Paul Jacob's mea culpa here speaks for many people these days about the candidacy of Ron Paul. Paul is a follower of the Austrian school of economics. This school proclaims the Federal Reserve and fractional banking to be the twin causes of the recurring booms and busts in western economies, and any other economies that deviate from free market principles, what used to be called "laissez faire" capitalism. Such economists as Von Mises, Rothbard, Hazlet, and others provide a coherent explanation of the so-called failures of capitalism that has been accurate over and over since they began to have ibnfluence in the middle of the 20th century. Call their philosophy anti-Keynsianism, and you'd about have it. A return to the gold standard is included in their prescriptions for a cure, as well as reducing government intervention in the markets to an absolute minimum.
ADDED: Paul and the Austrian school are appropriately appalled by the welfare state and what it does to any society. This brief piece from Forbes speaks to this issue.
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