By dividing GO by GDP, one obtains a measure which increases (decreases) with a lengthening (shortening) of the production process. Böhm-Bawerk (1891) argues that more indirect processes ceteris paribus are associated with more economic progress and increased productivity. However, expansionary monetary policy is prone to instigate an unsustainable growth path. A low-interest rate policy stimulates investments which are not profitable under the natural rate, leading to malinvestment and overconsumption, in turn leading to boom-bust dynamics (Mises [1912] 1953; Hayek 1932, 1933; Garrison 2002, 2004). This paper contributes in three ways. First, I construct a unique data set on Gross Output for 28 OECD countries over the years 1 While Skousen has formalized and widely promoted the concept of GO, it is wholly based on Rothbard’s (2009, 396–403) distinction between the Keynesian “net expen- diture / income approach” and the Austrian “gross expenditure / income approach”. Mark Gertsen: Interest Rates, Roundaboutness, and Business Cycles…