Frank Shostak
Frank Shostak is an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute and a frequent contributor to Mises.org. His consulting firm, Applied Austrian School Economics, provides in-depth assessments and reports of financial markets and global economies.
Frank Shostak Articles
For most economists and commentators, a strong labor market is the key driver of economic growth. The reduction in the number of unemployed people supposedly means that more individuals can afford to increase their spending on goods and...
Many think of the economy as being like a space ship, which occasionally slips from the path of stable economic growth and stable prices and has to be steered back by the “experts” in monetary policy. When economic activity slows down and...
According to the leader of the monetarist school, Milton Friedman, the key cause of business cycles are fluctuations in the growth rate of the money supply. Friedman held that in order to eliminate these cycles central bank policymakers...
According to much popular mainstream economic thinking, the policy of so-called “price stability” does not always mean that the central bank must fight inflation. It is also the role of the central bank to prevent large declines in the...
According to the US President Donald Trump, the Fed is failing at its job in supporting the economy by not lowering the policy interest rate. The president believes that the lowering of interest rates by the central bank will prompt...
Many assume that budget deficits reduce national savings, while a budget surplus contributes to national savings. National savings are defined as the sum of private savings (the after-tax income that households save) and public savings. By...
In order to gain insight into the state of the economy, some analysts utilize consumer and business surveys. Randomly-selected consumers and businesspersons are asked to provide their views about the state of the economy. If a survey shows...
There is almost complete unanimity among economists that the most important role of the central bank is to attain price stability. Allegedly, the policy of price stability promotes economic growth and individual well-being.
Most economic commentators consider a decline in economic statistics, such as gross domestic product (GDP), as indicative of a decline in the health of the economy. According to most experts, this decline in the GDP—which is called a...
Various tools and machinery that individuals have produced were produced in order to better produce consumer goods. The quantity and the quality of various tools and machinery—capital goods—places a limit on the quantity and the quality of...
