What is renewed demand?

Renewal Demand is the amount of renewal expenditure required in a given year to ensure that no asset deteriorates beyond a predefined condition rating or that will allow for an existing renewal gap to be reduced over time.

Which of the following comes after a period of recovery in the business cycle?

The recovery phase is said to be the period between the previous trough and the time when the economy achieves its previous peak level of real GDP. The “expansion” phase is from that point until the following peak.

Which of the following conditions is most indicative of recovery quizlet?

Which of the following conditions is most indicative of recovery? The economy is growing again .

Which scenario best reflects the relationship between production and demand in a recession quizlet?

Which scenario best reflects the relationship between production and demand in a recession? Car dealerships cannot sell their stock.

What does has been renewed mean?

adjective. resumed, revived, or reestablished: After years of failed talks, people reacted skeptically to a declaration of renewed negotiations between the opposing factions.

What happens in the recovery period?

What happens during the recovery period? The body is allowed to adapt to the stress associated with exercise, replenishes muscle glycogen (energy stores) and provides time for the body tissue to repair .

What happens during a recovery period in the economy?

What Are the Characteristics of an Economic Recovery? The signs of an economic recovery are a decrease in unemployment, an increase in consumer spending, incomes rising, an increase in the gross domestic product (GDP), and improved business activity .

What is the recovery period for?

A recovery period is the amount of time you take between workouts . This period of time is when the benefits of your physical activity take place in your body. Without a recovery period, your muscles won't be able to build, repair, and strengthen in the ways you want them to.

Which of the following best describes the recovery movement quizlet?

The Recovery Movement refers to: A move away from the medical, disease-based focus of mental health treatment, to a wellness and recovery-based model .

What are the characteristics of the recovery stage of a business cycle quizlet?

What happens during a recovery? Recovery is the welcome phase in the business cycle in which unemployment begins to decrease, demand for goods and services increases, and gross domestic product (GDP) begins to rise again .

Which one of the following patients would best be served by being placed in the recovery position?

If a person is unconscious but is breathing and has no other life-threatening conditions , they should be placed in the recovery position. Putting someone in the recovery position will keep their airway clear and open.

What are the four stages in an economic recovery?

Key Takeaways An economic cycle is the overall state of the economy as it goes through four stages in a cyclical pattern: expansion, peak, contraction, and trough . Factors such as GDP, interest rates, total employment, and consumer spending can help determine the current stage of the economic cycle.

Which of the following is the most characteristic of an economy in the recession phase of the business cycle?

The Bottom Line A common rule of thumb is that two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth mean recession, but many use more complex measures to decide if the economy is in recession. Unemployment is one key feature of recessions.

Which Event Most Likely Explains Renewed Demand In A Recovery Period? Consumers Choose To Save More And Spend Less. Economic Policy Renews Consumer Confidence And Demand. Producers Decrease Prices To Prompt Demand And Recovery. Production Decreases To Pro (2023)

1. Which event most likely explains renewed demand in a recovery ...

Missing: save decreases
Which event most likely explains renewed demand in a recovery period? Need, and therefore demand, increases as goods wear out. When in a recovery period of hard

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2. - NATIONAL ENERGY ISSUES - GovInfo

... policy is increased domestic oil production. One of the things I am ... demand and will not alleviate American consumers facing high gasoline prices.

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3. Inline XBRL Viewer - SEC.gov

“J.P. Morgan” and “J.P. Morgan EM Sovereign and Corporate Credit Core Index” are trademarks of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and have been licensed for use for ...
The Inline XBRL viewer allows a user to quickly and easily review details of the tagged information in an Inline document by automatically placing a top and bottom highlight border around each tagged numeric fact and left and right border for each block tagged fact. Hovering over a tagged fact will highlight (shade) all content related to the tagged fact, and clicking on a tagged fact will reveal its tagging details in the Fact Review Window. Navigation, search and filter options are also provided to easily refine and identify specific types of tagged information.

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4. [PDF] Economic Report of the President 1962

The record of the economy since 1946 is a vast improvement over the prolonged mass unemployment of the 1930's. The Employment. Act itself deserves no small part ...

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5. [PDF] 2016 State of the State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo - NY.gov

Jan 11, 2016 · Because we spend less, we tax less—at the lowest rates in a century. ... In this period, people are most likely to recidivate and are most ...

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6. [PDF] Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations

Feb 12, 2001 · It will lead to significant reductions in future demand for electricity, oil, natural gas, aid coal. It does not entirely solve our nation's ...

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7. [PDF] world economic - the United Nations

It then examines regional and national developments with particular attention to policy changes, especially in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. In ...

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8. [PDF] World Intellectual Property Report

WIPO Economics & Statistics Series. Page 3. FOREWORD. Page 4. 3. FOREWORD. Brands pervade everyday life. They are an indispensable guide for consumers and a ...

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9. [PDF] Social Indicators Study of Alaskan Coastal Villages

Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and the policies of the Service, nor does mention of trade names or commercial ...

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10. [PDF] MAJOR FUTURE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES - Scholars at Harvard

Jun 3, 2021 · We chose members first and foremost based on their economic expertise. They are very diverse in their intellectual and political choices and ...

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11. https://mises.org/search-mises-export?search=Savin...

