Ron Paul Battles Ben Bernanke Over Austrian Economics & the U.S. Dollar
originally published on Mises.org.
Economists of the Austrian School of economics define inflation differently than much of the mainstream of the economics profession. The typical mainstream intermediate macroeconomics textbook defines inflation as “[a]n increase in the overall level of prices” (Mankiw, Macroeconomics 5th Edition, 530). The eminent Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, suggested otherwise:
What people today call inflation is not inflation, i.e., the increase in the quantity of money and money substitutes, but the general rise in commodity prices and wage rates which is the inevitable consequence of inflation. (Mises, Planning for Freedom, 79)
A recent exchange between United States Congressman Ron Paul and United States Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took place during Bernanke’s testimony before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on November 8, 2007. Congressman Paul, instead of referring to either the PPI or CPI, referred to the MZM money aggregate:
“Currently, of course, we can’t follow the money supply with M3 but we can follow one of your statistics, which is the MZM — the ready cash available — and we see that inflation is alive and well. That money supply figure is going up about 20 percent per annualized.”
Economists of the Austrian School of economics define inflation differently than much of the mainstream of the economics profession. The typical mainstream intermediate macroeconomics textbook defines inflation as “[a]n increase in the overall level of prices” (Mankiw, Macroeconomics 5th Edition, 530). The eminent Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, suggested otherwise:
What people today call inflation is not inflation, i.e., the increase in the quantity of money and money substitutes, but the general rise in commodity prices and wage rates which is the inevitable consequence of inflation. (Mises, Planning for Freedom, 79)
A recent exchange between United States Congressman Ron Paul and United States Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took place during Bernanke’s testimony before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on November 8, 2007. Congressman Paul, instead of referring to either the PPI or CPI, referred to the MZM money aggregate:
“Currently, of course, we can’t follow the money supply with M3 but we can follow one of your statistics, which is the MZM — the ready cash available — and we see that inflation is alive and well. That money supply figure is going up about 20 percent per annualized.”
