On a societal level, governments and central banks encourage us to live for today at the expense of tomorrow. And it’s the economist’s job to make the unseen visible. To reveal the future consequences of spending with reckless abandon. 

But in the current climate, the mere suggestion of cutting spending is political suicide, and we use modern monetary theory to justify our stimulus-focused, Neo-Keynesian approach to the economy. 

So, what’s it going to take to wake us up to the flaws in this system?

Jeff Deist serves as President at the Mises Institute, a libertarian institution that promotes teaching and research in the Austrian school of economics, individual freedom, honest history and international peace. Prior to his role at Mises, Jeff worked as a longtime advisor and chief of staff for Congressman Ron Paul.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Jeff joins me to discuss how his background as a lawyer in mergers and acquisitions informs the way he thinks about central banking and share the Austrian perspective on our current economic environment.

We explore the danger in legislating our way to prosperity, and Jeff explains why he blames the Bush administration for ushering in the idea that deficits don’t matter.

Listen in for Jeff’s view of the US dollar as a tool of imperialism and learn why countries like China are conflicted around unseating the USD as the world’s reserve currency.

Key Takeaways  

How politics has changed in the 8 years since Jeff worked for Ron Paul

How Jeff’s background as an M&A lawyer informs the way he thinks about politics and central banking

Jeff’s role as president of the Mises Institute

Jeff’s take on the Austrian perspective of our current economic environment

The problem with MMT’s aim to legislate our way to prosperity

Why Jeff blames the George W. Bush administration for ushering in the idea that deficits don’t matter

How talking about cutting defense, Social Security or Medicare spending has become a death sentence for any politician

How governments and central banks encourage us to live today at the expense of tomorrow

The economist’s job to make the unseen visible to us

What we can learn from the political climate and economic situation in France

The countries with a vested interest in unseating the USD as the world’s reserve currency (and why they would want a gradual devaluation)

Jeff’s insight on how the US dollar is a tool of imperialism

Connect with Jeff Deist

Mises Institute

Connect with Addison Wiggin

Consilience Financial

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Resources

Liberty Caucus

Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin

The Daily Reckoning

Agora Financial

Lew Rockwell

Doug Casey

Paul Krugman

Books by John Maynard Keynes

Jean Baptiste-Say

The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy by Stephanie Kelton

The Betrayal of the American Right by Murray N. Rothbard

Books by Hunter S. Thompson

Frederic Bastiat