Courses

Nicolás Cachanosky

Assistant Professor of Economics

MSU, Denver

Nicolás Cachanosky is Assistant Professor of Economics at Metropolitan State University of Denver and fellow of the Sound Money Project. His research is focused on monetary economics, business cycles, and history of economic thought. He’s work has appeared in journals such as Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Review of Political Economy, Journal of Institutional Economics, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Global Economic Review, and The Review of Austrian Economics among other outlets. He’s also co-editor of LIBERTAS: Segunda Época.

Blog Posts

What the gold standard is and why government killed it

April 19, 2017
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The Fed & Monetary Policy

The gold standard is both a strongly advocated and vehemently opposed monetary regime. Both positions, however, usually rely on misconceptions on what the gold standard actually is and why it failed. Below, I will discuss (1) what the gold standard is, (2) what is not, and (3) why it failed. What the gold standard is Under a gold standard, gold is money . This means that gold is (1) the most common means of exchange, (2) it is a good store of value, and (3) it is a unit of account. While we can picture gold coins being used for transactions in small amounts, larger amounts are done with a substitute

What interest rates really are and what happens when governments change them

February 1, 2017
|
The Fed & Monetary Policy

Interest rates are one of the most confused subjects in economics. What are they, really? And what is their role in economic crises like the housing bubble and crash of the 2000s? The first thing to clarify is what an interest rate is not. It is sometimes said by followers of John Maynard Keynes that the interest rate is “the price of money.” This should be said as clearly as possible: An interest rate is not the price of money. We can see this with an easy example. Assume that Smith lends 10 apples to Green in exchange for receiving 11 apples one year from now. It is clear that this is a loan