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Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles - The Ludwig von Mises ...

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582 <strong>Money</strong>, <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>Credit</strong>, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Cycles</strong>TABLE VII-1Two Contrasting Approaches to <strong>Economic</strong>s<strong>The</strong> Austrian School1. Time plays an essential role2. “Capital” is viewed as a heterogeneousset of capital goods whichreceive constant wear <strong>and</strong> must bereplaced3. <strong>The</strong> production process is dynamic<strong>and</strong> is divided into multiple, verticalstages4. <strong>Money</strong> affects the process by modifyingthe structure of relative prices5. Macroeconomic phenomena areexplained in microeconomic terms(variations in relative prices)6. Austrians hold a theory on theendogenous causes of economic criseswhich explains their recurrent nature(corrupt institutions: fractionalreservebanking <strong>and</strong> artificial creditexpansion)7. Austrians hold an elaborate capitaltheory (structure of production)8. Saving plays a decisive role. Itcauses a longitudinal change in theproductive structure <strong>and</strong> determinesthe sort of technology to be used9. <strong>The</strong>re is an inverse relationshipbetween the dem<strong>and</strong> for capitalgoods <strong>and</strong> the dem<strong>and</strong> for consumergoods. All investmentrequires saving <strong>and</strong> thus a temporaryrelative drop in consumption10.It is assumed that production costsare subjective <strong>and</strong> not predetermined11. Market prices tend to determineproduction costs, not vice versa12.<strong>The</strong> interest rate is a market pricedetermined by subjective valuationsof time preference. <strong>The</strong> interest rateis used to arrive at the present value(toward which the market price ofeach capital good tends) by discountingits expected future flow ofreturnsMacroeconomists(Monetarists <strong>and</strong> Keynesians)1. <strong>The</strong> influence of time is ignored2. Capital is viewed as a homogeneousfund which reproduces on its own3. <strong>The</strong>re is a notion of a one-dimensional,horizontal productive structure in equilibrium(circular flow of income)4. <strong>Money</strong> affects the general level ofprices. Changes in relative prices arenot considered5. Macroeconomic aggregates prevent theanalysis of underlying microeconomicfactors (malinvestment)6. An endogenous theory of cycles is lacking.Crises have exogenous causes (psychological,technological, other shocks<strong>and</strong>/or errors in monetary policy)7. A theory of capital is lacking8. Saving is not important. Capital reproduceslaterally (more of the same), <strong>and</strong>the production function is fixed <strong>and</strong> isdetermined by the state of technology9. <strong>The</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> for capital goods isdirectly related to the dem<strong>and</strong> for consumergoods10.Production costs are objective, real <strong>and</strong>predetermined11. Historical costs of production tend todetermine market prices12.<strong>The</strong> interest rate tends to be determinedby the marginal productivity orefficiency of capital, understood as theinternal rate of discount at which theexpected flow of returns is equal to thehistorical cost of producing each capitalgood (which is considered invariable<strong>and</strong> predetermined). <strong>The</strong> shortterminterest rate is believed to have apredominantly monetary origin

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