Economic Cycles Before the Fed | Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture by Tom Woods was presented at the 2011 Mises University in Auburn, Alabama. Includes an introduction by Mark Thornton.

[@ManAgainstTheState]

That Rothbard impression was underappreciated

[@justinskaggs9751]

"They built canals where there was no commerce, cities with no people to inhabit, roads where no traveler wished to penetrate" Loved this quote

[@rivenmain2175]

joana you know something, you really make curious comments sometimes :)

[@JK360noscope]

So pretty much China?

[@swagatopablo]

Jefferson-one of the few true defenders of individual freedom.

[@immaculatesquid]

Swagato Barman Roy Jefferson and Madison

[@andyjohnson2416]

I can watch hours of this guy. So informative and thought provoking while being interesting and down to earth. Awesome Tom Woods, you are appreciated!

[@razerfish]

I did this and found credit expansion in every single listed recession/depression. It made a believer out of me. The Keynesian explanation was of some type of 'economic shock' that caused the recession felt like drawing bulls-eyes around arrows. Austrians for the win.

[@vladratzen7319]

tom woods is like a kind of medication. when i hear him speak, it feels like sitting in the sun. it feels very nice, warm and friendly. some people go to a solarium to cure their apathy, i listen to tom woods podacasts every day. and after doing that, every time i get so excited at the prospect that, "wait a minute... maybe this country can be saved after all?"

[@jacobengle5567]

Great video. Not everyone can understand the concepts. But that's why were in this shape. The idea that deflation is bad is just ridiculous.

[@wesbaumguardner8829]

Jacob Engle Deflation is always bad when your monetary system is based on debt and mass fraud.

[@OrthoHoppean]

Falling prices from deficient money/credit supply relative to demand is bad. Falling prices based on productivity is good.

[@samfoster7592]

thomas jefferson was arguably the most advanced fot his time

[@samadrid6321]

Right, he's the guy who invented baseball.

[@ahmedalnumairi3498]

Fot?

[@noway63244]

In addition, most others at the Mises Institute do have degrees in economics (many have PhDs), and they are the ones who asked Tom Woods to give this talk. They are certainly willing to vouch for his knowledge of economics. In fact, I've heard Bob Murphy (PhD in economics) say that sometimes he "forgets" that Tom Woods is a historian, not just an economist.

[@Tigerfire75]

Norway built their great wealth on capitalism and not going to war. They then moved to socialism and are burning through that wealth.

[@genli5603]

They also have tons of oil and a tiny population. Nice combination if you can get it.

[@MorrisFilmPhoto]

Actually Norway isn't burning out their gas or wealth!! Norway is still World's most Richest Nation as they don't invest in Grandios Projects, but keep most money in a Long Term Wealth Fund!!! You might think of Sweden, and you're around 50% correct👋

[@kevinvest9693]

Tom Woods is one of the greatest libertarians alive!

[@nicholasmccann88]

Mr. Woods is an outstanding speaker. I love economics but some are just so mundane and just too many facts. He has a way of drawing listeners in getting them to think. Would love to attend one of his lectures someday!

[@Grapymoron]

Type this in to the youtube search bar and watch the first video. "feeseminars austrian theory of the business cycle". This video helped me learn about the Austrian business cycle theory.

[@upthereds1892]

Holy shit Tom's Rothbard impression is spot on

[@nthperson]

That the Federal Reserve System is an obvious failure is revealed by the continuous loss of purchasing power of the Federal Reserve Notes issued. I do agree that historians have a good deal to tell us about the origins of cycles of boom and bust. One historian I learned a good deal from was Jackson Turner Main, who wrote a groundbreaking study of wealth and income inequality during the era of the founding fathers. What Main understood clearly is that the system of banking and credit exacerbated but did not cause these cycles. The cycles of boom and bust are caused by a combination of land monopoly and land speculation. From the moment Europeans arrived in North America, the land monopoly game started. The size of the continent made this difficult until the mid-19th century. In a great irony of history, the resistance of the tribal societies to encroachment on territory they controlled contributed to the rise in land values along the Atlantic coast and to the great personal fortunes of the landed families. As the tribes were pushed back, colonial leaders formed companies to engage in "western" land speculations. None was more successful in these speculations than George Washington. Speculation in land always stimulates a frenzy of activity. When credit is cheap and readily obtainable the frenzy is all the more furious. Every land speculator fully expects that before payment is due to the lender, that the deed obtained will be transferred to someone else at a huge profit. And, the purchaser of the deed likely expects the experience, and so on, until the speculation-driven price rising can no longer be sustained by the real economy. One of the best describes of how these dynamics occur is found in the 1931 book by historian Frederick Lewis Allen, titled "Only Yesterday." Read what Allen provides regarding and credit-fueled land booms of the 1920s and how each crashed. We hear about the Florida land boom and crash, but the same thing occurred in cities and in the agricultural sector. Austrians need to spend more time examining land markets. At least one Austrian economics professor, Fred Foldvary, has done this and has taken advantage of the insights of Henry George to provide a synthesis of Austrian and George's theory of business cycles.

