The neutral interest rate fairytale
By Dr Frank Shostak On April 19, 2022 at the Economic Club in New York, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said…
Interest rate determination : Mainstream view versus the Austrian School view
By Dr Frank Shostak The conventional view, as presented by Milton Friedman is that three factors determine market interest rates. The first factor being…
Theory and the facts of reality
By Dr Frank Shostak According to the popular way of thinking, our knowledge of the economy is elusive. Consequently, the best that we can…
Why the Fed’s tight interest rate stance is unlikely to undo the negatives of the previous easy stance?
By Dr Frank Shostak On Wednesday March 16 2022, the US central bank the Fed raised the target for the federal funds rate by…
Balance of payments and exchange rate
By Dr Frank Shostak For most economic commentators the state of the balance of trade is a key factor in the currency exchange rate…
Diversification versus risk
By Dr Frank Shostak By a popular way of thinking, the prices of financial assets fully reflect all available and relevant information. In addition,…
Quantitative methods in economics do not explain but describe
By Dr Frank Shostak Most economists regard the use of mathematical and statistical methods as the key towards understanding the complexities of economics. They…
Can expansionary policies counter recessions?
By Dr Frank Shostak Whenever the signs of an economic weakness emerge, most commentators are of the view that the government should relax the…
Is our knowledge of the economy elusive?
By Dr Frank Shostak According to the popular way of thinking, our knowledge of the economy is elusive. Consequently, the best that we can…
The marginal utility theory: mainstream vs the Austrian framework
By Dr Frank Shostak Why do individuals assign a greater value to gold than to bread, when bread seems to be more “useful” than…