THE ERRORS OF J. R. RALLO’S MONETARY THEORY: PART II

Authors

  • P. Bagus

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v20i2.889

Abstract

In his work Una crítica a la teoría monetaria de Mises, Juan Ramón Rallo (2019) criticizes Mises’s theory of money as developed in Mises’s (1971) Theory of Money and Credit. In this paper, I show that Rallo and his predecessor Antal Fekete do not advance Austrian monetary theory, but rather defend an idiosyncratic variant of the banking school. The neo-banking school approach
suffers from the same shortcomings as the traditional banking school, most notably its failure to consider capital theory. To address the pertinent issues, we need to return to and develop some of the foundations of economic theory. I will discuss
the nature of money, ideal money, real savings, the demand for money, falling prices, the meaning of the interest rate and its determination, etc. I show that the credit expansion of a fractional reserve banking system based on real bills triggers an Austrian business cycle. Moreover, I show that in a free market maturity mismatching does not trigger a business cycle. Part I of my work was published in Procesos de Mercado, Vol. XX, nº1, Spring 2023. The present article is Part II of my work and should be read as a continuation of Part I. 

References

Ahamed, L. (2016). Die Herren des Geldes: wie vier Bankiers die Weltwirtschaftskrise auslösten und die Welt in den Bankrott trieben. Munich: FBV. Akhtar, M. A. (1995). “Monetary Policy and long-term interest rates: A survey of empirical literature.” Contemporary Economic Policy 13 (3): 110-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.1995.tb00727.x. Anderson, B. M. (1979). Economics and the Public Welfare: A Financial and Economic History of the United States, 1914-1946. 2d ed. Indianapolis: Liberty Press. Bagus, P. (2003). “Deflation: When Austrians Become Interventionists.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 6 (4): 19-35.

— (2006). “Five Common Errors about Deflation.” Procesos de Mercado: Revista Europea de Economía Política 3 (1): 105-23. https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v3i1.347.

— (2007). “Asset Prices: An Austrian Perspective.” Procesos de Mercado: Revista Europea de Economía Política 4 (2): 57-94.

— (2008a). “Monetary Reform and Deflation — A Critique of Mises, Rothbard, Huerta de Soto and Sennholz.” New Perspectives on Political Economy 4 (2): 131-37.

— (2008b). “Monetary Policy as Bad Medicine: The Volatile Relationship between Business Cycles and Asset Prices.” The Review of Austrian Economics 21 (4): 283-300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-008-0042-8.

— (2009). “The Quality of Money.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, no. 4: 24.

— (2010). “Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Are 100 Percent Reserves Sufficient to Prevent a Business Cycle?” Libertarian Papers 2 (2): 1-18.

— (2011). The Tragedy of the Euro. 2nd ed. Eastbourne, East Sussex: Terra Libertas.

— (2012). “Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Are 100 Percent Reserves Sufficient to Precent a Business Cycle?” Procesos de Mercado: Revista Europea de Economía Política 9 (1): 389-410.

— (2015a). In Defense of Deflation. Vol. 41. Cham: Springer International Publishing, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13428-4.

— (2015b). “The Quality of Monetary Regimes.” In, edited by Per Bylund and Per Howden, 19-34. The Next Generation of Austrian Economics — Essays in Honor of Joseph Salerno. Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— (2016). “A comparison of direct investment of savings and cash building of savings: A response to Alexandru Patruti.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 19 (4): 359-75. Bagus, P., Gabriel, A. and Howden, D. (2016). “Reassessing the Ethicality of Some Common Financial Practices.” Journal of Business Ethics 136 (3): 471-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2525-9.

— (2018). “On the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Legitimate Banking Contracts.” Journal of Business Ethics 147 (3): 669-78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2972-y. Bagus, P. and Howden, D. (2009). “The Legitimacy of Loan Maturity Mismatching: A Risky, but Not Fraudulent, Undertaking.” Journal of Business Ethics 90 (3): 399-406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0050-z.