[@Pau11Wa11]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Is there a particular video here on KZbin that you recommend?

[@nthperson]

@@Pau11Wa11 Search KZbin for lectures by Fred Foldvary. Other economists to listen to include: Mason Gaffney and Nicolaus Tideman

[@JohnSmith-jg5qd]

This video is criminally under-watched!

[@skunk12]

11:43 That's a damn good Rothbard impression! 🤣😂😆👍👍

[@johnisaacdavey]

haha! yeah, seriously, killer impression of Rothbard. i laughed out loud in a crowded public place when he pulled that one out.

[@dosomething3]

"Most economic historians treat all downturns just the same". I live it.

[@tabletalk33]

Excellent lecture! Bravo! This is exactly what Americans need to hear about their money, banking, and history.

[@egokick]

Thomas Woods is a great speaker, entertaining and informative.

[@CurtHowland]

I have never listened to anything by Prof. Woods and thought I could have done something better with my time. I am VERY glad someone is doing the legwork on 19th century recessions, the myths are everywhere.

[@12saltandvinegar]

His rothbard impression is so perfect😂😂😂😂

[@Dave183]

William Jackson Barry was a lecturer and author here in New Zealand in the 19th century. He lived through the depression of 1874 to 1991; or 1870 to 1896 in the Otago goldfields. He recorded extreme deprivation which he suffered himself. This does not reflect conditions in the USA of course, but is indicative..

[@JoseBarbosa-gv2mr]

Thank you.

[@NothingTrue11]

I love the Misses Institute

[@alistairproductions]

I reccomend white wine with a Tom Woods lecture and a fine notepad and ballpoint pen.

[@minnesotasalamander5913]

Great presentation.

[@BobbyW3363]

I am about to begin watching this, but first I must say - I have wanted to hear someone like Tom Woods address this topic for some time. Should be good!

[@brown55061]

If you close your eyes he sounds A LOT like the young Richard Dreyfus. History sure does tell a lot about people. This kind of history should be mandatory at a high school level.

[@Yellowgary]

11:45 is absolutely gold

[@FermatWiles]

11:44: The best Rothbard impersonation I ever heard. Great!

[@CountArtha]

@CurtHowland TIme with Dr. Woods is time well spent indeed. :D

[@mmeziere]

This is been a topic I have been curious about for quite a while now. Many of my questions have been answered. Thank you Tom Woods and Mises!

[@ekcoylejr]

Tom, you do a great Jimmy Stewart. Did you learn that at Harvard?

[@lowslowflyer77]

Very nice , Thanks ;-)

[@SpencerOller]

Tom Woods is so good at his Jimmy Stewart impression

[@MrLewisMovies]

Where can i find a video in regards to the austrian view of the business cycle?

[@xXSEGISMUNDOXx]

I liked Rothbard impersonation xD

[@macsnafu]

Tom Woods is a pretty good impersonator. Not only did he do a pretty good Jimmy Stewart, but also a recognizable Rothbard impression.

[@TheBest-ff8zz]

This lecture is hugely important, 'cause people used to actually think that once upon a time we used to live in a free-unregulated-markets without a federal reserve setting interest rates.

[@05121784]

@jasonofcompsci It may be on audio? Look through Mises.org - MisesTV - Search Woods

[@rolgorevene]

love woods

[@RationalDischarge]

11:44 Best Rothbard impersonation ever!