... most of our jobs? Things would become less expensive, and humans would ... demand for available organs far outstrips the supply, and several thousand ...
"Title","Type","Author","Category","Online Publish Date","Summary","URL" "Is There a Glut of Saving?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2005","Following Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, in his testimony to the Congress on July 20,2005, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said that it is quite likely that we are currently experiencing a global savings glut. Agreeing with Bernanke, the Fed chairman views this glut as one of the factors behind the so-called interest rate conundrum, i.e., long-term rates have been...","https://mises.org/library/there-glut-saving" "The Function of Saving","Library Item","Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk","Articles of Interest, Journals, Other Journals","July 20, 2005","Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volume 17 (1901) Under the above title Mr. Bostedo has criticised, in the January number of the ANNALS,1 some views which I expressed in my work, ""The Positive Theory of Capital,"" in regard to the influence of saving on the formation of capital. While I advanced and illustrated by means of various examples the opinion, that an...","https://mises.org/library/function-saving" "The ""Paradox"" of Saving","Library Item","Friedrich A. Hayek","Mises Daily Articles","November 4, 2006","This essay originally appeared in the Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, Bd. I, Heft III, 1929, under the title ""Gibt es einen Widersinn des Sparens?"" The first English translation appeared in Economica, May, 1931.1 Introduction The assertion that saving renders the purchasing power of the consumer insufficient to take up the volume of current production, although made more often by members of the...","https://mises.org/library/paradox-saving" "The Demographics of Saving and Growth","Library Item","Christopher Mayer","Mises Daily Articles","August 20, 2003","A common economic view predicts that the aging societies of the West portend lower economic growth in the future because these older populations are likely to save more (and consume less) than younger populations. Increased savings, then, is viewed as unfriendly for growth. Higher levels of consumption, conversely, are viewed more favorably.Also implicit in the framing of this argument is the...","https://mises.org/library/demographics-saving-and-growth" "The Upside of Lockdowns: More Saving","Library Item","Doug French","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","January 17, 2021","Rothbard: ""At the outset of every step forward on the road to a more plentiful existence is saving….Without saving and capital accumulation there could not be any striving toward nonmaterial ends."" Original Article: ""The Upside of Lockdowns: More Saving"" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. ","https://mises.org/library/upside-lockdowns-more-saving" "Your Grandfather's Saving Rate","Wire","Christopher Westley","","January 30, 2006","The AP is reporting that the US saving rate was negative for all of 2005, something that hasn't happened for 70 years:The savings rate has been negative for an entire year only twice before _ in 1932 and 1933 _ two years when the country was struggling to cope with the Great Depression, a time of massive business failures and job layoffs.With employment growth strong now, analysts said that...","https://mises.org/wire/your-grandfathers-saving-rate" "Is Saving Bad for the Economy?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","June 20, 2001","At the March meeting of the Fed’s Open Market Committee, officials expressed concern that consumers might boost their savings, thereby weakening or even aborting the economic expansion. Most economists concur with the view that what keeps the economy going is consumption expenditure. Furthermore, it is generally held that spending, rather than individual saving, is the essential condition for...","https://mises.org/library/saving-bad-economy" "Saving Versus Hoarding","Wire","George Reisman","","October 17, 2006","Saving is the use of revenue or income by a business or individual for purposes other than expenditure on consumers' goods (or consumers' services). It is revenue or income that is not consumed.Because what is saved is not spent by the saver for consumption, a popular fallacy has grown up that saving is synonymous with hoarding—i.e., with the retention of money in the manner of a miser. This...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-versus-hoarding" "The Upside of Lockdowns: More Saving","Wire","Doug French","","January 14, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Something good is coming out of the covid lockdowns. Economist David Rosenberg released a special report via the eponymous Rosenberg Research, concluding “the pre-COVID-19 ‘norm’ of a 7% personal savings rate will morph into a post-COVID-19 norm of 10%.” Rosenberg makes frequent TV appearances after he was chief North American economist at...","https://mises.org/wire/upside-lockdowns-more-saving" "Saving Robert Murphy","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","July 18, 2011","When I think of all the worries Keynesians seem to findAnd how they’re in a hurry to complicate their mindsBy chasing after money with nothing else in viewAustrians are different, we see the problem through(sung to “Let’s Live for Today,” with apologies to the Grassroots)In a recent series of blog posts on the meaning of saving, Bob Murphy gives the following example intended to illustrate and...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-robert-murphy" "Is Saving Money Bad for the Economy?","Library Item","Gregory Bresiger","Mises Daily Articles","October 3, 2013","Our grandparents believed in the value of thrift, but many of their grandchildren don’t.That’s because cultural and economic values have changed dramatically over the last generations as political and media elites have convinced many Americans that saving is passé. So today, under the influence of Keynesian economists who champion government spending and high levels of consumption, thrift has...","https://mises.org/library/saving-money-bad-economy" "The Outlook for Saving and Investment","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","August 8, 2011","[February 12, 1966]Writing in 1817, David Ricardo in his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation pointed to the experience that ""the fancied or real insecurity of capital, when not under the immediate control of its owner"" checks the emigration of capital. Thus most men of property prefer a low rate of profit in their own country to a more advantageous employment for their wealth in foreign...","https://mises.org/library/outlook-saving-and-investment" "8. The Outlook for Saving and Investment","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","Writing in 1817, David Ricardo in his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation pointed to the experience that ""the fancied or real insecurity of capital, when not under the immediate control of its owner"" checks the emigration of capital. Thus most men of property prefer a low rate of profit in their own country to a more advantageous employment for their wealth in foreign nations.1 This was...","https://mises.org/8-outlook-saving-and-investment" "Saving Socialists From Themselves","Wire","David Howden","","June 14, 2014","French Socialist President Francois Hollande won his election in 2012 on a platform to soak the rich and protect the generous welfare state. Now his Prime Minister Manuel Valls is warning that such policies could cause the French left to disappear unless Socialist party supporters start backing the government’s business-friendly reforms.After humiliating losses to the National Front in the recent...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-socialists-themselves" "MMT Confusion on Saving and Investment","Power & Market","Arkadiusz Sieroń","","June 17, 2020","A main thesis of modern monetary theory (MMT) is that fiscal deficits are not a problem. On the contrary, they create financial assets for the private sector (in a closed economy, a public sector deficit equals a private sector surplus). Moreover, if the government can always create money to cover its expenses, there is no need to fuss about government deficits. The pursuit of a balanced budget...","https://mises.org/power-market/mmt-confusion-saving-and-investment" "The Form of Saving Matters","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 9, 2010","Although Austrian economists agree on most of the ""big picture"" issues, even so there are some internal controversies. One of the most heated debates within the Austrian camp centers on the economic benefits (or lack thereof) of the practice of fractional-reserve banking. Just about every Austrian today thinks that our current financial system — cartelized and propped up by the government — is...","https://mises.org/library/form-saving-matters" "How Saving Grows the Economy","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","Mises Daily Articles","October 10, 2014","Back in the 1980s, Irwin Schiff, anti-tax activist, political prisoner, and father of free-market pundit Peter Schiff, wrote a marvelous comic book titled How an Economy Grows and Why It Doesn’t, which teaches economic principles through a light-hearted story. The comic starts with three islanders — Able, Baker, and Charlie — who live off of fish, which they catch in the sea. They have no tools...","https://mises.org/library/how-saving-grows-economy" "Japan no longer a 'saving power'","Wire","Robert Blumen","","June 11, 2003","The Daily Yomiuri reports that the Japanese savings rate is converging toward the US savings rate, which is approximately zero. The incredible willingness of Japanese to defer present satisfaction in favor of investment in productive capacity was one of the major factors in their rapid economic growth from an impoverished nation as recently as the end of World War 2 into one of the world's...","https://mises.org/wire/japan-no-longer-saving-power" "6. The Beneficiaries of Saving-Investment","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","We have seen that an increase in saving and investment causes an increase in the real incomes of owners of labor and land factors. The latter is reflected in increases in the capital value of ground lands. The benefits to land factors, however, accrue only to particular lands. Other lands may lose in value, although there is an aggregate gain. This is so because usually lands are relatively...","https://mises.org/6-beneficiaries-saving-investment" "The Relationship Between Saving and Money ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 18, 2017","Conventional wisdom says that savings is the amount of money left after monetary income was used for consumer outlays. Hence, for a given consumer outlays an increase in money income implies more saving and thus more funding for investment. This in turn sets the platform for higher economic growth.Following this logic, one could also establish that increases in money supply are beneficial to the...","https://mises.org/wire/relationship-between-saving-and-money" "Hayek on the Paradox of Saving","Library Item","Robert Blumen","Mises Daily Articles","January 9, 2008","Chronic underconsumption is an idea most often associated with Keynes. But while the infamous English economist published his General Theory in 1936, Hayek's 1929 article ""The 'Paradox' of Savings"" analyzes a similar theory advanced by two Americans a decade before.