— (2010a). “The Term Structure of Savings, the Yield Curve, and Maturity Mismatching.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 13 (3): 64-85.

— (2010b). “Fractional Reserve Free Banking: Some Quibbles.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 13 (4): 29-55.

— (2011a). “Still Unanswered Quibbles with Fractional Reserve Free Banking.” The Review of Austrian Economics 25 (2): 159-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-011-0163-3.

— (2011b.) “Unanswered quibbles: George Selgin still gets it wrong with fractional reserve free banking.” Procesos de Mercado: Revista Europea de Economía Política 8 (2): 83-111.

— (2011c.) “Monetary Equilibrium and Price Stickiness: Causes, Consequences and Remedies.” The Review of Austrian Economics 24 (4): 383-402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-011-0151-7.

— (2012.) “The Continuing Continuum Problem of Deposits and Loans.” Journal of Business Ethics 106 (3): 295-300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0996-5.

— (2013.) “Some Ethical Dilemmas of Modern Banking.” Business

Ethics (Oxford, England) 22 (3): 235-45. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12025.

— (2016.) “The Economic and Legal Significance of ‘Full’ Deposit Availability.” European Journal of Law and Economics 41 (1): 243-54.

— (2022.) “Consumer Rights and Banking Contracts.” Journal of Banking Regulation, January. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41261-021-00185-x.

Bagus, P., Howden, D. and Block, W. (2013.) “Deposits, Loans, and Banking: Clarifying the Debate.” The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 72 (3): 627-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12023. Bagus, P, Howden, D. and Gabriel, A. (2015). “Oil and Water Do Not Mix, or: Aliud Est Credere, Aliud Deponere.” Journal of Business Ethics 128 (1): 197-206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2087-x.

— (2017). “The Hubris of Hybrids.” Journal of Business Ethics 145 (2): 373-82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2884-x. Bagus, P, Howden, D. and Huerta de Soto, J. (2018). “Entrepreneurial Error Does Not Equal Market Failure.” Journal of Business Ethics 149 (2): 433-41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3123-9.

Barnett, W. II and Block, W. (2004). “On the Optimum Quantity of Money.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 7 (1): 39-52.

— (2005). “Money: Capital Good, Consumers’ Good, or (Media of)

Exchange Good?” The Review of Austrian Economics 18 (2): 179-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-005-6826-1.

— (2022). “On Salerno on Money as a Capital Good.” StoriaLibera. Rivista Di Scienze Storiche e Sociali 8 (16): 10-24. Böhm-Bawerk, E. v. (1881). Rechte und Verhältnisse vom Standpunkt der volkswirthschaftlichen Güterlehre. Innsbruck: Verlag der Wagner ´schen Universitäts-Buchhandlung.

— (1891). The Positive Theory of Capital. London; New York: Macmillan and Co. Cachanosky, N. and Lewin, P. (2016). “An Empirical Application of the EVA® Framework to Business Cycles.” Review of Financial Economics 30 (September): 60-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rfe.2016.06.006. Cantillon, R. (2017). Essay on the Nature of Commerce in General. 1st ed. London: Routledge Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351311526. Carilli, A. M., and Dempster, G. M. (2001). “Expectations in Austrian Business Cycle Theory: An Application of the Prisoner’s Dilemma.” The Review of Austrian Economics 14 (4): 319-30. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011985113936.

Chandler, L. V. (1958). Benjamin Strong, Central Banker. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Davidson, L. (2014). “The Economic Consequences of Loan Maturity Mismatching in the Unhampered Economy.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 17 (1): 67-91.

Friedman, M. (1956). “The Quantity Theory of Money: A Restatement.” In Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money, 3-41. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gertchev, N. (2004). “Dehomogenizing Mises’s Monetary Theory.” Journal of Libertarian Studies 18 (3): 57-90.

