Making Economic Sense
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Making Economic Sense 2nd Edition Murray N. Rothbard Ludwig von Mises Institute AUBURN, ALABAMA Copyright © 1995, 2006 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. For information write the Ludwig von Mises Institute, 518 West Magnolia Avenue, Auburn, Alabama 36832. ISBN: 0-945466-46-3 CONTENTS Preface by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. .xi Introduction to the Second Edition by Robert P. Murphy . .xiii MAKING ECONOMIC SENSE 1 Is It the “Economy, Stupid”? . .3 2 Ten Great Economic Myths . .7 3 Discussing the “Issues” . .19 4 Creative Economic Semantics . .23 5 Chaos Theory: Destroying Mathematical Economics From Within? . .25 6 Statistics: Destroyed From Within? . .28 7 The Consequences of Human Action: Intended or Unintended? . .31 8 The Interest Rate Question . .33 9 Are Savings Too Low? . .37 10 A Walk on the Supply Side . .40 11 Keynesian Myths . .43 12 Keynesianism Redux . .45 v vi Making Economic Sense THE SOCIALISM OF WELFARE 13 Economic Incentives and Welfare . .53 14 Welfare as We Don’t Know It . .56 15 The Infant Mortality “Crisis” . .58 16 The Homeless and the Hungry . .62 17 Rioting for Rage, Fun, and Profit . .64 18 The Social Security Swindle . .68 19 Roots of the Insurance Crisis . .71 20 Government Medical “Insurance” . .74 21 The Neocon Welfare State . .77 22 By Their Fruits . .81 23 The Politics of Famine . .84 24 Government vs. Natural Resources . .87 25 Environmentalists Clobber Texas . .89 26 Government and Hurricane Hugo: A Deadly Combination . .92 27 The Water Is Not Running . .96 POLITICS AS ECONOMIC VIOLENCE 28 Rethinking the ’80s . .103 29 Bush and Dukakis: Ideologically Inseparable . .106 30 Perot, The Constitution, and Direct Democracy . .110 31 The Flag Flap . .113 32 Clintonomics: The Prospect . .116 33 Clintonomics Revealed . .119 34 Price Controls are Back! . .123 35 The Health Plan’s Devilish Principles . .127 Contents vii 36 Outlawing Jobs: The Minimum Wage, Once More . .133 37 The Union Problem . .136 38 The Legacy of Cesar Chavez . .140 39 Privatization . .144 40 What To Do Until Privatization Comes . .146 41 Population “Control” . .150 42 The Economics of Gun Control . .153 43 Vouchers: What Went Wrong? . .156 44 The Whiskey Rebellion: A Model for Our Time? . .160 45 Eisnerizing Manassas . .164 ENTERPRISE UNDER ATTACK 46 Stocks, Bonds, and Rule by Fools . .169 47 The Salomon Brothers Scandal . .173 48 Nine Myths About the Crash . .176 49 Michael R. Milken vs. The Power Elite . .181 50 Panic on Wall Street . .185 51 Government-Business “Partnerships” . .189 52 Airport Congestion: A Case of Market Failure? . .192 53 The Specter of Airline Re-Regulation . .195 54 Competition at Work: Xerox at 25 . .199 55 The War on the Car . .201 FISCAL MYSTERIES REVEALED 56 Are We Undertaxed? . .209 57 The Return of the Tax Credit . .212 58 Deductibility and Subsidy . .215 59 That Gasoline Tax . .217 viii Making Economic Sense 60 Babbitry and Taxes: A Profile in Courage? . .221 61 Flat Tax or Flat Taxpayer? . .224 62 Mrs. Thatcher’s Poll Tax . .227 63 Exit the Iron Lady . .230 64 The Budget Crisis . .233 65 The Balanced-Budget Amendment Hoax . .236 ECONOMIC UPS AND DOWNS 66 The National Bureau and Business Cycles . .243 67 Inflationary Recession, Once More . .246 68 Deflation, Free or Compulsory . .250 69 Bush and the Recession . .254 70 Lessons of the Recession . .258 71 The Recession Explained . .264 THE FIAT MONEY PLAGUE 72 Taking Money Back . .271 73 The World Currency Crisis . .295 74 New International Monetary Scheme . .300 75 “Attacking” the Franc . .302 76 Back to Fixed Exchange Rates . .306 77 The Cross of Fixed Exchange Rates . .311 78 The Keynesian Dream . .315 79 Money Inflation and Price Inflation . .317 80 Bank Crisis! . .321 81 Anatomy of the Bank Run . .325 82 Q & A on the S & L Mess . .328 Contents ix 83 Inflation Redux . .333 84 Inflation and the Spin Doctors . .336 85 Alan Greenspan: A Minority Report on the Fed Chairman . .339 86 The Mysterious Fed . .341 87 First Step Back to Gold . .344 88 Fixed-Rate Fictions . .347 ECONOMICS BEYOND THE BORDERS 89 Protectionism and the Destruction of Prosperity . .355 90 “Free Trade” in Perspective . .367 91 The Nafta Myth . .370 92 Is There Life After Nafta? . .375 93 “Fairness” and the Steel Steal . .378 94 The Crusade Against South Africa . .383 95 Are Diamonds Really Forever? . .385 96 Oil Prices Again . .388 97 Why the Intervention in Arabia? . .392 98 A Trip to Poland . .397 99 Peru and the Free Market . .399 100 A Gold Standard for Russia? . .402 101 Should We Bail Out Gorby? . .404 102 Welcoming the Vietnamese . .408 THE END OF COLLECTIVISM 103 The Collapse of Socialism . .413 104 The Freedom Revolution . .416 105 How to Desocialize? . .419 x Making Economic Sense 106 A Radical Prescription for the Socialist Bloc . .422 107 A Socialist Stock Market? . .425 108 The Glorious Postwar World . .428 109 The Revolution Comes Home . .431 110 The Trouble with the Quick Fix . .436 OUR INTELLECTUAL DEBTS 111 William Harold Hutt : 1899–1988 . .443 112 Friedrich August von Hayek: 1899–1992 . .446 113 V. Orval Watts: 1898–1993 . .450 114 Ludwig von Mises: 1881–1973 . ..