[@noway63244]

I actually did read what you wrote. What you have said about 1920-21 is certainly worth considering, though youtube chat is hardly the best place to discuss it. I do plan on viewing the video you linked to. I am also trying to find the Fisher-Peters study that you mentioned. If you have any further bibliographic information that would help me find it, I would appreciate that.

[@SomethingSoOriginal]

When does he start talking about the topic at hand

[@ForbiddenStallion]

Tom stated that if inflation occurs, and it gets more expensive to buy domestic goods, then people will start buying foreign goods. But, how is this possible considering that if the currency is devalued, won't foreign goods get more expensive as well?

[@andrewlinn7863]

17:56 What is the name of the book and the french author Tom mentioned? I can't seem to find it, nor spell it out.

[@geoffrey955]

Antoine Destutt de Tracy

[@TruthOverEverything]

46:00 onward, an alternative to the current intertwined banking/government system

[@comesahorseman]

The separation of bank & state? Yes, bring it on!!

[@zombiedude347]

Instead of the reserve banking, why don't banks instead have a policy of delaying deposits in exchange for interest collected by loaning out the money from those deposits. This would keep banks from loaning out more than they can pay back.

[@garywingrove]

And just because I may not have been personally affected by the Patriot act doesn't mean that it's not a big issue. It sets a precedent that the government is watching over everyone. That is a huge deal! Small limited governments don't have that power. Especially if part of the constitution guarantees due process

[@VassiliZaitsev12]

To the contrary one of the most prolific Austrian Economist, Milton Friedman was for the bailout, albeit not talking specifically about this 2008 bailout. However, Friedman advocated that the bailouts needed to happened period. Didn't matter if it was gov't or private sector bailout. In fact Ben, fed chair, told Friedman that he would take his advice and make sure their was a bailout which Ben of course didn't do correctly.

[@noway63244]

Is the Fisher-Peters study you refere to this one? "Using Stock Returns to Identify Government Spending Shocks" by Jonas D.M. Fisher and Ryan Peters (both of Fed Reserve Bank of Chicago), published September 16, 2009. Are there any other studies you could point me to? Thanks

[@jasonofcompsci]

@misesmedia. Hey, I've been looking everywhere for another one of his videos. At the end of this one he states that the purported economic history under the fed is completely untrue and that he has more information on it. The video I'm looking for is the one where he does go into that. It was my absolute favorite video and I need someone to see it.

[@Yellowgary]

Any clue where this video is? I would like to see it

[@garywingrove]

I'm in college now. I'm a history major ironically. My point is, is that just because you don't have a formal education in something, that doesn't mean that you can't be well educated in that subject. Does one have to go to school and become a certified mechanic in order to know how to fix cars? The only fallacy was in your comprehension of what I was saying.

[@trevors3450]

“You know, a dry cleaner can’t say to you when you come to pick up your pant; look your pants are really cool and I’ve been wearing them for like a week. So, you know, come back in like four or five weeks and maybe I’ll give them back to you. No one’s allowed to operate like that. You’d have to close your doors, you’d be sued,whatever. But instead, there’s a special privilege granted to banks.” -God bless Tom Woods.

[@johbowfor]

Can you just do that Rothbard voice for your entire podcast from now on?

[@detectiveofmoneypolitics]

Still watching Frank G Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺

[@itsgabony]

Please tell me in which of his videos does Tom Woods talk about the price of items such as a chicken and how they have gone down since the beginning of the industrial revaluation.

[@SaulOhio]

Applying economics to American history.

[@truthpolicelibertarian9545]

His "Robber Barons" video talks about prices. Also you can find price information on the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) web site under NBER Macro History Data Base.

[@garywingrove]

Actually Newt Gingrich was also a proponent of mandated healthcare at one time before running for president. Paul Ryan's budget doesn't cut anything from the actual budget. It cuts from proposed increases. It goes like this(and this is a hypothetical example). If your budget is automatically raised $100 a year, and you say that you'll cut $30 from that, you're still increasing the budget by $70 and that's how the Paul Ryan plan works.

[@PrivateAckbar]

Can someone give me a cogent explication of the reasoning behind capital savings and interest rates. I'm learning everything upside down. I understand how interest rates coordinate production before I even have a firm grasp on where they come from.

[@Alchav]

@CernelJoson I scrolled down to comment on his great impression of Rothbard and...this.

