What I want to create is a set of encyclopedic wiki pages on each country, with useful information for the student of Austrian Economics. A large part can be generated automatically - basic description, some features, stats - but that is all window dressing. The really interesting stuff will be links to other resources, notes and whole articles on whatever is useful to know about a country. I have created an initial set of countries for demonstration (Albania, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Slovakia, United Kingdom, United States) and added some material to Iceland - and will add to more countries as time allows. Next week I’ll generate the remaining countries and will continue to extend them.
There is of course no chance for me to even come close to finishing this in any meaningful way, so here’s where I’m looking for your help. Besides feedback, I am mainly interested in the following topics:
major inflations
major panics, recessions and economical crises
government defaults, price controls, nationalizations and other important economy-impacting events
current monetary conditions (what is a given currency based on, etc.)
key historical episodes (possibly with alternative explanatons)
There is much knowledge out there, but it is often hard to find. So, let’s make something like a Wikipedia page with a focus on the economical material.
If anyone is interested in a specific country (or even comes from one) and has useful, respectable resources, please add them.
Seeing this Wiki, I have a question: Why does the LvMI not host a Wiki for the Austrian School and libertarianism? Sure would be useful to use the power of the intellectual masses around here.
I noted your project and will contribute a bit to the Germany page in the near future.
I think this is an excellent idea! I already like some of the information there, especially those handy little tables on debt ratios and revenues/expenses. It’s fun to look at how constant or falling gov. revenues have been in the U.S. despite what are probably rising taxes. If I have some time, I’ll try to add some information on countries I’ve lived in,
Seeing this Wiki, I have a question: Why does the LvMI not host a Wiki for the Austrian School and libertarianism? Sure would be useful to use the power of the intellectual masses around here.
Actually, there is a wiki on the LvMI pages, but it has several issues I couldn’t work around. It also seemed to be set up in the wrong way, but the choice was to complain, or do my own thing and demonstrate that it can be done differently. Which is being worked on.
I noted your project and will contribute a bit to the Germany page in the near future.
Hm, what a pity that the software of this site does not work that well like more mainstream products. But that is why there is competition and we advocate it: So that there are incentives for others to do it better. The only other libertarian wiki i know of is the one at vforvoluntary.com.
“The only other libertarian wiki i know of is the one at vforvoluntary.com.”
There is also Libertapedia, although it is more political and organizes its content differently. The Libertarian FAQ in turn seems rather sleepy. (Okay, plus LibertarianGuide, but that is more of a link farm made by Stephen Kinsella.) So there.
I’ve added quite a bit on Greece (some ancient history, corruption and lots on the current crisis) and a little here and there. More details are always welcome; any ideas to the whole concept before I start mass-generating countries?
Just read the thread. I’ll try to expand the article on Albania with some public statistics or whatever else I can find for a reputable source. Great idea!
Just read the thread. I’ll try to expand the article on Albania with some public statistics or whatever else I can find for a reputable source. Great idea!
There’s a lot of countries I have trouble finding good resources for - thanks, Merlin!
Hmmm… as long as the data is sourced I don’t particularly care. Whatever looks better is okay - four rows are fine, make a separate table if it’s a larger data set or over a longer period. Your help is welcome!
Okay, I’m basically finished with the countries. More additions are of course unavoidable - and heartily welcome! (I’m looking specifically at those who made some promises in this thread. )
Since we’re here, would it be right to crate a whole new table containing data purely from the Albanian Statistical Institute, instead of filling in the blanks in the existing table? So people will not get confused about inflation from a year being from, say, the IMF and for the next year being form the Albanian INSTAT (source credibility also plays a role here). What do you think?
If the table is not too large, you could keep the numbers together on different lines, with proper sourcing. But in general, yes, it’s better to keep them separate.
