Austrian economics is often called “tough love” economics, due to its hard focus on balancing the government budget and minimizing national debt.  Early advocates like Ludwig von Mises lived in Austria or Germany.  Many are also “gold bugs,” believing that the yellow metal can control government spending better than legislators can.  An example would be Ron Paul.

While nearly all advocates of Austrian economics tend to be Republicans, please note there is no religious conviction that all tax cuts generate more revenue.  In other words, Austrian economics should not be confused with Supply-side economics.  It is a major philosophical disagreement within the Republican party.  You won’t see the Austrians advocating a tax cut, not with the current level of debt.

One of my favorite observers of the world’s economic condition is William A. M. Buckler, who writes an insightful newsletter from faraway Australia (not Austria) called The Privateer.  In his current issue, he brilliantly reduced a overwhelming maze of numbers down to a mere four.

In the last 100 years, the population of the U.S. has increased 3.35 times, while government spending has increased 5,400 times and our debt has increased 37,000 times.  Yes, you can memorize four numbers.

Of course, other types of economists will quibble about the numbers, but the wildly disproportionate increase in the role of government will change very little.  They will also argue that there is now more for the government to do, which is probably true.  But the growth of government spending is still decidedly ominous.  Buckler did not detail how much of that increase is due to entitlements, but I suspect that it was the majority. 

I don’t think I would enjoy having dinner with somebody as dour and pessimistic as Buckler but do greatly appreciate his insights into our global economy.