Mario Rizzo in a blog post discusses at ThinkMarkets what is behind the collapse of employment opportunities both in Europe and the United States.
What is important about his analysis is that he doesn't blame it on the Fed, as many Austrian-shallows are suggesting. He correctly identifies "the continual mandating of benefits and restrictions on hiring" as the route of the problem.
I don't mean to suggest that there is never unemployment that is caused by the business cycle, there, of course, is, but it is an error to attribute all experiences of strong unemployment at the feet of the Fed. It is absurd to claim, for example, that the Fed has "failed" and run out of fire power becasue of the current unemployment/part tine employment situation.
That said, we are currently in the boom period of the business cycle, which according tie Austrian School Business Cycle Theory is not a period when the business cycle is causing unemployment problems.
Something else is going on and Rizzo nails what that something else is.
-RW
We have a new label! "Austrian-shallow". Haven't heard much lately RE the libertarian thick and thin altercation. Maybe it's time to start the Austrian deep and shallow flame war. Robert, is being shallow akin to being a "gloom and doomers" you also chastise more or less occasionally?
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