[1] While the two authors have nearly vanished from history, the insights contained in Hayek's nearly forgotten article are more...","https://mises.org/library/hayek-paradox-saving" "Saving, Trade, and the Confidence Fairy","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","July 14, 2011","The last-minute negotiations over the debt ceiling have brought the economic pundits out in force. In the midst of a terrible recession, the contrast between Austrian and Keynesian analysis is striking. The Austrians recommend the virtues of saving and investment, while Keynesians preach the opposite. Things are so topsy-turvy that in this article, I'm actually going to defend President Obama...","https://mises.org/library/saving-trade-and-confidence-fairy" "Saving the State from Itself","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","December 28, 2010","[Can Government Go Bankrupt? • By Richard Rose and Guy Peters • Basic Books, 1978 • 283 pages.]We have come to expect from Basic Books a product unique in trade-book publishing: acute intelligence and thorough scholarship combined with readability. Can Government Go Bankrupt? can only devalue Basic's reputation.It is, in the first place, a piece of fluff, outrageously overpriced and overfootnoted...","https://mises.org/library/saving-state-itself" "CNBC Hates Saving","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","July 20, 2009","I realize it must be difficult to maintain a constant barrage of ""just breaking"" financial news stories, but CNBC really puts out some doozies. Take for example a recent article titled, ""Higher Savings Rate Is Great, But What About the Economy?"" When the title itself is nonsense — why would high savings be great if they destroyed the economy? — you know the article will be chock full of...","https://mises.org/library/cnbc-hates-saving" "Saving India from the Keynesians","Library Item","Shanmuganathan ""Shan"" Nagasundaram","Mises Daily Articles","March 22, 2012","In the murder mystery The Da Vinci Code, Silas the albino is in search of the keystone and, on confession by the four sénéchaux about the location, he visits the Saint Sulpice church in Paris to retrieve the same. However, upon digging at the specified spot, all that he finds is a stone with the inscription ""Job 38:11."" A nun explains the symbolism: ""Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further,""...","https://mises.org/library/saving-india-keynesians" "Saving the Dollar from Destruction","Library Item","Hans F. Sennholz","Mises Daily Articles","October 23, 2003","Never before in recent history have monetary and fiscal policies been as ""stimulative"" as today, and yet, the American economy remains weak and vulnerable. The Federal budget deficit for the 2003 fiscal year was posted at $555 billion, some six percent of GNP; it may continue to rise in coming years when new tax reductions add their weight. The Federal Reserve System has opened its flood gates...","https://mises.org/library/saving-dollar-destruction" "Saving Alabama from Bingo","Library Item","Briggs Armstrong","Mises Daily Articles","January 21, 2009"," Alabama Governor Bob Riley has become a paradigm of state interventionism and tax-and-spend policies. Historically, Governor Riley has carried out his big-government policies with the help of his attorney general, Troy King. Together they helped to expand the government's control towards a police state. Recent events have disrupted the rather unfortunate status quo.Troy King, appointed attorney...","https://mises.org/library/saving-alabama-bingo" "8. Income, Saving and Investment","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","The Failure of the ""New Economics"", Mises Media, Audio Books","January 8, 2010","From The Failure of the ""New Economics"". Narrated by Josiah Schmidt. ","https://mises.org/library/8-income-saving-and-investment" "Saving the U. S Economy","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Media, Interviews, Individual Interview","January 7, 2014","Interviewed by host Al Korelin, Mark Thornton discusses how Austrian Economic principles can lead the U. S. on the path back to prosperity. ","https://mises.org/library/saving-u-s-economy" "12. The Assault on Saving","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison, Jeffrey A. Tucker","Economics in One Lesson, Mises Media, Interviews","October 9, 2008","Recorded during the 2008 Mises University, Jeffrey Tucker interviews leading Austrian Economists on the topic of Henry Hazlitt's classic book Economics in One Lesson.This is the final interview in a series of twelve with leading Austrian Economists discussing each chapter of Hazlitt's book. ","https://mises.org/library/12-assault-saving" "Saving Marriage From the State","Wire","Christopher Westley","","July 13, 2004","For kicks, and to make sure that I don’t just buy libertarian “indoctrination” without listening to the opposition, I’m on the Heritage Foundation e-mail list. Today, I received an entertaining article on the PolicyWire. Marriage Amendment Protects Federalism by Edwin Meese III. The sad thing is, it’s not intended to be entertaining. But, when error is so rampant in a document it’s hard not to...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-marriage-state" "Hayek on the Paradox of Saving","Wire","Robert Blumen","","January 8, 2008","Chronic underconsumption is an idea most often associated with Keynes. But while the infamous English economist published his General Theory in 1936, Hayek's 1929 article ""The 'Paradox' of Savings"" analyzes a similar theory advanced by two Americans a decade before. While the two authors have nearly vanished from history, the insights contained in Hayek's nearly forgotten article are more...","https://mises.org/wire/hayek-paradox-saving" "The ECB Is Saving the Dollar ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","March 17, 2015","There are many risks to the dollar out there, but a more valuable euro isn't one of them. In a world of free-floating fiat currencies, currency value is mostly relative. Thus, the dollar might have faced stiff competition from the euro if the ECB were not committed to its own version of quantitative easing. In other words, the ECB's devotion to doing ""whatever it takes"" to keep the easy money...","https://mises.org/wire/ecb-saving-dollar" "Ending the Lockdowns Isn't about Saving Money. It's about Saving Lives.","Library Item","Gary Galles","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","April 27, 2020","""Saving lives versus saving money"" comparisons confuse ends with means. The end of saving the economy is not to have more money. The end is to have resources necessary to preserve the lives and health of countless human beings. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: ""Ending the Lockdowns Isn't about Saving Money. It's...","https://mises.org/library/ending-lockdowns-isnt-about-saving-money-its-about-saving-lives" "Ending the Lockdowns Isn't about Saving Money. It's about Saving Lives. ","Wire","Gary Galles","","April 25, 2020","The relationship between ends and means has long been debated. For instance, the legacy of “the end justifies the means” traces back to Sophocles’s Electra four centuries before Christ, Ovid’s Heroides, and Machiavelli’s The Prince. And more recently, Leonard Read pointed out that if the ends are just hopes that will not, in fact, be achieved, they cannot justify means that infringe on others’...","https://mises.org/wire/ending-lockdowns-isnt-about-saving-money-its-about-saving-lives" "The Saving Problem in America: Alternatives and Reforms","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","September 20, 2020","Savings are the foundation for a productive and advanced economy. Unfortunately, governments insist on policies that make it harder for ordinary people to save. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: ""The Saving Problem in America: Alternatives and Reforms"". ","https://mises.org/library/saving-problem-america-alternatives-and-reforms" "Artificial Booms and the Theory of ""Forced Saving""","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","September 7, 2018","In the broad sense of the term, “forced saving” arises whenever there is an increase in the quantity of money in circulation or an expansion of bank credit (unbacked by voluntary saving) which is injected into the economic system at a specific point. If the money or credit were evenly distributed among all economic agents, no “expansionary” effect would appear, except the decrease in the...","https://mises.org/wire/artificial-booms-and-theory-forced-saving" "Saving Us From the Savings Crisis","Wire","Gary Galles","","February 2, 2007","That Americans do not save enough has been repeated so often it is now widely accepted, especially with baby boom retirements looming. Now, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that our e personal savings rate was minus one percent for all of 2006.That result, following a long train of other ominous-sounding data, has led many to conclude that Americans face a savings ""crisis,"" so...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-us-savings-crisis" "Posner's Two Arguments for Forced Saving","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","February 8, 2005","Here Richard Posner argues against a free market and for mandatory savings and hence for Bush's privatization program: ""[I]t is plausible to model the individual as a succession of selves with different preferences. A young person may dislike the idea of growing old and may be inclined therefore to refuse to make provision for his old self. The old self—the self that will not emerge and 'take...","https://mises.org/wire/posners-two-arguments-forced-saving" "The Saving Problem in America: Alternatives and Reforms","Wire","Mark Thornton","","September 15, 2020","Since before covid-19 and the lockdown, I have written articles that touch on the purpose and importance of personal savings, and more importantly, why the lack of personal savings was going to make an economic crisis in the year 2020 potentially tragic for most Americans. As a result, I have been interviewed a couple of times specifically on the topic of personal savings. These interactions have...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-problem-america-alternatives-and-reforms" "Saving — not Spending — Is the Engine of Economic Growth ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 24, 2018","Most economists concur with the view that what keeps the economy going is consumption expenditure. Furthermore, it is generally held that spending, rather than individual saving, is the essential condition for production and prosperity. Savings is seen to be detrimental to economic activity as it weakens the potential demand for goods and services. In this framework of thinking, economic activity...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-not-spending-engine-economic-growth" "Daylight Saving Time: A Government Annoyance","Library Item","James Alexander Webb","Mises Wire","March 11, 2016","On March 13 Americans will, in their tolerant nature, acquiesce once again to a government initiated (and hardly popular) loss of one hour, and the setting of clocks out of sync with our planet’s celestial rhythm.After an earlier (unpopular) 1918 trial of Daylight Saving Time and its later repeal in 1919, it was re-enacted nationwide under Nixon under the “Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy...","https://mises.org/library/daylight-saving-time-government-annoyance" "The Central Role of Saving and Capital Goods","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","July 19, 2011","[The Freeman (1963); republished in Economic Freedom and Interventionism (1980)] As the popular philosophy of the common man sees it, human wealth and welfare are the products of the cooperation of two primordial factors: nature and human labor. All the things that enable man to live and to enjoy life are supplied either by nature or by work or by a combination of nature-given opportunities with...","https://mises.org/library/central-role-saving-and-capital-goods" "Saving Industry X Via Bailouts and Regulations ","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","April 29, 2014","By Henry Hazlitt [ Chapter 14 of Economics in One Lesson.]Saving the X IndustryThe lobbies of Congress are crowded with representatives of the X industry. The X industry is sick. The X industry is dying. It must be saved. It can be saved only by a tariff, by higher prices, or by a subsidy. If it is allowed to die, workers will be thrown on the streets. Their landlords, grocers, butchers, clothing...