Research

How we think about gold and silver

Gold Supply and Demand

When it comes to analyzing precious metals, the right methodology isn’t immediately obvious. Fundamental analysis in stocks and bonds is well understood. One can discount cash flows, examine the balance sheet, review the income statement, look at growth prospects and arrive at a fundamental value for the company. And there is a sophisticated ratings system […]

A Free Market for Goods, Services, and Money

A thesis submitted September 3, 2012 by Keith Weiner to the Graduate Faculty of the New Austrian School of Economics, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Major Subject: Monetary Science. Abstract A free market is composed of people who produce and trade the products of their efforts in […]

What makes gold good money

People say that gold is rare this is why it makes good money. To make an analogy to the porridge in Goldilocks, the temperature could not be too cold or too hot. If gold were too common, or too rare, it would not work as money. Think of sand, which is too common, or blue […]

The Theory of Interest and Prices in Paper Currency

The behavior of the dollar system is nonlinear and counterintuitive. In my reading, I have rarely encountered understanding of even the mechanics, much less the dynamics that drive it. Most debate is stuck on level zero: money printing as panacea vs. imminent hyperinflation. This is a tragedy, because the monetary system is in the final […]

The Precise Definition of Inflation

Inflation

Communicating about money and finance in today’s culture is a real challenge; you want to inform and enlighten your audience on their level of knowledge—but this makes the use of terms extremely difficult. Ayn Rand Institute President Yaron Brook’s video about deflation demonstrates why. In the video clip, Dr. Brook makes two key points. First, […]

Fractional Reserve Banking

Fractional Reserve Banking

There is an old erroneous view of fractional reserve banking. “Naturally, all fractionally reserved banks are de facto insolvent at all times…” The Acting Man blog is usually very good, but it published an article by Pater Tenebrarum containing this comment (http://www.acting-man.com/?p=6781).  If there is a weakness in Austrian School thinking surely fractional reserve banking […]

Videos of my lecture “Irredeemable Currency vs. Gold”

I gave this talk at the Chicago Objectivist Society MiniCon Sep 4, 2011.  Here is the full set of 9 videos on youtube for my presentation plus Q&A at the end, posted on this site to archive the links. Irredeemable currency vs gold – 1_9 introduction.wmv Irredeemable currency vs gold – 2_9 the origin of […]