Asset prices - An Austrian Perspective

Authors

  • Philipp Bagus Asst. Professor of Political Economy, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v4i2.324

Abstract

Abstract: How asset prices should be taken into account in monetary policy is a controversial question in mainstream discussion. These mainstream positions can be differentiated into two broad perspectives: the proactive and the reactive views. The proactive view advocates pricking the asset price bubble, while the reactive view argues against monetary policy targeting asset prices. In this article the relation between asset prices and the Austrian business cycle theory is examined. Following this, a critique of both the proactive and reactive views is provided and implications for monetary policy are deduced.

Key words: Austrian Economics, Business Cycles, Asset Prices, Central Banks and their Policies.

JEL Classification: B53, E32, E58.

References

ANDERSON, BENJAMIN M., 1979. Economics and the Public Welfare: A Financial and Economic History of the United States, 1914-1946, Indianapolis, In.: Liberty Press.

BEAN, CHARLES, 2004. «Asset Prices, Financial Instability, and Monetary Policy,» American Economic Review, Vol. 94, N.º 2, pp. 14-18.

BERGER, WOLFRAM; KIßMER, FRIEDRICH and HELMUT WAGNER, 2005.

Monetary Policy and Asset Prices: More Bad News for «Benign Neglect», Diskussionsbeitrag der Fernuni Hagen, N.º 374, February.

BERNANKE, BEN and MARK GERTLER, 2000. «Monetary Policy and Asset Price Volatility,» NBER Working Paper N.º 7559, february.

BORDO, MICHAEL and OLIVIER JEANNE, 2002. «Monetary Policy and Asset Prices: Does “Benign Neglect” Make Sense?,» paper presented at the conference: «Stabilizing the Economy: Why and How?» on July 11th, www.econweb.rutgers.edu/ bordo/BordoJeanne.pdf.

BORDO, MICHAEL and OLIVER JEANNE, 2004. «Boom-Bust in Asset Prices, Economic Instability, and Monetary Policy,» in: Burdekin, Richard and Pierre Siklos (eds.), 2004. Deflation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 131-165.

BORDO, MICHAEL and DAVID WHEELOCK, 2004. «Monetary Policy and Asset Prices: A Look Back at Past U.S. Stock Market Booms,» Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, November/ December, 86 (6), p. 19-44, research.stlouisfed.org/publications/ review/04/11/BordoWheelock.pdf.

BORIO, CLAUDIO and PHILIP LOWE, 2002. «Asset prices, financial and monetary stability: exploring the nexus,» BIS working papers, No. 114, July, www.bis.org/publ/work114.pdf.

CALLAHAN, GENE and ROGER GARRISON, 2003. «Does Austrian Business Cycle Theory Help Explain the Dot-Com Boom and Bust?,» Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 6 (2), 67-98.

CECCHETTI, STEPHEN G.; GENBERG, HANS; LIPSKY, JOHN; and WADHWANI, SUSHIL, 2000. Asset Prices and Central Bank Policy, London, UK: International Centre for Monetary and Banking Studies.

CECCHETTI, STEPHEN G., 2002. «The Trouble with Bubbles,» Occasional Essays on Current Policy Issues No. 21 (September 4th 2002).

CONRAD, CHRISTIAN and MARKUS STAHL, 2002. «Asset-Preise als geldpolitische Zielgröße – das Beispiel der USA,» Wirtschaftsdienst, 82, 486- 493.

DETKEN, CARSTEN and FRANK SMETS, 2004. «Asset Price Booms and Monetary Policy,» ECB Working Paper Series, N.º 364, May, http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp364.pdf.

GOODHART, CHARLES and BORIS HOFMANN, 2004. «Deflation, Credit and Asset Prices,» in: Burdekin, Richard and Pierre Siklos (eds.), 2004. Deflation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 166-188.

GREENSPAN, ALAN, 2002. «Opening Remarks,» Rethinking stabilization policy, Federal Reserva Bank of Kansas City, pp. 1-10.

GRUEN, DAVID; PLUMB, MICHAEL and ANDREW STONE, 2003. «How should monetary policy respond to asset-price bubbles?,» ECB Research Discussion Paper, November, www. e c b . i n t / e v e n t s / p d f / c o n f e re n c e s / g ru e n - p l u m b - stone.pdf.

HAYEK, FRIEDRICH A. VON, 1934. «The Maintenance of Capital,» Economica, Vol. II, August, Reprinted in: Hayek, Friedrich A. von, 1939. Profits, Interest and Investment – and other Essays on the Theory of Industrial Fluctuations, London, UK: Routledge, 83-134.

HOPPE, HANS-HERMANN, 2001. Democracy: the God that failed: the Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

HUERTA DE SOTO, JESÚS, 2003. «Nota critica sobre la propuesta de reforma de las normas de contabilidad,» Actuarios, N.º 21, April/May 2003.

— 2006. Dinero, Crédito Bancario y Ciclos Económicos, Third Revised Edition, Madrid: Unión Editorial (First English edition, Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute).

HÜLSMANN, GUIDO, 1998. «Toward a General Theory of Error Cycles,» Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 1 (4), 1-23.

MACHLUP, FRITZ, 2002. Börsenkredit, Industriekredit und Kapitalbildung, Reprint of the First Edition, Frankfurt: Frankfurter Allgemeine Buchverlag.

MISES, LUDWIG VON, 1996. A Critique of Interventionism, Revised Edition, Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: The Foundation for Economic Education.

— 1998. Human Action, Scholar´s Edition, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

MISHKIN, FREDERIC and EUGENE WHITE, 2002. «U.S. Stock Market Crashes and Their Aftermath: Implications for Monetary Policy,» NBER working paper, N.º 8992, June.

MUELLER, ANTONY, 2001. «Financial Cycles, Business Activity, and the Stock Market,» Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 4 (1), 3-21.

PETER, GOETZ VON, 2004. «Asset prices and banking distress: a macroeconomic approach,» BIS working papers, N.º 167, www.bis.org/publ/work167.pdf

ROBBINS, LIONEL, 1971. The Great Depression, Second Edition, Freeport, NY: Books For Libraries Press.

ROCKWELL JR., LLEWELLYN (ed.), 1992. The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

ROTHBARD, MURRAY N., 1990. What Has Government Done to Our Money?, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— 1991. The Case for the 100 Percent Gold Standard, Second Edition, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— 2000. America´s Great Depression, Fifth Edition, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— 2001. Man, Economy, and State, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

SALERNO, JOSEPH T. 1991. «Two Traditions in Modern Monetary Theory: John Law and ARJ Turgot». Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, 2, N.º 2/3, 337-379.

SKOUSEN, MARK, 2005. Vienna & Chicago: Friends of Foes?, Washington, DC: Capital Press.

SVENSSON, LARS, 2002. «Monetary Policy and Real Stabilization,» Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 261-312, www.princeton.edu/~svensson/papers/jh02.pdf.

WICKER, ELMUS R., 1966. Federal Reserve monetary policy 1917-1933, New York: Random House.

ZIMMERMANN, GUIDO, 2004. «Assetpreise und Geldpolitik,» Wirtschaftsdienst, Vol. 84, 105-112.

Downloads

Published

2007-07-01

How to Cite

Bagus, P. . (2007). Asset prices - An Austrian Perspective. REVISTA PROCESOS DE MERCADO, 4(2), 57–93. https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v4i2.324

Issue

Section

Articles