All my instincts from what I've read are that inflation benefits big banks and the big corporations taking loans from them at the expense of others, but I've run into an econometric argument saying the reverse.

Do you know any good recommended readings on this, ideally with data?

Theory is fine too: I've read Man, Economy, and State, but it's been awhile.

I recently stumbled upon an interesting article that explores the topic of bank failures. Thoughts?

https://austrianeconomics.substack.com/p/bank-failures-frequently-questioned

I know there has already been a post on this, but I thought another wouldn't hurt.

It is a badly kept secret that there is a Discord server on Austrian Economics. I know that Discord has a reputation as system only used by gamers. But listen to me for a minute....

Every year the server has a conference. Notable Austrian Economists are invited to present. That will be done using Discord's audio and video conferencing features. This year the conference will be on Sat 7th Jan and Sun 8th Jan.

This year, lots of people who you'll have heard of (if you follow Austrian Econ!) will be speaking. The topic is "Inflation money and the state".

The following economists be speaking:

• Walter Block.
• Deirdre McCloskey.
• Saifedean Ammous.
• Stephan Kinsella.
• Mark Thornton.
• Jonathan Newman.
• Patrick Newman.
• Jeff Deist.

I'm not an organizer of all this. But, I attended last year, and I thought it was great. This year there are many more speaker than last year.

Dates and times: Jan 7th & 8th. Each session will be from 1pm to 4pm EST. This is the server's web address.

Hello all! In this upcoming week, the Austrian Economics Discord is hosting our second annual Austrian Economics Discord Conference! We have a great slate of speakers confirmed for the event, and we will have time set aside for a Q-and-A with each one of them. The conference will be on January 7th and 8th, from 1 PM EST - 4 PM EST each day. You can join the server with the link below, and I hope I'll see you all there!

https://discord.gg/the-austrian-economics-discord-server-tm-463155981820493824

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Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "F.A. Hayek on Competition" by u/yoyocola
• "Happy Cakeday, r/NewAustrianSociety! Today you're 2" by u/AutoModerator
• "Nozick on Individual Rights" by u/yoyocola
• "Profits Do Not Cause Inflation (No Matter What Progressives Claim) | J.W. Rich" by u/J_W_Rich
• "The Austrian Economics Discord Conference" by u/thundrbbx0
• "[VALUE-FREE] A Few Comments on The Cantillon Effect" by u/RobThorpe
• "F.A. Hayek on Liberalism and Spontaneous Order" by u/yoyocola
• "Austrian Economics Discord Summer!" by u/J_W_Rich
• "Austrian Economics Discord Conference Recordings" by u/J_W_Rich
• "Evolutionary Neuroscience, Deliberate Action, and Logic. Austrian econ epistemology [ETHICAL]" by u/Specialist-Warthog-4

Howdy all. Me and the folks on the Austrian Economics Discord Server are starting up a book club going through Per Bylund's new primer on Economics, "How to Think About the Economy". Its a great book for anyone unfamiliar with Economics and looking for a place to dive in. If you are interested in joining the book club, or just want to hop in the server to chat with like-minded people, use the link below. Cheers!

https://discord.gg/SeJQ4gK

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I didn't really know how to label this one, because it is inspired by observations in the political realm but ultimately it is really an economic debate. I have noticed that Dave Smith seems to be very influential in the new libertarian party, and while I have always enjoyed his podcast... my eyes tend to glaze over when he starts talked about the Fed, inflation, and monetary theory.

There is a whole world of academic debate on the subject, but you wouldn't know it listening to the average libertarian. To the average libertarian, the debate was settled long ago, and it seems money is either Gold or some cryptographic equivalent with identical attributes to Gold, end of story.

My view is that we're currently in a period of stagflation, in which global demand for the dollar is rising faster than the expansion of the supply. So when I hear libertarians blame the recent price inflation on monetary policy rather than the intentional disruption of energy markets and international supply chains (not just because of the war with Russia and lockdowns post-COVID, but also Trump's renewal of anti-trade sentiments and policies), I realize that the deflationary policies they advocate for would send the global economy in for a crash landing with very few survivors. Of course I would actually agree that a crash landing of some sort is inevitable at this point, but a more survivable crash landing could take place with a more elegant solution. The political ramifications of shutting off the money tap is sort of hand-waved away by libertarians, simply because they believe that almost any expansion of the supply of money sends false signals to the market and causes far more damage. Of course again... that belief rests on the assumption that conventional Austrian monetary theory is in fact perfectly sound, and that there is no real debate over it.

So what exactly do I think needs to happen for the global economy to come in for a "mild" crash landing? It is quite simple, there has to be a sovereign debt restructuring alongside the abolition of taxation to the degree that politics allows for. Holders of US Treasuries, and even more importantly European and Japanese bonds, need to take a haircut. Yes, that includes pension funds. Confidence in the future is dropping because of the debt crisis (civil unrest and international conflict are downstream from the debt crisis, they are symptoms rather than causes for the drop in confidence). Other than consumers who until recently had been continuing to rack up debt for purposes of consumption, people are simply saving money. There is actually very little new investment and many companies are flush with cash (hence all the share-buybacks, public companies quite literally have no idea what to do with all that cash so they just give it back to the shareholders like a game of hot potato). Of course the neo-Keynesians running the world would make the mistake of assuming the lack of confidence and investment is the disease, rather than a set of symptoms.

In reality the lack of investment is a perfectly rational response to the threat of a cascade-default of sovereign debt that looms over the world. If the Italian bond market is allowed to fail, it will surely trigger a cascade default that will spread across Europe, to Japan and the United Kingdom, and then finally the United States. It has already started in emerging markets, which is a similar phenomenon to what happens when the human body is losing blood or dying... blood leaves the extremities first. Of course I say "allowed to fail", but the reality is the European bond markets are already destroyed and it is only a matter of time. It is not "if" the global bond market fails, but "how". If it is "allowed to fail" what that really means is accepting the reality of what has happened, and acting accordingly. The other form of failure is to just double down on denying the problem, and pursue the path of hyperinflation. As the debt crisis worsens, tax enforcement efforts and rates will ramp up in response, and this will actually add to the deflation side of the stagflation issue the world currently faces. Monetary deflation (reflected in the crash in money velocity) is causing the value of currency to fall slower than the decline in economic output, and thus the real cost of servicing debts denominated in those currencies is actually rising, thus compounding the debt crisis in a negative feedback cycle.

On the other hand, if a restructuring of sovereign debt were to take place alongside a massive reduction in taxation, the whole process could be reversed. It would still mean hard times and some degree of tragedy for those who were planning to retire, but at least young people free of debt, dependents, and health issues, would be free to prosper. Right now the youth are being consumed by ageing populations through exorbitant taxation (not to mention regulatory gatekeeping of employment in many sectors of the private economy).