Ante Marković - Milton Friedman of Balkans

Submitted by yadranko on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 11:15

What led to fall of Soviet Union and Yugoslavia? The same thing that is now destroying the United States: inflation - printing money out of thin air. That is a classic unlearned lesson in economics which is repeating itself since the Roman Empire.  In this next video famous policy maker from former Yugoslavia Ante Marković comments:

Marković says: "If the entire creation of resources, not including these latest ones, is between 3 to 4 times larger than the entire GDP, then it is clear that the problems were being created and attempted to be resolved artificially, in an artificial way, without the real, realistic foundation.  It led to a formation of one giant bubble, in which there is nothing, which has now exploded."

In other words it means that large sums of money were being printed, created out of thin air without any backing with real value (definition of inflation), for the purpose of financing government projects and agendas which normal budget cannot afford.  Citizens are now paying for all that through higher prices, which is the direct result of inflation.  Prices have risen simply because printing money out of thin air has made the paper money less valuable.

The best example of this comes from times of Roman Empire.  In the time when it became overstretched and couldn't finance all of its campaigns, Romans resorted to clipping of gold coins and used clippings for creating more coins, diluting the value of the currency directly.  History shows that diluting the value of money has brought destruction to many empires and countries.  Economists and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman and our Ante Marković have known this lesson well. 

And former Yugoslavia is one of the best examples of excessive money printing and hyperinflation in recent history, as a country whose inflation at one point reached astronomical proportions, the Guinness world record for highest inflation which still stands.

Superiority of minimal government in this respect lays in the fact that it would be tied to its budget, and having no power to create inflation (print the money out of thin air), and not being able to dictate to the free market, leaving market forces to solve all market problems, in a best most efficient and timely manner.  Companies in bad shape would not be helped by the government, leaving them to fail, and creating incentive for healthy businesses to invest carefully and conduct business in the most efficient way.

What led to fall of Soviet Union and Yugoslavia? The same thing that is now destroying the United States: inflation - printing money out of thin air. That is a classic unlearned lesson in economics which is repeating itself since the Roman Empire.  In this next video famous policy maker from former Yugoslavia Ante Marković comments:

Marković says: "If the entire creation of resources, not including these latest ones, is between 3 to 4 times larger than the entire GDP, then it is clear that the problems were being created and attempted to be resolved artificially, in an artificial way, without the real, realistic foundation.  It led to a formation of one giant bubble, in which there is nothing, which has now exploded."

In other words it means that large sums of money were being printed, created out of thin air without any backing with real value (definition of inflation), for the purpose of financing government projects and agendas which normal budget cannot afford.  Citizens are now paying for all that through higher prices, which is the direct result of inflation.  Prices have risen simply because printing money out of thin air has made the paper money less valuable.

The best example of this comes from times of Roman Empire.  In the time when it became overstretched and couldn't finance all of its campaigns, Romans resorted to clipping of gold coins and used clippings for creating more coins, diluting the value of the currency directly.  History shows that diluting the value of money has brought destruction to many empires and countries.  Economists and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman and our Ante Marković have known this lesson well. 

And former Yugoslavia is one of the best examples of excessive money printing and hyperinflation in recent history, as a country whose inflation at one point reached astronomical proportions, the Guinness world record for highest inflation which still stands.

Superiority of minimal government in this respect lays in the fact that it would be tied to its budget, and having no power to create inflation (print the money out of thin air), and not being able to dictate to the free market, leaving market forces to solve all market problems, in a best most efficient and timely manner.  Companies in bad shape would not be helped by the government, leaving them to fail, and creating incentive for healthy businesses to invest carefully and conduct business in the most efficient way.