Predicting Booms and Busts

As you may have guessed, economics is a subject that I love to discuss. I'm always talking economics with people, debating issues, explaining concepts, and such. I consider myself rooted in the "Austrian" school of economic thought and its from the teachings of intellectuals like Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard that I base a lot of my own views.

I was once in a debate with a person who said that he rejects Austrian methodology because "it's predictive power is nil". (Yeah...like economists are supposed to be fortune tellers. And hey, if good economics is about predicting the future, then why aren't they all out playing the market, and making a zillion dollars?)

Then today, I heard this podcast by Professor Mark Thornton , which points out that not only has the Austrian school been the only school of thought to explain recent phenomenon, but it had indeed predicted many of the catastrophes that we have witnessed in recent years.

Take a listen, and enjoy!