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The Austrian

@TheAustrian3

20 Dec

Weimar Germany's hyperinflation provides perhaps the most dramatic example of the destruction that ensues when money dies.

This 16 tweet thread summarizes Adam Fergusson's definitive account, and explores the lessons we can learn from this dark period in German history.

1/ During WWI, European powers suspended the gold convertibility of their currencies, issued bonds and printed new bills, as a means of financing their war efforts.

With varying degrees of severity, each introduced price controls in a misguided attempt to suppress inflation.

2/ German price controls were the most stringently enforced in Europe.

At the same time, international isolation forced the government to rely heavily on inflationary domestic bond issuance for their financing.

Economic ruin served as a contributing factor to Germany's defeat.

Read 19 tweets

The Austrian

@TheAustrian3

14 Dec

In 1997, "The Sovereign Individual" made predictions about the ways in which the internet will radically alter society.

Many of those predictions, including the rise of "cybercash", are playing out before our eyes.

This illustrated thread summarises the book in 12 Tweets.👇

1/ Humans have passed through three societal epochs:

1. Hunter-Gatherer Society
2. Agricultural Society
3. Industrial Society

Now, looming over the horizon, is something entirely new, a fourth age characterised by the rise of the microprocessor: Information Society.

2/ During the industrial era, in order to realise economies of scale, populations clustered around large factories.

Production clustering made it easier for governments to increase taxes on those operating within their territory, allowing the state to grow in size and power.

Read 14 tweets

The Austrian

@TheAustrian3

12 Dec

@NickSzabo4

The manufacture of collectables by pre-historic humans was the first step on the road to creating money.

@NickSzabo4's epic essay "Shelling Out" describes how and why this happened.

This illustrated thread summarises Nick's 12,000 words in 12 Tweets.👇

1/ Most hunter gatherers lived a precarious existence on the brink of starvation.

But we know from archaeological records that they made and collected jewellery.

The fact that early humans devoted their scarce resources to this seemingly frivolous activity merits exploration.

2/ Biologist J. M. Smith drew on game theory to describe the way humans evolve to propagate their genes.

Whilst individual humans might benefit from robbing the weak, cooperative tribes do better overall. Cooperation represents the "Nash Equilibrium" that leads to group survival

Read 14 tweets

The Austrian

@TheAustrian3

6 Dec

To understand economic phenomena we must analyse human action, rather than material objects and their properties.

Inanimate objects are dead matter.

It is human reason shaping humans’ actions that rearranges matter and gives it value, meaning, and purpose.

1/8

Attempts to explain social phenomena by reference to objects, abstract nouns, or collectivist entities are ultimately futile.

Entities do not act, only individuals do.

Quantitative economic methods neglect the fact that there are no constant relations in human action.

2/8

In the natural sciences, establishing a constant relationship like the Ideal Gas Law is possible because measurements are made in fixed units.

Clearly defined and inter-personally agreed-upon units of measurement like joules and kilograms have no equivalent in economics.

3/8

Read 8 tweets

The Austrian

@TheAustrian3

5 Dec

Have you ever heard it said that wealthy countries should prioritise reducing #inequality over growing the economy?

The 2009 book #TheSpiritLevel makes perhaps the most influential argument for that position.

But it is badly flawed.

This thread explains why. 👇

1/9

#TheSpiritLevel argues that income inequality leads to a range of bad social outcomes concerning life expectancy, obesity, mental health, homicide and child mortality.

They draw on data from 23 of the world's 50 richest countries to show convincing-looking correlations 👇

2/9

But what about the missing 27?

The authors say some lacked data. But excluded countries like Korea and Czechia seem to have it in abundance.

Countries with pop <3m were left out "to avoid tax havens". But countries like Slovenia clearly can't be categorised in this way.

3/9

Read 9 tweets

The Austrian

@TheAustrian3

30 Nov

@MichaelYeadon3

Lockdown Sceptics has published an excellent long-read by @MichaelYeadon3 in which he argues that we are living through a "False Positive Pseudo-Epidemic".

His logic can be applied to other "high case, low excess death" countries like the US.

Here are my top 6 takeaways 👇

https://twitter.com/MichaelYeadon3/status/1333407426402508802

The UK is experiencing a False Positive Pseudo-Epidemic.

The apparent surge in cases is really a surge in PCR test false positives.

Tests are conducted in megalabs like Lighthouse Lab in Milton Keynes where staff are untrained and risk of cross-contamination is high.

1/6

History and immunology teach us that viruses don’t do waves.

The Spanish Flu appears to be all there is when it comes to evidence of waves.

It took place 102 years ago and the evidence is sketchy. Most scholars now accept that more than one infectious agent was involved.

2/6

Read 7 tweets

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