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-industry-x-bailouts-and-regulations" "8.06. The Beneficiaries of Saving-Investment","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market, Mises Media, Audio Books, Murray N. Rothbard Audiobooks","August 20, 2011","From Man, Economy, and State, narrated by Jeff Riggenbach. ","https://mises.org/library/806-beneficiaries-saving-investment" "The Role of Saving in the Process of Income Formation","Library Item","Wladimir Kraus","Articles of Interest, Journals, Other Journals","November 8, 2005","Abstract: The present paper attempts to explain some very serious fallacies contained in the idea of “circular flow of macroeconomic activity”, upon which virtually everything in mainstream macroeconomics is built and which provides a substantial portion of its conceptual framework. The critique proceeds by analyzing the concept of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is widely accepted as being “...","https://mises.org/library/role-saving-process-income-formation" "Saving, not Technology, Is the Key to Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","July 20, 2018","Most economic commentators are likely to agree that in relation to the period prior to the Great Depression, the present world is many times more sophisticated in terms of advanced technological knowledge. It is then tempted to suggest that with the present advanced technology we are in a position to generate enough real wealth to prevent a severe economic slump. On this way of thinking, ideas...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-not-technology-key-economic-growth" "Saving the Depression: A New Look at World War II","Library Item","Mark Skousen","Review of Austrian Economics, Volumes 1-10, Journals, Institute Publications","July 20, 2005","Mark Skousen Saving the Depression: A New Look at World War II Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Paper Capture Plug-in ","https://mises.org/library/saving-depression-new-look-world-war-ii" "Personal Saving Falls to Lowest Rate Since 2007","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","October 30, 2017","According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the US saving rate hit 3.1 percent in September. September's rate was the lowest saving rate reported since December 2007, when the rate was 3.0 percent. The BEA defines personal saving as equal to personal income less personal outlays and personal taxes.While the current rate represents the lowest rate in nearly a decade, the rate had fallen even...","https://mises.org/power-market/personal-saving-falls-lowest-rate-2007" "How to Avoid Depressions? Foster Saving and Investment","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","January 4, 2022","Economic depressions are not caused by a strong decline in the money stock, but by a depleted stock of real savings. Original Article: ""How to Avoid Depressions? Foster Saving and Investment"" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. ","https://mises.org/library/how-avoid-depressions-foster-saving-and-investment" "Ready for Retirement? Fewer and Fewer Americans Are Saving for That Time","Library Item","Doug French","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles, Mises Daily Articles","March 17, 2023","Because of inflation and a lack of a savings ethic, Americans are less prepared for retirement than ever. The numbers are discouraging. Original Article: ""Ready for Retirement? Fewer and Fewer Americans Are Saving for That Time"" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. ","https://mises.org/library/ready-retirement-fewer-and-fewer-americans-are-saving-time" "Economists Are Still Hooked on the Myth that Saving Is Bad for the Economy","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","November 8, 2019","According to new data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the personal saving rate in the US in September 2019 was 8.3 percent. That puts it near a six-year high, and comparable to the saving rate we saw during the early 1990s. Indeed, the personal saving rate has been heading upward steadily for the past eighteen months. And that's a bit of an unusual thing. For at least the past fifty...","https://mises.org/power-market/economists-are-still-hooked-myth-saving-bad-economy" "Thanks to Central Banks, Saving Rates Are Declining Worldwide","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 12, 2016","The media has again begun focusing on the fact that most Americans surveyed have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts. On Sunday, USAToday reported on ""America's spend-first mentality"" and last week, CNBC suggested that 34% of Americans ""have no savings at all.""The statistic that most Americans have less than $1,000 in sort of liquid emergency fund stems from a 2015 study by GoBankingRates...","https://mises.org/wire/thanks-central-banks-saving-rates-are-declining-worldwide" "Central Banks Sheepish as Savers Keep Saving ","Wire","Victor Xing","","October 4, 2016","How to Get a Higher Return for Savers and Find a Path Toward Higher InvestmentThe rise in the personal saving rate following the Great Recession was an unexpected development in light of the Federal Reserve’s effort to foster stronger consumer spending via ultra-accommodative monetary policies. From the perspective of some policymakers, a higher saving rate exerts downward pressure on the “...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-sheepish-savers-keep-saving" "Credit Expansion, Crisis, and the Myth of the Saving Glut","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","July 7, 2009","Credit Expansion, Standard Money, and Fiduciary MediaThe Stock Market and Real Estate BubblesEvasion of Responsibility for the BubblesThe Saving Glut ArgumentThe Nonexistence of a Saving GlutCurrent Account Deficits as a Byproduct of the Increase in the Quantity of MoneyNet Saving as a Byproduct of the Increase in the Quantity of MoneySummary and ConclusionNotesReaders who are already familiar...","https://mises.org/library/credit-expansion-crisis-and-myth-saving-glut" "Ready for Retirement? Fewer and Fewer Americans Are Saving for That Time","Wire","Doug French","","March 10, 2023","Thus, the nearly half the adults in America who haven’t saved remain childlike and live in barbarism. For those who are saving, volatile markets point to a less-than-cozy retirement for the majority. Last year’s beat down of the average 401(k) plan was 20 percent, which didn’t help. But retirement participants are keeping the sunny-side up, believing “they’ll move closer to their retirement goal...","https://mises.org/wire/ready-retirement-fewer-and-fewer-americans-are-saving-time" "4. The Economic Role of Saving and Capital Goods","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","As the popular philosophy of the common man sees it, human wealth and welfare are the products of the cooperation of two primordial factors: nature and human labor. All the things that enable man to live and to enjoy life are supplied either by nature or by work or by a combination of nature-given opportunities with human labor. As nature dispenses its gifts gratuitously, it follows that all the...","https://mises.org/4-economic-role-saving-and-capital-goods" "Don't Want a Liquidity Trap? More Saving Is the Answer","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 19, 2019","With interest rates in many countries close to zero or even negative, some commentators are of the view that monetary policy of the central banks are likely to become less effective in navigating the economy. In fact it is held that we have most likely reached a situation that the economy is approaching a liquidity trap. But what does this mean? In the popular framework of thinking that...","https://mises.org/wire/dont-want-liquidity-trap-more-saving-answer" "We Need the Pain that Comes with More Saving ","Library Item","C.Jay Engel","Mises Wire","March 16, 2016","The endgame of monetary side manipulations is upon us. Since 2008, central banks have done what they thought was needed to bring the markets back from the pain they experienced during the crash. The problem, of course, is that these Keynesians and Monetarists placed the high level of stock markets as the goal of “policy” and confused booming asset levels with economic growth.The enemy of...","https://mises.org/library/we-need-pain-comes-more-saving" "Price Gouging: A Life-Saving Market Mechanism","Power & Market","TJ Roberts","","September 13, 2018","As Hurricane Florence prepares to ravage the Southeastern United States, social media warriors, and “news” outlets are exclaiming their outrage at the business owners who are raising prices on essential items such as water, food, gasoline, plywood, and even hotel rooms. This “price gouging,” however, is absolutely essential, for people’s lives are at risk due to this storm. When clouded by...","https://mises.org/power-market/price-gouging-life-saving-market-mechanism" "Calvinists and Catholics Debate: Consumption vs. Saving","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","February 18, 2010","[This article is excerpted from An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, vol. 1, Economic Thought Before Adam Smith.] John Calvin's social and economic views closely parallel Luther's, and there is no point in repeating them here. There are only two main areas of difference: their views on usury, and on the concept of the ""calling,"" although the latter difference is more marked...","https://mises.org/library/calvinists-and-catholics-debate-consumption-vs-saving" "Did the Fed, or Asian Saving, Cause the Housing Bubble?