Wednesday 2 February 2011

Radio 4 documentary on the Austrian School

The BBC Radio 4 has produced a documentary on F. A. Hayek and the Austrian school of economics. The programme is Radical Economics: Yo Hayek!

Jamie Whyte looks at the free market Austrian School of F. A. Hayek. The global recession has revived interest in this area of economics, even inspiring an educational rap video.

"Austrian" economists believe that the banking crisis was caused by too much regulation rather than too little. The fact that interest rates are set by central banks rather than the market is at the heart of the problem, they argue. Artificially low interest rates sent out the wrong signals to investors, causing them to borrow to spend on "malinvestments", such as overpriced housing.

Contributors:
Prof Steven Horwitz, St Lawrence University, New York
Prof Larry White, George Mason University, Washington DC
Robert Higgs, Independent Institute, California
Philip Booth, Institute of Economic Affairs
Steve Baker, Conservative MP
John Papola, co-creator Fear the Boom and Bust
Lord Robert Skidelsky, economic historian and biographer of John Maynard Keynes
Tim Congdon, founder, Lombard Street Research

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