[@austinbyrd4164]

If you can't meet your creditor's obligations, then you should be forced to liquidate your assets to try & make them whole - even if at a haircut. This rule should apply to everyone, including lending intermediaries; banks. Banks shouldn't be able to lend out deposits without said depositor's explicit permission, notated in a 'terms of use' type of contractual arrangement or other verifiable permission granting mediums. These two basic rules that are integral to property rights, along with the absence of infinite liquidity provided by CB & govt bailouts, would eliminate fractional reserve activity, or at the very least force banks to hold near full reserve ratios for on-demand deposits.

[@Exhalent]

pretty clean audio on these videos

[@benekastah]

@SovereignStatesman What's the link to your video?

[@gblessbacon]

Teunis how do u FRL gold coins? i can understand doing it with receipt for gold because as only a very small number of people tkae out their deposists at the same time so the goldsmiths of the 1600s(the bankers) realised they could lend out more receipts then what they had in reserve, you wouldn;t be able to do that with physical gold

[@Nonamearisto]

I found a link to Woods on Wikipedia's page of Francisco de Vitoria, as I was watching this. Weird coincidence.

[@joepeeler34]

@dankfr33music The problem with govt. funding is that universities set the tuition high enough to capture all of the subsidies. If tuition prices remained at current levels, there would be no butts in the seats. What would happen? The same think that happens when retailers can't move product; college prices would have to drop. Unis would then have to cut back on administrative costs and other things that have nothing to do with educating the student. It's a racket.

[@PteHudson]

It is not just a "piece of paper" it is years of studying and having its ideas destroyed by teachers and learning from it. Obviously, some individuals will complete a degree and not gain better understandings but there are the exceptions. Furthermore, there are no truths in History, only better arguments and I did not hear many in Dr. Woods’ speech. Because of that, he sounds to me more like an ideologue than a history professor. It is too bad because he seems like a brilliant man.

[@MillionthUsername]

It's just supply & demand. When savings are high, money available to loan is plentiful, so interest rates go down since there are more "sellers" of money than "buyers." The sellers will keep lowering the price (rate) to attract buyers. But if savings are low, money to loan is scarce, and so the buyers will have to compete with other buyers and bid up the price in order to get a loan of that scarce capital.

[@CernelJoson]

Wow, Thomas Woods does an good impression of Murray Rothbard.

[@cowboy1165]

@pbfrank13 Na, I say immortal. That is actually Carl Menger, then von Mises, then Rothbard, and now Woods. Don't be surprised if your kid, someday comes to you and says, Hey pop. I was at a lecture and this professor did a great impresson of Tom Woods.

[@RAMSEY1987]

323 comments 1k 👍 if all those people Shared on FB and Twitter the ideas would spread quicker especially amount the the young. We are weather we like it or not in a battle for the minds and hearts of our fellow citizens.

[@VassiliZaitsev12]

an institution might be bad, but that is why we have state education boards to meet min qualifications in getting a degree. So, even if you have a bad institution you will still have required to master certain ideas and concepts.

[@rlkinnard]

US Unemployment was 14% in 1876; i think that the long depression was not just a statistical illusion.

[@trevors3450]

“It’s not my responsibility as president to uphold the constitutional law handed down by the Supreme Court. It’s my responsibility to uphold the constitution. Which is a different thing.”

[@gerrilevin279]

great impersonation at 27:00!

[@Tasadaru]

Whoever thought of the idea of fractional reserve banking has to easily be one of the most evil men to ever have lived.

[@VassiliZaitsev12]

For one I already did point out why his analysis of 1920 was wrong when I first brought it up with the other person. But, of course you're the 4th or 5th person to come along and not read what I wrote anyway. And, second, regression analysis and econometrics already shows through various studies like Fisher-Peters that "a sustained increase in government spending has a robust positive effect on private employment"

[@05121784]

Lol - I like it too! Thanks for the video :)

[@nickeldan]

To be fair, the Savings and Loan in "It's a Wonderful Life" was not a demand deposit institution.

[@garywingrove]

Yes, but there are some who were actually decent at multiple sports like Dion Sanders. The big difference is, is that Jordan's teammates probably aren't talking about how great of a baseball player jordan was. In this case, Tom Woods is likely speaking in front of Several economist including Walter Block who holds a PhD from Columbia, Peter Klein who got his PhD in economics from Berkley, Thomas Dilorenzo who got his from Virginia Tech an Hans-Hermann Hoppe from Goethe University Frankfurt

[@JMiskovsky]

I wonder how would look like US of A w/o FED ? I wonder how would look like ANY mid size country w/o Central bank in Long run ?