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","November 19, 2008","Just about the only good thing to come out of the housing bubble is that many financial analysts are coming to see the virtue of the Austrian theory of the business cycle. Specifically, though Greenspan did his best to blame deregulation and foreigners who saved too much, many people now think that the Maestro's ultra-low interest rates in the wake of the dot-com crash may very well have sowed...","https://mises.org/library/did-fed-or-asian-saving-cause-housing-bubble" "Aren't Deficits Another Name for Saving? Nope.","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 2006","In response to my last article on government deficits, Stefan Karlsson alerted me to an openly Keynesian analysis at National Review Online. Although Tom Nugent's surprising piece ran back in 2004, its errors are timeless and hence worth exploding even today.CONFUSING CORRELATION WITH CAUSATIONNugent commits the standard Keynesian fallacy of relying on an accounting (or sometimes statistical)...","https://mises.org/library/arent-deficits-another-name-saving-nope" "Like Saving Ten Cents on a Trip to the Moon","Library Item","Thomas E. Woods, Jr.","Mises Media, Interviews, Individual Interview","February 18, 2011","Dennis Miller interviews Thomas E. Woods, Jr., author of 'Rollback,' who takes a closer look at Obama's new budget. Recorded 15 February 2011. [10:31] ","https://mises.org/library/saving-ten-cents-trip-moon" "Be sure to thank NASA for saving your life","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","November 29, 2007","One of the few memorable quotes from last nights GOP debate came from Mike Huckabee. In describing the ""earthly benefits"" devolped by NASA:""Whether it's the medical technologies that saved many of our lives and the lives of our families, it's the direct result from the space program,"" he said. ""We need to put more money into space and technology exploration.""To its credit, NASA is directly...","https://mises.org/wire/be-sure-thank-nasa-saving-your-life" "The ""Curse"" of Labor-Saving Machinery Is Nothing New","Wire","Brittany Hunter ","","January 10, 2017","At the end of last year, Amazon unveiled, “Amazon Go,” a futuristic, fully-automated convenience store set to open its doors in Seattle, Washington, within the next few months. While this exciting new venture promises to make quick-stop shopping trips easier for busy consumers, critics are wary of this type of advanced automation, and fear its widespread use could jeopardize a vast amount of jobs...","https://mises.org/wire/curse-labor-saving-machinery-nothing-new" "How to Avoid Depressions? Foster Saving and Investment","Wire","Frank Shostak","","December 29, 2021","In his writings, the leader of the monetarist school of thinking, Milton Friedman, blamed central bank policies for causing the Great Depression of 1930s. According to Friedman, the Federal Reserve failed to pump enough reserves into the banking system to prevent a collapse of the money stock. Because of this, Friedman held, the M1 money stock, which stood at $26.34 billion on March 1930, fell to...","https://mises.org/wire/how-avoid-depressions-foster-saving-and-investment" "13.4. Saving Our Boys from Alcohol and Vice","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","The Progressive Era, Mises Media, Audio Books, Murray N. Rothbard Audiobooks","December 20, 2017","From Chapter 13, ""World War I as Fulfillment: Power and the Intellectuals"". This audiobook is made available through the generosity of Mr. Tyler Folger. Narrated by Graham Wright. ","https://mises.org/library/134-saving-our-boys-alcohol-and-vice" "Standing Keynesian GDP on Its Head: Saving Not Consumption as the Main Source of Spending","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","February 13, 2008","IntroductionMost Spending in the Economic System Is Concealed Under Net InvestmentRestatement of National Income as Sales Minus Costs Plus WagesRevenue/Expenditure SubcomponentsWhy Net Investment Equals Productive Expenditure Minus CostsProductive Expenditure Exceeds Consumption ExpenditureKeynesian Macroeconomics Plays with Half a Deck: Inadequacy of GDPSaving as the Source of Most...","https://mises.org/library/standing-keynesian-gdp-its-head-saving-not-consumption-main-source-spending" "Saving Marxism from the Labor Theory of Value: It Is Still Bad Theory","Library Item","David Gordon","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","September 14, 2023","While Graham Priest seems to have ""rescued"" Marxism from the labor theory of value, he cannot rescue Marxism itself. Original Article: ""Saving Marxism from the Labor Theory of Value: It Is Still Bad Theory"" ","https://mises.org/library/saving-marxism-labor-theory-value-it-still-bad-theory" "US Household Saving Rate Vanishes, Credit Card Debt Soars","Library Item","Daniel Lacalle","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles, Mises Daily Articles","July 2, 2022","The United States economy may have delivered no growth in the first half of 2022 after the decline in the first quarter, narrowly avoiding a technical recession. Original Article: ""US Household Saving Rate Vanishes, Credit Card Debt Soars"" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. ","https://mises.org/library/us-household-saving-rate-vanishes-credit-card-debt-soars" "Why No Crisis Erupts When Real Saving Backs Up New Investment ","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","September 24, 2018","No economic crisis and consequent recession hit when the lengthening of the stages in the productive structure, a process we studied in the last chapter, results from a prior increase in voluntary saving, rather than from credit expansion banks bring about without the backing of any growth in real saving. Indeed if a sustained rise in voluntary saving triggers the process, this saving prevents...","https://mises.org/wire/why-no-crisis-erupts-when-real-saving-backs-new-investment" "Personal Saving Rate Falls to 10-Year Low in November ","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","January 16, 2018","In November 2017, the personal saving rate in the United States fell to a ten-year low, dropping to 2.9 percent. The last time the saving rate was lower than 2.9 percent was during November of 2007. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Americans are spending more and saving less: Americans spent more and saved less in November, a sign that low unemployment, robust consumer confidence...","https://mises.org/power-market/personal-saving-rate-falls-10-year-low-november" "Standing Keynesian GDP on Its Head: Saving Not Consumption as the Main Source of Spending","Wire","George Reisman","","February 13, 2008","According to the prevailing Keynesian dogma, consumption is the main form of spending in the economic system, while saving is mere nonspending and thus a ""leakage"" from the spending stream. This dogma underlies much of government economic policy in the United States, including the so-called economic stimulus package that has just been enacted. In this article, I prove, to the contrary, that...","https://mises.org/wire/standing-keynesian-gdp-its-head-saving-not-consumption-main-source-spending" "Sub-Zero Interest Rates as an Endless Daylight Saving Time ","Library Item","Brendan Brown","Mises Daily Articles","March 11, 2015","We all know about Milton Friedman’s money helicopter idiom and how President Obama’s architect in chief of Quantitative Easing used it to justify his “Great Monetary Experiment.” Less well known is Friedman’s idiom about daylight saving time, how he used this to illustrate the case for flexible exchange rates, and how it is now apparently justifying the plunge of money market rates in Europe to...","https://mises.org/library/sub-zero-interest-rates-endless-daylight-saving-time" "US Household Saving Rate Vanishes, Credit Card Debt Soars","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","June 22, 2022","The United States consumption figure seems robust. An 0.9 percent rise in personal spending in April looks good on paper, especially considering the challenges that the economy faces. This apparently strong figure is supporting an average consensus estimate for the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) of 3 percent, according to Blue Chip Financial Forecasts. However, the Atlanta Fed GDP ...","https://mises.org/wire/us-household-saving-rate-vanishes-credit-card-debt-soars" "CPAs Join With the Evil Ad Council to Promote Saving Habits","Wire","Karen De Coster, CPA","","September 16, 2007","360financialliteracy.org is a website that is run by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). The purpose of this venture is to get member CPAs to volunteer to teach financial literacy to the twenty-something and thirty-something masses. The AICPA makes use of its member dues and volunteer CPAs to help teach the benefits of saving and staying out of debt. Sounds good,...","https://mises.org/wire/cpas-join-evil-ad-council-promote-saving-habits" "Our Obsession with Consumption — while Ignoring Saving and Investment — Is a Big Problem","Wire","Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Juan Fernando Carpio","","June 13, 2018","[From an interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe conducted by Juan Fernando Carpio.] Carpio: Why do economists in general not teach the role of saving for the economy? Hoppe: I agree with your assessment: In the economics profession today very little attention is given to the role of savings and very much, indeed overwhelming importance is attached instead to the role of consumption. This is a very...","https://mises.org/wire/our-obsession-consumption-while-ignoring-saving-and-investment-big-problem" "Patents Kill: Compulsory Licenses and Genzyme’s Life Saving Drug","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","December 8, 2010","[See Update here.]As noted by Mike Masnick on Techdirt (post reprinted below), due to the monopoly granted by patent (yes, it is a monopoly), people are literally dying because Fabrazyme is in short supply and the sole, monopolistic manufacturer, Genzyme, can’t make enough quickly enough–and no one else is permitted to make it due to the patent. I’m sure the intellectual propergandists will...","https://mises.org/wire/patents-kill-compulsory-licenses-and-genzymes-life-saving-drug" "Saving the World from Environmentalist Billionaires: Review of Kingsman: The Secret Service","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","The Austrian, Institute Publications","April 30, 2015","Kingsman: The Secret Service is a big-budget semi-satirical take on the spy genre, featuring the film clichés audiences now associate with the James Bond and Jason Bourne franchises. These include global intrigue, amazing gadgetry, beautiful women, hand-to-hand combat, and multiple international locales.Many friends of laissez-faire, and those suspicious of today’s international elites, will...","https://mises.org/library/saving-world-environmentalist-billionaires-review-kingsman-secret-service" "A Desperate ECB Wants to Eliminate the Eurozone's ""Only Saving Grace""","Wire","Claudio Grass","","December 18, 2019","Economists, conservative investors, and market observers have been issuing stern warnings for years regarding the severe impact of the current monetary policy direction. The ECB's Poblems In a recent statement, European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Luis de Guindos warned of potential side effects and risks to the economy resulting directly from the central bank’s policies. He outlined how a...","https://mises.org/wire/desperate-ecb-wants-eliminate-eurozones-only-saving-grace" "Update: Patents Kill: Compulsory Licenses and Genzyme’s Life Saving Drug","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","January 19, 2011","In my post Patents Kill: Compulsory Licenses and Genzyme’s Life Saving Drug, I noted that, due to the monopoly granted by patent (yes, it is a monopoly), people are literally dying because the drug Fabrazyme is in short supply and the sole, monopolistic manufacturer, Genzyme, can’t make enough quickly enough–and no one else is permitted to make it due to the patent.In response to my blogging...","https://mises.org/wire/update-patents-kill-compulsory-licenses-and-genzymes-life-saving-drug" "Hard Green: Saving the Environment From the Environmentalists, by Peter Huber","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 2000","Beauty By ContractMises Review 6, No. 2 (Summer 2000)HARD GREEN: SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT FROM THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS. A CONSERVATIVE MANIFESTOPeter HuberBasic Books, 1999, xxxi + 223 pgs. Peter Huber's valuable book relies in part on a questionable premise, but this very dependence makes possible its key contribution. Like the Soft Greens whom it is his principal aim to combat, Mr. Huber believes...","https://mises.org/library/hard-green-saving-environment-environmentalists-peter-huber" "Money Printing Can't Replace Saving and Production as the Real Engine of Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 19, 2019","There are some signs that the pace of US economic activity is starting to slow down. For instance, the yearly growth rate of industrial production, which closed at 5.4% in September 2018, fell to 1.3% by June this year (see chart). In addition, the annual growth rate of the consumer price index (CPI) eased from 2.9% in July last year to 1.6% by June this year (see chart). Once economic activity...","https://mises.org/wire/money-printing-cant-replace-saving-and-production-real-engine-economic-growth" """Overconsumption