The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle: Reflections on Some Socio-Economic Effects

Of all the various interventions into the market economy, which have been invented and implemented by man and state, those that historically have caused the gravest consequences in the advanced industrialized economies surely are the inflationist policies, which lead inexorably to the business cycle in all of its various aspects and manifestations. In this paper, we shall attempt to trace through a number of socio-economic consequences and implications of the business cycle. We are convinced that ultimately the business cycle has political implications, which are just as far reaching and grave as its numerous economic consequences.