Could Gold Discoveries Cause the Austrian Boom-Bust Cycle?

The Bob Murphy Show
The Bob Murphy Show
Episode • Feb 25, 2021

In a 2019 article, Bob quoted Mises who believed that new gold discoveries, in principle, could cause a (small) boom-bust cycle if the gold hit the loan market before other sectors. Walter Block and Bill Barnett have responded in a new article, arguing that in a free market, new commodity money can't cause such distortions.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The YouTube version of this interviewBob’s 2019 QJAE article, which Block & Barnett (2020) criticizesBob’s blog post explaining why Block & Barnett (2020) misunderstands his argument in his 2019 QJAE paperBob Murphy Show ep. 67, in which Block and Barnett explained their problems with the Hayekian triangleRothbard’s classic essays on utility & welfare economics and the legal treatment of air pollutionBlock and Barnett’s paper on the optimal quantity of moneyOne entry in Block and Barnett’s debate over maturity mismatching; it contains references to the earlier volleys for the interested reader.

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