Hansen Kristoffer J. Mousten (2021). “Are Free Market Fiduciary Media Possible? On the Nature of Money, Banking, and Money Production in the Free Market Order.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 24 (2): 286-316. Hauwe, L. v. d. (2006). “The Uneasy Case for Fractional-Reserve Free Banking.” Procesos de Mercado: Revista Europea de Economía Política, 3 (2): 143-96. https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v3i2.340.

Hayek, F. (1931). Prices and Production. London: Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID=5425690.

— (1933). Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle. London: Jonathan Cape Limited.

— (1999). Good Money. Liberty fund paperback ed. The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek, ed. Kresge, S. v. 5-6. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.

— (2008). Prices and Production and Other Works: F.A. Hayek on Money, the Business Cycle, and the Gold Standard. Edited by Joseph

Joseph. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute. Herbener, J. (2002). “Ludwig von Mises on the Gold Standard and Free Banking.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 5 (1): 67-91. Hoppe, H.-H. (1994). “How Is Fiat Money Possible? ? Or, the Devolution of Money and Credit.” The Review of Austrian Economics 7 (2): 49-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01101942. Hoppe, H.-H., Hülsmann, G. and Block, W. (1998). “Against Fiduciary Media.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 1 (1): 19-50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12113-998-1001-8.

Howden, D. (2023). “Defining Money.” In Money and the Market Process, edited by David Howden and Philipp Bagus, 159-78. Vol. 1

of The emergence of a tradition: Essays in Honor of Jesús Huerta de Soto. Cham. Switz: Palgrave Macmillan. Huerta de Soto, J. (2009). The Theory of Dynamic Efficiency. Routledge Foundations of the Market Economy 28. London: Routledge.

— (2012). Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cicles. 3rd ed. Auburn: Auburn : Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— (2014). “Conferencia Sobre ‘Lincoln y La Unión…Europea’ (Con Una Crítica a La Denominada ‘Teoría de Liquidez’).” In Ensayos de Economía Política, 229-40. Madrid: Unión Editorial.

— (2021). “Economic Effects of Pandemics — An Austrian Analysis.”Mises Wire (blog). April 1, 2021. https://mises.org/wire/economic-effects-pandemics-austrian-analysis.

Hülsmann, J. G. (1996). Logik der Währungskonkurrenz. Ein Versuch auf Der Grundlage einer Kantischen Interpretation von Unsicherheit und Institutionen. Essen: Akademie Verlags- und Druck-Gesellschaft.

— (1998). “Toward a General Theory of Error Cycles.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 1 (4): 1-23. https://doi.

org/10.1007/s12113-998-1024-1.

— (2000). “Banks Cannot Create Money.” The Independent Review 5 (1): 101-10.

— (2009). “The Demand for Money and the Time-Structure of Production.”

In Property, Freedom and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, edited by Jörg Guido Hülsmann and Stephan Kinsella, 309-24. Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— (2012a). “The Early Evolution of Mises´s Monetary Thought.” In Theory of Money and Fiduciary Media. Essays in Celebration of the Centennial. Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— (2012b). “Introduction.” In Theory of Money and Fiduciary Media.

Essays in Celebration of the Centennial, vii-xv. Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Humphrey, T. M., and Timberlake, R. H. (2019). Gold, the Real Bills Doctrine, and the FED: Sources of Monetary Disorder 1922-1938.

Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute.

Hutt, W. H. (1977). The Theory of Idle Resources: A Study in Definition. 2d ed. Indianapolis: Liberty Press.

Keynes, J. M. (1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Keynes, J. M. (1964). The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. 1st Harvest/HBJ ed. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.

Köhler, M. (2015). Humes Dilemma — Oder: Das Geld Und Die Verfassung:“Geldschöpfung” Der Banken Als Vermögensrechtsverletzung.

Berlin: Duncker & Humblot.

Lachmann, L. M. (1978). Capital and Its Structure. 2. ed. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and MacMeel.

