[ovrtaxt]

"The basic problem is that proponents of big government require a central bank in order to surreptitiously pay bills without direct taxation. Printing needed money delays the payment. Raising taxes would reveal the true cost of big government, and the people would revolt. But the piper will be paid, and that's what this crisis is all about."

[dfwgator]

Depends on which “Austrian” you’re referring, there was one Austrian, I think his name was “Shickelgruber” who very wrong.

[padre35]

Ron Paul is correct, of course no one will listen to the man.

I disagreed with Paul’s views on the Iraq War, but I liked his other positions, he is right far more often then he is wrong, we the people ignore him to our peril.

[mnehring]

He may want to clarify that he is referring to the “Austrian School of Economics”. The way he put it, it seems to imply it is Austria’s form of economics, it isn’t..I’m not sure of any first world country that follows the Austrian School. Also, he always fails to point out that the Austrian School theory does not eliminate recessions, inflation, deflation, etc. At that, the Mises/Hayek Business Model Theory specifically states there will be inflation, deflation, recessions depressions that happen, and must happen, as market regulators.

[EagleUSA]

“Raising taxes would reveal the true cost of big government, and the people would revolt. But the piper will be paid, and that’s what this crisis is all about.”
::::::::::::
So the Marxists make their move — as Obama’s little squirrel said, “We must take advantage of this crisis...”

[garbanzo]

Prosperity without work is a dream of the ages.

What could have been...but the my way or the highway folks would have none of it.

[Pharmboy]

As the Germans like to say, the two greatest achievements of the Austrians in the 20th Century were convincing the world that Hitler was a German and Beethoven was an Austrian.

[Travis McGee]

"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved."

-~~Ludwig Von Mises

[hamburglar]

Ron Paul is such a loon that even when he speaks the truth nobody listens.(IMHO)

[Mr. Jeeves]

It’s like an adult talking to room full of pre-schoolers - most of Congress doesn’t even possess the intellectual tools to understand what Ron Paul is saying.

[econjack]

It is unimaginable that Congress could be so derelict in its duty.

Congress is not being derelict...they know exactly what they are doing...they are buying votes, pure and simple. They know, as shown by Obama's victory, that if you make enough promises, there are enough stupid people to buy into it and put you in office. Once in, you must promise even more.

The Fed does have a meaningful role to play and it's not by accident that the greatest free market economist in the world (Milton Friedman) was a monetarist. However, the Fed has lost its focus and has assumed that monetary policy is a one-size-fits-all solution to all problems. Not true. Coherent monetary and fiscal policy are necessary. Obama understands neither.

[FightThePower!]

It has been very amusing for me to watch this whole system collapse. An unnatural system, which tries to guarantee prosperity with out savings, investment and work is bound to fail. The USA is going to collapse just like the USSR did because it is based on a false monetary system that tries to create something out of nothing.

[ksm1]

I’m more of a Friedmanist myself, but the Austrian school was spot on about this current mess: too much credit can cause big, big problems. We had an unhealthy excess of liquidity in the system from 2002 to 2006, and look at where that got us.

The problem is, Americans that actually know about economics are all working in the private sector, making money.

[E. Cartman]

FTA: "It is unimaginable (emphasis mine) that Congress could be so derelict in its duty."

Obviously, the author has been living isolated in a cave on Mars for the last several decades.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

BUT THIS CAN'T BE! PAUL'S A KOOK!

[B-Chan]

They were right about a lot of things...

[montyspython]

SO me Austrians have not learned, look at the one running Kalee-forneeya.

[Zanton]

Ron Paul is pretty much a lone voice of reason in an irrational anti-freedom world! :-(

[sickoflibs]

Love the “ philosopher’s stone that could turn lead into gold.” analogy. What great words!

Great speech.