Free Republic

It’s no accident that Austrian economics is newly popular. It provides the best explanation for the business cycle we just lived through. But the resurgent popularity of Austrian economics may actually be hampering the ability of the Federal Reserve to reflate the economy with low interest rate policies. Businesses, now aware of the dangers of a low inflation- sparked economic bubble, may simply be refusing to fall for the age-old boom-bust trap. The Austrian theory of business cycles is rather straightforward: 1) In a market economy, lower interest rates are a sign that more wealth is available in society for...

Reach in your wallet, and pull out a dollar bill. Look at it for a moment. Now ask yourself, “What is this worth?” This isn’t a trick question. Don’t think about anything but that dollar in your hands. Don’t think about a soft drink. Don’t think about a bag of chips, or a handful of screws at the hardware store. Think about that dollar in your hands without thinking about what it can buy. Can you do that? It’s pretty difficult, isn’t it? That’s because a dollar, qua a dollar, isn’t worth anything more than the paper and ink on...

TURIN, Italy - The scandal surrounding a disgraced Austrian ski coach deepened Tuesday as team officials said two Olympic athletes may have engaged in "illegal methods" and potentially damaging new details emerged about what was seized in a surprise raid on the team's living quarters. The saga unfolded as Austrian ski officials faced mounting evidence that banned ski coach Walter Mayer may have brought a major doping scandal upon them. It was revealed that evidence seized in the weekend raids included unlabeled drugs, a blood transfusion machine and dozens of syringes, including some in Mayer's residence. And Austrian ski federation...

A Dichotomy in Two Colors by Christopher Westley [Posted November 19, 2004] Call it the mystery of the red and the blue. After the presidential election, many have noticed the irony of how some of the more conservative, culturally red states seem to receive more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes. Meanwhile, some of the more liberal, culturally blue states seem to receive less in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes. You’d think the supposedly anti-Washington reds should be blues and the supposedly pro-Washington blues should be reds. After all, the red states seem to...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Austrians pick a new president this weekend for the first time in more than a decade, with voters choosing between two candidates who differ sharply on whether the alpine country should retain its cherished neutrality. Sunday's election for the largely ceremonial office pits Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who insists the time has come to reconsider neutrality, against deputy parliament speaker Heinz Fischer, who contends remaining politically detached won't prevent Austria from showing solidarity with other European countries in times of conflict. Ferrero-Waldner, 55, a member of the Austrian People's Party of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, has been...