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Category Archives: Economics
Socialism
The penultimate chapter of Shawn Ritenour’s Foundations of Economics deals with socialism–what it is, why its supporters advocate it, and why it always fails. Socialism is defined as an economic system in which the State owns all the means of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Economics
Tagged calculation problem, communism, fascism, Foundations of Economics, Shawn Ritenour, socialism
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Voluntary Exchange and Regulation
We are nearing the end of our chapter-by-chapter discussion of Shawn Ritenour’s Foundations of Economics; it looks like we’ll wrap it up next Wednesday on schedule. Chapter 17, the topic of today’s post, deals with the impact of state regulation … Continue reading
Taxing and Spending
In Chapter 16 of Foundations of Economics Shawn Ritenour gives a detailed discussion of the economic impact of taxation and government spending. Government participates in the monetary economy because it is the most efficient way for it to secure the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Economics
Tagged borrowing, debt, Foundations of Economics, government spending, inflation, Shawn Ritenour, taxation
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Price Controls
Chapter 15 of Shawn Ritenour’s Foundations of Economics discusses a government intervention into the economy so obviously flawed that even most mainstream economists condemn it. Moreover, even a large number of government officials seem to understand that it doesn’t work. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Economics
Tagged Foundations of Economics, Ludwig von Mises, minimum wage, price ceilings, price controls, price floors, rent control, Shawn Ritenour, shortage, surplus
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Macroeconomic Policy
In Chapter 14 of Foundations of Economics, Shawn Ritenour discusses macroeconomic policy, focusing on the monetarist and Keynesian schools. He first outlines their tenets and then explains why he considers each a flawed approach to the questions of inflation and … Continue reading
Inflation and Recession
Chapter 13 of Shawn Ritenour’s Foundations of Economics marks a significant change in the author’s approach. Up to this point, the discussion of economic phenomena has been purely descriptive. Ritenour follows Ludwig von Mises in arguing that economics as a … Continue reading
Money and Its Purchasing Power
In Chapter 12 of Foundations of Economics, Shawn Ritenour inally gives us a detailed discussion of “what makes the world go round.” For something that is universally used, it seems as though the understanding of money in our society is pretty … Continue reading
The Production Structure and the Social Economy
In Chapter 11 of Foundations of Economics, Shawn Ritenour makes the transition from what is often called “microeconomics” to what is often called “macroeconomics,” where the discussion centers on “big stuff” like business cycles, inflation, and unemployment. He disapproves of this … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Economics
Tagged capital, Foundations of Economics, GDP, interest, profit, rent, Shawn Ritenour, stock, structure of production
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Competition and the Number of Sellers
Chapter 10 of Shawn Ritenour’s Foundations of Economics treats us to an analysis of three phenomena that have been the subjects of much discussion, not to say hand-wringing, over the past 150 years: cartels, monopolies, and labor unions. In the process of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Economics
Tagged cartels, competition, Foundations of Economics, labor unions, monopoly, Shawn Ritenour
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Prices of Factors of Production
Chapter 9 of Shawn Ritenour’s Foundations of Economics deals with something readers might think was already covered sufficiently in the earlier chapters on market prices: prices of factors of production. This is the final category of income received by market participants (in … Continue reading
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