and Forced Saving in the Mises-Hayek Theory of the Business Cycle""","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Articles of Interest, Journals, Other Journals","July 20, 2005","History of Political Economy, vol. 36, no. 2 (summer) 2004 ","https://mises.org/library/overconsumption-and-forced-saving-mises-hayek-theory-business-cycle" "MMT Says Government Debt Makes Private Saving Possible","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy, Patrick Newman","The Human Action Podcast, Mises Media, Interviews","June 23, 2023","Mises Institute Fellow Patrick Newman joins Bob to discuss a recent tweet from Stephanie Kelton, which argued that the government's ""red ink makes our black ink possible."" Patrick and Bob point out that these MMT tautologies are very misleading at best. Patrick also lays out the argument in his journal article, saying that MMT's debt monetization won't cause a boom-bust cycle, but will still...","https://mises.org/library/mmt-says-government-debt-makes-private-saving-possible" "Saving Marxism from the Labor Theory of Value: It Is Still Bad Theory","Wire","David Gordon","","August 18, 2023","Capitalism—Its Nature and Its Replacement: Buddhist and Marxist Insightsby Graham PriestRoutledge, 2021; 312 pp. The title of this book seems at first sight puzzling: what has Buddhism to do with Marxism? When we learn that the author accepts Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism and also wishes to replace capitalism with a type of socialism, we might be tempted to toss the book aside. It would be a...","https://mises.org/wire/saving-marxism-labor-theory-value-it-still-bad-theory" "Biden’s New Intersectionality: Where Equity Policies Meet Bad Economics","Wire","William L. Anderson","","May 15, 2023","In the summer of 2020, the Smithsonian Institution created a chart meant to condemn what it calls “whiteness,” and it listed a number of characteristics it claimed were essential to “white culture.” Among the so-called characteristics it described in pejorative terms was delaying gratification, or saving for the future, what Austrian economists would call low time preference. The chart, which was...","https://mises.org/wire/bidens-new-intersectionality-where-equity-policies-meet-bad-economics" "Mises Daily Wednesday: Sub-Zero Interest Rates as an Endless Daylight Saving Time","Wire","Mises Institute","","March 11, 2015","Mises Daily Wednesday by Brendan Brown Milton Friedman once compared monetary stimulus to daylight saving time. But while daylight saving has an ending date, current monetary stimulus has no end in sight, and we’re just moving the clock ahead repeatedly without ever moving it back. ","https://mises.org/wire/mises-daily-wednesday-sub-zero-interest-rates-endless-daylight-saving-time" "Yes, We Have No Chaff: A Reply to Wagner's Austrian Cycle Theory: Saving the Wheat While Discarding the Chaff","Library Item","Walter Block","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014"," Volume 4, No. 1 (Spring 2001) Wagner charges the Austrian business cycle with “obsolescence,” and describes it as “incoherent.” What is the reason for this denunciation? It is obsolete. It cannot be denied that institutions have changed during these seven decades, but to think that this would call for an alteration of a praxeological theory is surely mistaken. No one denies that alternative ways...","https://mises.org/library/yes-we-have-no-chaff-reply-wagners-austrian-cycle-theory-saving-wheat-while-discarding-chaff" "The Saver as a Voter","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","December 20, 2017","[Originally published in 1957. Republished in Economic Freedom and Interventionism (1980).] In the phrase ""protection of savers,"" the word ""protection"" has a different meaning from that usually attributed to it in present-day political circles. Generally speaking, protection of the ""little man"" or of agriculture means protecting firms from competition on the market, at the expense of consumers....","https://mises.org/library/saver-voter" "Bursting Malaysia's Bubble","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","January 28, 2000","[This article ran in the The Asian Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2000. Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.]The performance of the Malaysian stock market this past year would appear to have vindicated Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's economic policies -- including his controversial decision to impose limited capital controls in September 1998. Less than one month into the New...","https://mises.org/library/bursting-malaysias-bubble" "The End of Bernanke's ""End Game""","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","May 13, 2011","In a recent screed masquerading as the thoughts of a Nobel prize winner in economics, Paul Krugman excoriates those who speak offear: fear of a debt crisis, of runaway inflation, of a disastrous plunge in the dollar. Scare stories are very much on politicians' minds.As Krugman explains, such worries are irrational and certainly untrue:None of these scare stories reflect anything that is actually...","https://mises.org/library/end-bernankes-end-game" "Are Savings Too Low?","Library Item","Richard Vedder","Mises Daily Articles","July 14, 1999","With the personal savings rate at historic lows, consider the comments of Richard Vedder, who offers an Austrian perspective on these data (from the Spring 1999 Austrian Economic Newsletter):AEN: What do you make of the Commerce Department's data showing historically low savings?VEDDER: It is true that the rise in equity prices have made people seem wealthier. And there is a well-known rule in...","https://mises.org/library/are-savings-too-low" "Will Conservation Save Us?","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","May 8, 2001","With the disappearance of the ""energy crisis"" in the early 1980s—an event that coincided with the ending of price and allocation controls on the oil industry—many of us had hoped that the voices of ""conservation"" and ""alternative energy"" would have been stilled. Unfortunately, we have had no such luck, and in the wake of yet more government-caused energy problems, the political classes and their...","https://mises.org/library/will-conservation-save-us" "Should We Worry About Falling Savings?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","February 22, 2006","According to the latest Government report the personal savings rate has plunged to negative 0.7% in December from negative 0.2% in November. This was the seventh consecutive negative savings rate. Note that the average of the savings rate since 1959 stood at 7.2%.Many experts are of the view that the falling savings rate points to a growing dependence on the inflow of foreign capital to keep the...","https://mises.org/library/should-we-worry-about-falling-savings" "What is the Condition of U.S. Savings?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 20, 2009","According to the latest government data, the personal saving rate has eased to 4.6% in June from 6.2% in the month before. Despite the fall in the personal saving rate from May to June, the saving rate of 4.6% must be contrasted with the rate of 0.4% in June of just last year. In terms of the dollar, personal saving climbed from an annual $46 billion in June 2008 to $505 billion in June of this...","https://mises.org/library/what-condition-us-savings" "How to Eliminate Social Security and Medicare","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","April 8, 2011","Expenditures under the Social Security and Medicare programs account for approximately one-third of total federal government spending.1 It is obvious that any major reduction in government spending requires major reductions in spending for these programs. Unfortunately, Social Security and Medicare are generally regarded as sacred and thus virtually untouchable, with the result that few if any...","https://mises.org/library/how-eliminate-social-security-and-medicare" "Investors Finally Fear the Inflation Precipice","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","February 10, 2011","Well it's about time. The headline on Monday's CNBC article announces: ""Investors Starting to Believe That Inflation Threat is Real.""For some time, I have been a proud member of the fuddy duddies who have been predicting the return of serious stagflation. Thus far, our prognostications have clearly been half-right — the ""real economy"" is indeed caught in a terrible rut, far worse than most of the...","https://mises.org/library/investors-finally-fear-inflation-precipice" "Will Central Bankers Become Central Planners?","Library Item","Robert Blumen","Mises Daily Articles","July 31, 2006","As if fighting inflation, smoothing out the business cycle, and saving the world from economic crises were not enough, central banks are being advised to include another objective in their mission: the purchase and management of stock portfolios.The Washington Post reports that former Treasury Secretary (and soon-to-be-former president of Harvard University) Lawrence Summers ""is advising some of...","https://mises.org/library/will-central-bankers-become-central-planners" "The Fed Obliterates the Savings Ethic","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","April 13, 2011","Depression babies learned early that ""saving for a rainy day"" was not something one hopes to do but a requirement. The saying originated when most people worked on the farm. And when it rained, the fields were too wet to plow, and the farmer — not to mention the hired hands — made no money.Of course, my grandfather was the diligent sort who would use rainy days to do required maintenance on his...","https://mises.org/library/fed-obliterates-savings-ethic" "Savings Is Not Just a Good Thing","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","May 7, 2009","The recent news that Regions Bank scored the worst of the nation's 19 largest banks on the federal government's stress tests reflected its bad loan decisions made during the economic boom. Regions' subsequent acceptance of TARP money, whether done willingly or not, meant that taxpayers would be involuntarily assuming that troubled bank's risk when a free society would have required it to...","https://mises.org/library/savings-not-just-good-thing" "Anti-Obamanomics: Why Everyone Should Be in Favor of Reducing Taxes on the ""Rich""","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","August 28, 2008","[Portions of this article are adapted from pp. 308–310 and 830–831 of the author's Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics.]IAre the American people being primed to elect as President of the United States a home-grown version of Hugo Chavez, in the person of Barack Obama? This is a question one can come away with after reading ""Obamanomics,"" the featured article in this last Sunday's (August 24, 2008...","https://mises.org/library/anti-obamanomics-why-everyone-should-be-favor-reducing-taxes-rich" "Put On a Happy Face?","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","September 27, 2010","Since two years of zero interest rates, $800 billion in fiscal stimulus, and the bailout of any business remotely viewed as systemically important haven't resuscitated the dead economy, now the tonic suggested is optimism. American business owners and consumers need to quit getting their daubers down and keep the sunny side up.George Mason professor of economics Tyler Cowen believes concern over...","https://mises.org/library/put-happy-face" "Let the Market Save Lives","Library Item","Douglas Carey","Mises Daily Articles","February 21, 2002","On November 1, 1999, at the age of 45, Chicago Bears football great Walter Payton died while waiting for a new liver to replace the one in his body that had been ravaged by a rare disease. Living in Chicago, I saw many