Is the Virus of International Macroeconomic Interventionism Infectious? An ABCT Analysis

Abstract

According to Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT), there is no macroeconomic market failure. Under laissez faire capitalism, with extremely limited or no government, there will be no credit-induced business cycles. However, suppose one part of the world engages in credit expansion, which, according to ABCT creates the business cycle, while another does not. Will the former infect the latter? Or will the latter be impervious to the governmental depredations of the former? We take the position that although the free market society will not remain impervious to the government failure of the interventionists, it will be sheltered from the full impact of the boom-bust cycle. Do the residual malinvestments constitute a market failure? After all, a free market, in this case, is indeed "failing" to bring about the greatest satisfaction of consumer preferences. We deny this claim.