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Long before there was Alan Greenspan to turn the Federal Reserve into Casino Central, there was John Law, France's minister of finance more than three centuries ago. Like Greenspan's infamous bubbles, Law's money-printing scheme made people rich—for a very short time.

When people speak of “old school economics,” they generally mean the application of economic thinking that involves what we might call “common sense.” That would include permitting a price system to work, protecting private property, and so on. But there is more.

While F.A. Hayek contributed much to the Austrian School of Economics, he also supported the establishment of the welfare state, believing that it was compatible with the rule of law. Ludwig von Mises, however, knew that the welfare state is the ubiquitous slippery slope.