[@ecnerwal999]

11:42 HAHAHAHA ROTHBARD, CLASSIC.

[@garywingrove]

I had a feeling you were confused. Milton Friedman wasn't an Austrian economist. He belongs to the Chicago school along with Thomas Sowell. Their beliefs line up with the Austrians on some issues but vary greatly on others. Chicago school is not an opponents of the Federal Reserve. In fact, Friedman has said that the Fed didn't do enough in the Great Depression. You won't hear that in the Austrian school. More Republicans fall somewhere between Freidman and Keynes

[@genli5603]

Keynes was definitely full of it. Absolutely wrong. I’m figuring out Chicago vs Austrian now. I’m leaning heavily toward Austrian.

[@Thanquee]

What a brilliant Rothbard impression ahahaha

[@garywingrove]

Well, Woods' views seem consistent with economist Robert P. Murphy who holds a PhD from NYU. And no, I don't take what anyone says for granted. Everything anyone says should be scrutinized. Now, if you disagree with the Austrian schools conclusions on the issues, that's fine you are free to do so. But my point is, is that he's lecturing in front of PhDs who he likely learned from and what he's saying is consistent with the Austrian school's theories.

[@SaulOhio]

Isn;t that his point in "Nullification"?

[@jbenjamin06]

apologist means "defender" it is someone who defends an idea. I believe this is what he is referring to

[@Norie92]

Anyone care to give me the condensed version? -.-

[@georgemay8170]

As long as the "printing of currency" should be in the hands of our Constitutional government because it would be issued to the banks without interest.

[@jdcasey9]

@Pentazoid111 everybody makes mistakes. he set a good example in some areas, bad in others.

[@garywingrove]

The point being, is that Woods is well respected as not only a historian, but as a lecturer on economics. He even studied under Rothbard who is one of the most well respected of all Austrian economist. So he's not teaching a class, he's just lecturing. I don't think he would even claim to be qualified to teach economics and if you asked him, he'd likely refer you to Walter Block

[@TeunisD]

Fractional Reserve Banking will always exist, also in free markets. Yes, there will be gold (perhaps) but there will still bee Fractional Reserve Banking.

[@cassiuslives4807]

why not use the market to solve it, free banking, ala scotland before they were amalgamated and nationalised?

[@solank7620]

Teunis Dokter Indeed. FRB has basically always been around. The Roman Republic had it. It’s probably much older than that. FRB isn’t bad, it’s a good idea. I think Woods is being to dogmatic to the ideas of ABCT here. If FRB is to be undone, it should be by the free market - by consumers choosing full reserve banks. It shouldn’t have anything to do with government. Edit: I will also add, in a free market consumers would choose the better system for themselves. I am assuming a fractional reserve bank would have higher profits than a full reserve bank. This would mean they could offer higher rates on their deposits, and better customer service. So the free market is best for consumers. I would think if anyone knew this, it would be Woods. I’m surprised to hear he would advocate against fractional reserve banking.

[@benekastah]

@SovereignStatesman I think his participation in the Ron Paul campaign for president shows that he understands that states' rights is an important issue.

[@garywingrove]

But in order to be intrusive, the government would have to obtain some significant size.

[@garywingrove]

The fact is, big government is big government whether it's focus is primarily on domestic or on foreign policy or if they balance it equally. All of it goes against the Austrian school which is libertarian/anarcho-capitalistic in it's ideology and that includes all spending foreign and domestic

[@VassiliZaitsev12]

No, incorrect techinally Friedman belongs to mulitple schools of thought. He was one of the founders of monetarism, and he contritubed to Austrian School, and was and advocate of Chicago School. However, Chicago school and Austrian have a lot of similar models and methods and Austrians often regarded Friedman as one of their own.

[@garywingrove]

They say a lot about that and they aren't necessarily as big of government when it comes to domestic issues but to say that they are pro small government because of that is naive. They voted to give the federal government control over education and expand medicare. Like I said before, they voted for bailouts and the stimlus package. They talk a big talk but their actions are different and anything they cut will would add to the overseas spending. And then there are issues like the Patriot Act