Monday, September 5, 2011

The Bankruptcy of Austrian Economics

Many people feel that Ron Paul is the answer for all of the problems faced by this nation, and I use the term "nation" loosely.



Since this is an economics blog I am going to tell you why his economic policies are horrendous.  But it should be noted that his position on foreign policy and wars is great and he should be given credit for that.
First is the idea of free markets which Paul is a champion of, as is Austrian economics.  The basic fact is that there is no such thing as a free market and deregulation will no make the market freer.  There will still be countries, companies, and individuals that have advantages, some of which are absolute, which will ensure that these entities profit while others flounder.
In a labor market this is the ultimate horror as it is a race to the bottom in wages and benefits.
Austrians and Ayn Randians actually believe the garbage that they spew and call it good policy.  Here is a sample of their lunacy in their own words.
The fact is that if the policies of Austrians were enacted as is envisioned by Ron Paul then we will be back to feudal times where workers are, at best, sharecroppers on the land of the local lord.
Additional problems with Ron Paul can be found in this well done piece which illustrates that Paul is at heart a far right supporter of the John Birch Society and a Christian Reconstructionist.  There are far too many problems with Ron Paul that outweigh his anti-war stance, even though I laud him mightily for that position.