Machlup, F. (1932). “The Liquidity of Short-Term Capital.” Economica 37: 271-84.

— (1940). The Stock Market, Credit and Capital Formation. London: William Hodge and Company.

(1970). “Euro-Dollar Creation: A Mystery Story.” Banca Nazionale Del Lavoro Quarterly Review 23 (94): 219-60.

Mints, L. W. (1945). A History of Banking Theory in Great Britain and the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mises, L. v. (1912). Theorie des Geldes und der Umlaufsmittel. München: Duncker & Humblot.

— (1949). Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. Auburn, Ala.: Ludwigvon Mises Institute.

Murphy, R. P. (2021). Understanding Money Mechanics. Auburn, Alabama: Mises Institute.

Rallo, J. R. (2014). “Las Malas Críticas de Sean Corrigan a La Doctrina de Las Letras Reales.” Juan Ramón Rallo (blog). 2014. https://juanramonrallo.com/las-malas-criticas-de-sean-corrigan-a-ladoctrina-de-las-letras-reales/.

— (2019). Una crítica a la teoría monetaria de Mises: un replanteamiento de la teoría del dinero y del crédito dentro de la Escuela Austriaca de Economía. Madrid: Unión Editorial. Rothbard, M. N. (1978). “Austrian Definitions of the Supply of Money.” In New Directions in Austrian Economics, edited by Louis M. Spadaro, 143-56. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel.

— (2000). America´s Great Depression. Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

— (2001). Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economy Principles. Rev. ed. Auburn, Ala: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Salerno, J. T. (1987). “The ‘True’ Money Supply, A Measure of the

Supply of The Medium of Exchange in the U.S. Economy.” AustrianEconomics Newsletter 6 (4): 1-6.

— (2012). “A Reformulation of Austrian Business Cycle Theory in Light of the Financial Crisis.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 15 (1): 3-44.

— (2020). “Why You Should Read Human Action—Very Carefully.” MisesWire

— (blog). August 16, 2020. https://mises.org/wire/why-you-shouldread-human-action-very-carefully.

— (2021). “Is There Such a Thing as Good Inflation?” Mises Wire (blog). June 25, 2021. https://mises.org/library/there-suchthing-good-inflation. Say, J. B. (1964). A Treatise on Political Economy
. New York: Augustus M. Kelley. Schumpeter, J. A. (1954). History of Economic Analysis. London: George Allen & Unwin. Selgin, G. (1989). “The Analytical Framework of the Real-Bills Doctrine.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE) / Zeitschrift Für Die Gesamte Staatswissenschaft 145 (3): 489-507. Selgin, G., and White, L. (1996). “In Defense of Fiduciary Media.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 9 (2): 83-107. Serrano, J. (2022). “La Liquidez Frente al Teorema de La Regresión Del Dinero: Una Crítica a J. R. Rallo.” Procesos de Mercado: Revista Europea de Economía Política 19 (1): 63-95. https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v19i1.776. Smith, A. (1937). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. New York: Random House. Somary, F. (1930). Bankpolitik. 2nd ed. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). Strigl, R. v. (2000). Capital & Production. Auburn, AL: Ludwig Von Mises Institute. Thornton, H. (1978). An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain. Edited by Friedrich A. v Hayek. Fairfield: Augustus M. Kelley. Williams, J. C. (1984). “Fractional Reserve Banking in Grain.” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 16 (4): 488. https://doi.org/10.2307/1992186. Zhu, J. (2013). “Federal Reserve Reform Act of 1977.” Federal Reserve

History (blog). 2013. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/fed-reform-act-of-1977.

Downloads

Published

2024-01-31

How to Cite

Bagus, P. (2024). THE ERRORS OF J. R. RALLO’S MONETARY THEORY: PART II. REVISTA PROCESOS DE MERCADO, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v20i2.889

Issue

Section

Articles