Thorsten Polleit talks to James Turk

Thorsten Polleit, of thorstenpolleit.com and mises.org, and James Turk, Director of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about the Austrian school of economics and the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle (ABCT). They also discuss the role of fractional reserve banking. Thorsten recommends Murray Rothbard’s “The Mystery of Banking”.

They talk about the degree of confidence in fiat currencies and the possibility of a flight from currency. They talk about some possible solutions put forward by Murray Rothbard and Ludwig von Mises.

They talk about the possibility of changing minds before it’s too late. Thorsten is sceptical that enough people will change their minds in time, but he insists that it is still worth it to educate people in the teachings of the Austrian school. He talks about the Ludwig von Mises Institute and how it is very difficult to learn about the Austrian school in Europe, with most people learning about it outside university, even in Vienna. They talk about Mises’ book “Human Action”, Rothbard’s “What has the Government done to our Money” and “The Mystery of Banking”.

Thorsten explains that there are only three ways out of debt: write it down, inflate or grow out of it. They are both sceptical that it will be possible to grow out of it this time and therefore expect money printing and inflation to be chosen by governments, despite the horrible consequences of inflation.

They comment the ECB’s debt purchases and the dangerous consequences of this decision, how it is against its own rules and how it bodes ill for the future of the euro.

This interview was recorded on October 1st 2011 in Vienna.