Austrian Economics Article

Major Interview with Mark Skousen on His Life and Works in Economics, Finance and the Freedom Movement

July 15, 2011

BETWEEN CHICAGO AND VIENNA: INTERVIEW WITH MARK SKOUSEN Mark Skousen is an American economist, investment analyst, newsletter editor, college professor and author of more than 25 non-fiction books. AR: Professor Skousen… Thank you for this opportunity to let us know a little more about yourself. Please, explain the context in which you grew up in [...]

Read the full article →

A Great Opportunity For Austrian Economists at the AEA Meetings

January 9, 2011

On January 7-8, I attended the American Economic Association (AEA) meetings in Denver, Colorado.  Usually around 10,000 economists attend this annual conference. I substituted for Tyler Cowen, who was supposed to be one of the panelists for a session entitled, ”What’s Wrong (and Right) with Economics?  Implications of the Financial Crisis.” Cowen’s assigned topic was “Lessons [...]

Read the full article →

Consumer Spending Doesn’t Drive the Economy, Investment Does

May 17, 2010

The Freeman Foundation for Economic Education May 17, 2010 “Consumer spending makes up more than 70 percent of the economy, and it usually drives growth during economic recoveries.” –“Consumers Give Boost to Economy,”  New York Times, May 1 Every quarter, when the government releases its latest GDP figures, we hear the familiar refrain: “What the [...]

Read the full article →

Brother, Can You Spare a Decade?

May 1, 2009

Perspective – Liberty Magazine – May 2009 Brother, Can You Spare a Decade? by Mark Skousen Few things other than a New Deal can be more painful than an economic depression. But few eras were more vital and enjoyable than the private side of the last one. One of the rare books in my financial [...]

Read the full article →

The Necessary Evil

August 26, 2008

Suggestion – Liberty Magazine The Necessary Evil by Mark Skousen Today libertarians spend most of their time lamenting the consequences of big government. And rightly so. Today government is less a defender of freedom and more a Hobbesian leviathan that undermines prosperity. When we do talk about limited government, it is often seen solely as [...]

Read the full article →

The World Map of Economic Freedom

June 1, 2002

Personal Snapshots Forecasts & Strategies June 2002 “Economic repression breeds intolerance, fanaticism and terrorism.” — Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr., Heritage Foundation I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this unusual map of the world. “The World Map of Economic Freedom” was published by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal before the terrorist [...]

Read the full article →

The Right to Be Left Alone

May 1, 2002

From The President’s Desk Published in Ideas on Liberty – May 2002 The Right to Be Left Alone by Mark Skousen “The makers of the Constitution conferred the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by all civilized men—the right to be let alone.” -JUSTICE LOUIS D. BRANDEIS According to Thomas Jefferson and [...]

Read the full article →

The Troubled Economics of Ayn Rand

January 1, 2001

Published in January, 2001, issue of Liberty Magazine: THE TROUBLED ECONOMICS OF AYN RAND by Mark Skousen “No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers…” –Howard Roark, The Fountainhead (1994:710) Ayn Rand, author of the celebrated Capitalism: The Unknown Idea, is honored almost universally as the fountainhead of market capitalism, an impassioned [...]

Read the full article →

The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, Updated

November 1, 2000

Economics on Trial Ideas on Liberty November 2000 by Mark Skousen “In the excitement over the unfolding of his scientific and technical powers, modern man has built a system of production that ravishes nature and a type of society that mutilates man.” -E. F. SCHUMACHER (1) In 1956, Ludwig von Mises countered myriad arguments against [...]

Read the full article →

Having Their Cake

October 1, 2000

Economics on Trial Ideas on Liberty October 2000 Having Their Cake by Mark Skousen “The duty of ‘saving’ became nine-tenths of virtue and the growth of the cake the object of true religion.” -JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES (1) In his 1920 bestseller, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes made a profound observation about [...]

Read the full article →