Economic update – Economics Explored

Price controls aren’t a solution to inflation

Regular Economics Explored guest Darren Brady Nelson has republished some of his papers strongly criticising price controls, which some commentators are now suggesting as a solution to the accelerating inflation we’re seeing in advanced economies. Great points that Darren makes include the following:

The imposition of price controls to deal with inflation does not stop inflation. Rather it combines with inflation to produce a different and worse set of consequences than would inflation alone…
…Politicians have cited a plethora of reasons for introducing price controls – ie price ‘ceilings’ and ‘floors’. At the end of the day, whether they believe these reasons or not is irrelevant to economic outcomes. The outcomes are always bad. Price ceilings always lead to shortages and price floors always lead to surpluses, which often then lead to further government interventions such as rationing and subsidies as well as more taxation, regulation and money printing. Artificial government laws of price controls cannot overcome natural economic laws of supply and demand.

Check out Darren’s papers via the LinkedIn posts below.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/darren-brady-nelson-702746a3_2016-literature-review-part-1-activity-6890767705268387840-nisu

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/darren-brady-nelson-702746a3_2016-literature-review-part-2-activity-6890768207213330432-HDqa

Regarding inflation, I spoke about the UK’s highest recorded inflation rate in three decades in my latest livestream last Friday:

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The forthcoming EP120 of Economics Explored includes a discussion of the massive price growth seen in some cryptocurrencies over 2021. In the conversation, to be published at 12am UTC+10 on 1 January 2022, show host Gene Tunny refers to a couple of great charts from data service provider Macrobond showing just how incredibly crazy that growth has been.

The first chart shows the percentage growth in the value of different types of assets, including Bitcoin, gold, and stocks on the Nasdaq, relative to their levels at the start of the years they arguably each became the subject of a “bubble”. This clearly shows just how much of an outlier Bitcoin is. Note all data in this chart and the next one were current as at 29 December 2021.

Chart from Macrobond comparing Bitcoin’s price growth far exceeding that of other assets which have allegedly been subjects of speculative bubbles since the seventies, including gold, Japanese stocks, and tech stocks.

The second chart shows the mega growth in the value of a range of cryptocurrencies, including the Gala and Axie Infinity cryptocurrencies associated with their respective online games.

Chart from Macrobond showing incredible growth in the value of particular cryptocurrencies over 2021, particularly Gala (+31k%) and Axie Infinity (+17k%).

This post is for general information only, and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Please see a qualified professional regarding any investment decisions.