The State’s Endless Quest for a Free Lunch

Through its insistence on controlling the money supply, the modern state has turned coin clipping and rank monetary debasement into exalted progressive doctrine. The state’s printing of new money seems like a “free lunch,” but we all know that there’s no such thing.

The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

Say’s Law of Markets advances the self-evident truth that supply and demand are two sides of the same coin, meaning one can view economic output as supply as well as demand. Demand is measured by what producers produce. Supply is measured by what producers produce.

In a state of nature, one’s own economic demand is dependent on and measured by one’s production. Survival requires people to work to that end. As civilization emerged, producers began trading with one another, exchanging something they had for something they wanted.