Malinvestment and the Austrian Business Cycle, as explained by Yogi Berra

[*"The future ain't what it used to be."*](http://ift.tt/1R053tw) I hope no one minds this bit of levity, in honor of Yankees legend Yogi Berra, who passed away today at age 90; but I came across this quote of his and thought I'd share it. Let me explain. A long time ago I was teaching grade 8 social studies and had the opportunity to talk about bank runs and recessions/depressions. How do you sum this sort of thing up for 14-year-olds? For me, the main idea to drive home is that economics is about planning for the future, and that recessions happen when we have the widespread phenomenon of the future not turning out the way a whole lot of us had thought it would. That's an easy idea to grasp, and it leads to the notion of easy-credit policies and how that creates a distorted picture of what it is consumers want, which then upsets the economic planning of producers. I encourage anyone who is trying to explain economics to someone, as if he or she was 14 years old, to keep Mr. Berra's witticism in mind. RIP.

link: http://ift.tt/1R054O6