Right now, a lot of people are rightfully freaked out about the economy.  Mainly, they are confused because they don’t really understand why things are happening or what to do about it.  If you are the type given to believing in conspiracy theories, you think this ignorance is intentional.  Intentional or not, it is the case that almost no one you know, and no one you see on the news has any idea what they are talking about.  In particular this includes anyone holding a Phd in economics from any American university.

(effectively) Every single college and university in this country teaches an incorrect theory of economics that asserts that the only solution to recession/depression is increased government regulation and market interference, inflation in the money supply, and manipulation of interest rates.  There is no diversity of thought (excepting Ron Paul) within the government, no matter how much “diversity” is celebrated.  Obama himself has stated he doesn’t know much about economics, and he will not get the correct answers from the people who advise him.  These are the people running the economy now, you are right to be worried.

There is one, and only one, school of economic thought which correctly predicted and explains the current economic recession.  None of the people in the government follow this theory, and no one is teaching it in an economics class anywhere in this country.  I will let you wonder to yourself why this is.  This alternative economic theory is known as Austrian Economics, or The Austrian School.  You can learn all about it for free at the Ludwig von Mises Institute website.

A good starting point is the Bailout Reader page.  The essential component of the Austrian School is the alternative explanation of the business cycle, nicely summarized here by Lew Rockwell.

Some other good sites, most of which are on my daily must read list:

• Safe Haven – an aggregation of investing articles
• The 5 Minute Forecast – a daily summary of the investing world
• Lew Rockwell – essays on economics, investing, and random conspiracy theories
• The Mogambo Guru – the most hilarious economic commentator out there

There you go, ignorance is no longer an excuse.