people grieve and express sorrow for the fallen hero, who was truly one of the most stand-up athletes in professional sports.As most citizens of this town felt sadness, however, I...","https://mises.org/library/let-market-save-lives" "No More Euphemisms","Library Item","Charles Rounds","Mises Daily Articles","April 30, 2002","On the issue of Social Security reform, it’s time for both the left and right to get their acts together. They need to understand that the legal status of Social Security, and whether or not workers have legal rights to their accrued Social Security benefits, was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court years ago. It has long ceased to be a point-counterpoint thing.Economists need to get the legal...","https://mises.org/library/no-more-euphemisms" "The Trial of Lott","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","December 22, 2002","Following the media campaign against Lott, many people were astonished by the Senator's willingness to jettison all political principle for the sake of saving his status as Majority Leader. Why would a conservative Republican suddenly find himself embracing the full panoply of the left-wing racial agenda and flog himself so mercilessly?Consider what a Chinese political prisoner under Maoist...","https://mises.org/library/trial-lott" "As Time Goes By: The Factor of Time in Human Action","Library Item","Gene Callahan","Mises Daily Articles","March 23, 2007","[This article is excerpted from chapter 3 of Economics for Real People.]I'm going to ask you to imagine a slightly different conclusion to the first season of Survivor. In the original television show, the winner — the fellow who ""survived"" the longest — was a guy named Rich. In our alternate universe Rich is still the winner, but, as the film crew packs up, they decide that they are fed up with...","https://mises.org/library/time-goes-factor-time-human-action" "False Hopes, False Fears, and Real Concerns","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","June 17, 2003","The current economic conditions in the U.S. compared to the conditions of the period from 1995–2000 have generated, according to Edmund Phelps (""False Hopes for the Economy and False Fears,"" Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2003), two false hopes for the economy and two false fears. But is he justified in his interpretation of these false hopes and false fears?The first false hope is that we are in a...","https://mises.org/library/false-hopes-false-fears-and-real-concerns" "The Fed's New Tricks Are Creating Disaster","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","March 18, 2008","The Federal Reserve is trying a range of new tricks to push new forms of lending as a means of preventing what they fear may otherwise be a major collapse in financial markets. What all these strategies have in common is an unwillingness to come to terms with the reality that the crisis is based on real factors and can't be merely papered over without grave consequence to economic health.Thus,...","https://mises.org/library/feds-new-tricks-are-creating-disaster" "Should We Worry About Deflation?","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","November 18, 2008","[This essay originally appeared on LewRockwell.com.]There is now worldwide worrying about price deflation again. After all, real estate prices have sunk, stock prices have hit the ditch, the price of oil has the sheiks concerned, and even Las Vegas hotel room rates have plunged. Sounds like all good news for those of us who buy things, at the same time being a bit of a bummer for heavily indebted...","https://mises.org/library/should-we-worry-about-deflation" "Economic Lessons from the Amish","Library Item","Dan McLaughlin","Mises Daily Articles","June 21, 2007","The Amish are interesting people. Having lived much of my life in a rural area with a significant Amish population, I have had the opportunity to interact with them, and have some level of understanding of the culture. It is a fascinating study.The Amish make a conscious choice to live without most of the modern conveniences that Americans take for granted. They have strong religious beliefs and...","https://mises.org/library/economic-lessons-amish" "Thomas Paine on Paper Money","Library Item","Thomas Paine","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2022","I remember a German farmer expressing as much in a few words as the whole subject requires; ""money is money, and paper is paper."" All the invention of man cannot make them otherwise. The alchemist may cease his labors, and the hunter after the philosopher's stone go to rest, if paper can be metamorphosed into gold and silver, or made to answer the same purpose in all cases. Gold and silver are...","https://mises.org/library/thomas-paine-paper-money" "Should We Buy Only Locally Grown Produce?","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","July 15, 2008","While preparing to lead a discussion of the merits of trade with first-year students last fall, I came across a depressing headline in the Wall Street Journal. At the time, the Republicans were expressing skepticism about free trade. As a signatory to a petition to protest Hoover-era trade policies (like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff), I was dismayed. The implications of a shift away from free trade...","https://mises.org/library/should-we-buy-only-locally-grown-produce" "The Costs of Carbon Legislation","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","June 1, 2009","[An MP3 audio version of this article, read by Dr. Floy Lilley, is available as a free download.]In two of his recent op-eds (here and here) for the New York Times, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has challenged critics of the government's intentions to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, and he has even specifically endorsed the pending Waxman-Markey bill which includes a ""cap-and-trade"" program....","https://mises.org/library/costs-carbon-legislation" "The Recycling Myth","Library Item","Per Bylund","Mises Daily Articles","February 4, 2008","As a Swede I get to hear a lot of the myths of how wonderful a country Sweden supposedly is — the ""prosperous socialism"" it stands for, a role model for the rest of the world. For instance, quite a few friends from around the world have commended me on Swedish recycling polices and the Swedish government's take on coercive environmentalism.The way it has been presented to me, Sweden has succeeded...","https://mises.org/library/recycling-myth" "The Locavore's Dilemma: Local Food, Continued","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","August 18, 2008","I have received a lot of interesting and useful comments on my recent article about local foods, and I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few things and continue the conversation. If locally grown produce tastes better, and if one prefers to know where one's food is produced, then eating locally is a great idea. If one's goal is to have a smaller carbon footprint — to say nothing of...","https://mises.org/library/locavores-dilemma-local-food-continued" "El mito del reciclaje","Library Item","Per Bylund","Mises Daily Articles","February 4, 2008","Como sueco he tenido que escuchar un montón de mitos acerca del maravilloso país que supuestamente es Suecia —el «socialismo próspero» que representa, un papel modelo para el resto del mundo. Por ejemplo, bastantes amigos alrededor del mundo me han elogiado las políticas de reciclaje suecas y la adopción del gobierno sueco del ecologismo coactivo. En la forma en que me lo han presentado, Suecia...","https://mises.org/node/54336" "We Don't Need a President","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","March 6, 2008","Nothing could be better for the country than cancelling the 2008 election. Leave the office of the presidency empty.I can see only one possible justification for having a president of the United States: to preside over the dismantling of the federal government. If you think this is a radical idea, think again. This is, in part, what people have long voted for, even if they never actually get it....","https://mises.org/library/we-dont-need-president" "Eugen Richter and Late German Manchester Liberalism: A Reevaluation","Library Item","Ralph Raico","Review of Austrian Economics, Volumes 1-10, Journals, Institute Publications","July 20, 2005","Mark Skousen Saving the Depression: A New Look at World War II Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Paper Capture Plug-in ","https://mises.org/library/eugen-richter-and-late-german-manchester-liberalism-reevaluation" "Keynes Was a Keynesian","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Review of Austrian Economics, Volumes 1-10, Journals, Institute Publications","July 20, 2005","Mark Skousen Saving the Depression: A New Look at World War II Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Paper Capture Plug-in ","https://mises.org/library/keynes-was-keynesian-0" "Privatization to save socialism?","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","August 20, 2009","That’s the headline on this article from St. Petersburg Times: “Cuba’s leaders see private farmers as key to saving socialism.” It is an interesting read, further documenting the failure of all forms of socialism. Someone in the White House should read this.But is the notion itself absurd? The undoing of socialism is the solution being discussed here. The idea that this somehow saves socialism is...","https://mises.org/wire/privatization-save-socialism" "The Freeman August 1953 B","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","The Freeman 1950-1953, Journals, Other Journals","July 14, 2009","Can Taft Be Replaced? - Henry HazlittWhat to Call yourself - Max EastmanEconomic ""Miracle"" in Germany - Wilhelm RopkeAre We Saving Stalin's Heirs? - Boris ShubUnion Peace Means Monopoly - Leo WolmanWhere Prisoners Are Trusted - Don Wharton ","https://mises.org/library/freeman-august-1953-b" "Rawlsian Investment Rules for ""Intergenerational Equity"" Breaches of Method and Ethics","Library Item","John Brätland","The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Harvard professor of philosophy, John Rawls, can be credited with provoking the most recent angst over the issue of intergenerational equity. Rawls views intergenerational equity as a policy issue necessitating governmental intervention to manage “social saving and investment” for the benefit of the least advantaged generation.Volume 21, Number 4 (2007) ","https://mises.org/library/rawlsian-investment-rules-intergenerational-equity-breaches-method-and-ethics" "A Comparison of Direct Investment of Savings and Cash Building of Savings: A Response to Alexandru Pătruți","Library Item","Philipp Bagus","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","March 2, 2017"," Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 19, no. 4 (Winter 2016)ABSTRACT: When individuals save more and invest directly in projects there results capital accumulation and growth. When individuals save more in order to add to their cash holdings, consumer goods are liberated that can be used for capital accumulation causing also economic growth. At first sight, the processes seem similar. But are...","https://mises.org/library/comparison-direct-investment-savings-and-cash-building-savings-response-alexandru-patruti" "Eating Seedcorn","Wire","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","","May 29, 2003","Sean Corrigan writes: In a study of Britons’ savings habit (‘What saving habit?’ you might well ask!), Sainsbury’s Bank said that while people were generally advised to save between 10 and 15 per cent of their income, their research had found that the 12.4 million people who are in full-time work were saving just 4.7 per cent, while the 3.7 million part-time workers were putting aside barely 3...","https://mises.org/wire/eating-seedcorn" "Bleaching Ourselves to Death","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","February 28, 2011","p>San Fransisco’s push for low-flush toilets has created a serious problem. There is not enough water flowing through the system, and so the back up has created a gigantic, city-wide stink. This can be fixed but only by pouring massive, unthinkable amounts of bleach into the sewer system, a prospect that has many people very alarmed. It’s the old story: intervention begets intervention....","https://mises.org/wire/bleaching-ourselves-death" "Is There a Savings Glut? ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 1, 2016","In his speech at the New York Federal Reserve of New York on October 5, 2016, the Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer has suggested that a visible decline in the natural interest rate in the US could be on account of the world glut of saving. According to Fischer, both increased saving and reduced investments have potentially significantly lowered the natural rate of interest. For...","https://mises.org/wire/there-savings-glut" "Production: Entrepreneurship and Change","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Rothbard Graduate Seminar, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Courses on Economics","August 21, 2008","Entrepreneurs see the future better than others and go and make money off it. Profits are an index that maladjustments are being met and combatted by the profit-making entrepreneurs. Capital does not beget profits. Only wise entrepreneurial decisions do that.The paradox of saving is that saving is the necessary and sufficient condition for increased production, and yet that such investment seems...","https://mises.org/library/production-entrepreneurship-and-change" "4. The Incidence and Effects of Taxation Part II: Taxes on Accumulated Capital","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","June 2, 2015","In a sense, all taxes are taxes on capital. In order to pay a tax, a man must save the money. This is a universal rule. If the saving took place in advance, then the tax reduces the capital invested in the society. If the saving did not take place in advance, then we may say that the tax reduced potential saving. Potential saving is hardly the same as accumulated capital, however, and we may...","https://mises.org/4-incidence-and-effects-taxation-part-ii-taxes-accumulated-capital" "4. The Incidence and Effects of Taxation Part II: Taxes on Accumulated Capital","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","March 31, 2016","In a sense, all taxes are taxes on capital. In order to pay a tax, a man must save the money. This is a universal rule. If the saving took place in advance, then the tax reduces the capital invested in the society. If the saving did not take place in advance, then we may say that the tax reduced potential saving. Potential saving is hardly the same as accumulated capital, however, and we may...","https://mises.org/4-incidence-and-effects-taxation-part-ii-taxes-accumulated-capital-0" "10. Banking and the Business Cycle","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Introduction to Austrian Economic Analysis, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Courses on Economics","June 23, 2006","The tenth and final lecture from Joseph Salerno's Introduction to Austrian Economic Analysis seminar.Loan banking is non-inflationary. Interest rates on loans are merely reflective of price spreads. All speculation, on the free-market, is self-correcting and speeds adjustment, rather than cause economic trouble.100% reserve banking is sound, but fractional reserve banking is inflationary. An...","https://mises.org/library/10-banking-and-business-cycle" "Liberty Magazine 17.7","Library Item","","Liberty Magazine, Journals, Other Journals","November 11, 2010","The First Ground Zero, Ralph Pray; Healthy Marriages, Stephen Baskerville; Dialogue With an In-Your-Face Libertarian, Bruce Ramsey; Lafayette Is Dead, James K. Lambert; The Dubious Virtue of SUVs, Jeff Riggenbach; Deceit, Death, and the Pursuit of Power, Bettina Bien Greaves; The Polyurethane Revolution, Michael Christian; War, Crisis, and Character, Jo Ann Skousen; Lawyers vs. the Law, Martin...","https://mises.org/library/liberty-magazine-177" "Free Market Economics: A Basic Reader","Library Item","Bettina Bien Greaves","Books","April 10, 1975","Bettina Bien Greaves put this volume together as a one-stop primer in economics that includes the best economic writing she had run across.They are arranged by topic to cover the division of labor, prices, profits, property, competition, saving and investment, environment, antitrust, money and banking, advertising and marketing, and more.Authors include Read, Mises, Bastiat, Greaves, Kirzner,...","https://mises.org/library/free-market-economics-basic-reader" "The Freeman January 1954 B","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","The Freeman 1950-1953, Journals, Other Journals","July 14, 2009","Behind the Lines in Indo-China - Robert DonLevinA New Kind of Saving - Harrison NegleyTwilight of the Utopias - William H. ChamberlinMore About the Eggheads - Henry HazlittEconomic Comeback in Peru - Stanley HighPrivate vs. Public Planning - William H. PetersonBoy Herol Soviet Style - Lucy S. DavidowiczPink-Tinted Knowledge - Walter NewlinTerror on the Campus - M. K. Argus ","https://mises.org/library/freeman-january-1954-b" "The Costs of Carbon Legislation","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Media, Audio Mises Daily","June 1, 2009","The real threat to humanity comes from governments growing ever more powerful in the name of fighting climate change. Whether you are a ""denier"" or whether you think carbon dioxide emissions need to be sharply reduced very quickly, you should be extremely skeptical of the process now unfolding in Washington. This isn't about saving the planet; it's about money and power, writes Robert P. Murphy....","https://mises.org/library/costs-carbon-legislation-0" "Today is Ronald Coase's 102nd Birthday","Wire","Mark Thornton","","December 29, 2012","Not only is he still alive but the Nobel Laurette is working on a new book and is starting a new journal. He recently published an article in the Harvard Business Review criticizing modern economics for not being realistic.Here is Murray Rothbard's comments on Coase's lectures. Go to page 253. ","https://mises.org/wire/today-ronald-coases-102nd-birthday" "Treasury recalls 30 year bonds","Wire","Mark Thornton","","January 28, 2004","The U.S. Treasury is recalling some 30 year bonds, five years prior to their maturity. This provides them with a $500+ million dollar saving, but what happens to bond holders? It seems that the ""bellweather"" bond—an indicator of good and bad policy—is disappearing quicker than first thought. Has the Treasury ever made such a recall in the past? ","https://mises.org/wire/treasury-recalls-30-year-bonds" "Neighborhood Housing too big and fancy","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","August 21, 2004","CNN gives advice on how to deal with the awful problem of big and fancy houses (McMansions) popping up in your neighborhood, increasing property values and drawing a more well-to-do set. Oh the silent sufferings wrought by economic development! ","https://mises.org/wire/neighborhood-housing-too-big-and-fancy" "Good Question Marty","Wire","Mark Thornton","","August 15, 2007","In his new NBER working paper Martin Feldstein writes that ""Reducing the large current account deficit will require both a higher rate of national saving and a more competitive dollar.""I love it: ""a more competitive dollar""Robert Blumen and other Austrians came to the same conclusion but would probably describe it differently.""Why is the Dollar so High?""NBER Working Paper No. W13114 Contact:...","https://mises.org/wire/good-question-marty" "St. Onge: Let’s Hope Machines Take Our Jobs","Wire","Mises Institute","","June 11, 2015","Mises Daily Thursday by Peter St. Onge: What if machines took most of our jobs? Things would become less expensive, and humans would become wealthier in real terms, just as has happened since the Industrial Revolution began. Fear of labor-saving technology continues unabated, nonetheless. ","https://mises.org/wire/st-onge-lets-hope-machines-take-our-jobs" "Capitalism Doesn't Cause Consumerism — Governments Do","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Radio Rothbard, Mises Media, Commentary","February 14, 2019","It's government — not markets — that intervene to ""stimulate"" ever greater amounts of spending and consumption. A healthy market economy, meanwhile, relies on both saving and spending. Original Article: ""Capitalism Doesn't Cause Consumerism — Governments Do"". ","https://mises.org/library/capitalism-doesnt-cause-consumerism-governments-do" "Why the Swiss Voted for More Gun Control","Library Item","José Niño","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","June 20, 2019","What is particularly scary is that the whole argument for the new law was not really about saving lives or reducing gun violence, but is about Brussels ordering Switzerland to modify gun laws to comply with EU gun control standards.Original Article: ""Why the Swiss Voted for More Gun Control"" ","https://mises.org/library/why-swiss-voted-more-gun-control" "Viruses versus Lockdowns: It's Not about Tradeoffs","Library Item","Michel Accad, MD","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","May 15, 2020","Presenting ""saving lives"" as a more or less equal alternative to commerce and community is a misguided view of what the lockdown debate is really all about. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: ""Viruses versus Lockdowns: It's Not about Tradeoffs"" ","https://mises.org/library/viruses-versus-lockdowns-its-not-about-tradeoffs" "A World without Political Leaders?","Library Item","David Gordon","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","January 18, 2021","Manent insists that if political leaders don’t lead society, we will have a society that isn’t led by political leaders. So what? Original Article: ""A World without Political Leaders?"" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. ","https://mises.org/library/world-without-political-leaders" "Biden’s New Intersectionality: Where Equity Policies Meet Bad Economics","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles, Mises Daily Articles","May 30, 2023","The Biden administration has decided that the REAL problem with housing is that the wrong people are saving money and making timely mortgage payments. They must be punished. Original Article: ""Biden’s New Intersectionality: Where Equity Policies Meet Bad Economics"" ","https://mises.org/library/bidens-new-intersectionality-where-equity-policies-meet-bad-economics" "Bernanke: Foreign Savings Glut Harms US","Wire","Robert Blumen","","March 17, 2005","Ben ""Helipcopter"" Bernanke, the same Fed Governor who has threatened to drop bales of freshly printed money from a helicopter in a last-ditch effort to fight deflation, speaking to the Virginia Association of Economics, recently state:I will take issue with the common view that the recent deterioration in the U.S. current account primarily reflects economic policies and other economic...","https://mises.org/wire/bernanke-foreign-savings-glut-harms-us" "Bidenomics: A Boom That Awaits an Inevitable Bust","Wire","Jack Watt","","August 23, 2023","Joe Biden recently claimed on Twitter that “Bidenomics” has increased the real wages of low-income workers. A counterclaim was made through Twitter’s Community Notes that wages adjusted for inflation were actually lower at the time of Biden’s claim. But data without theory is unsatisfying, so it is worth asking if conditions of the last few years have been conducive to higher real wages,...","https://mises.org/wire/bidenomics-boom-awaits-inevitable-bust" "FDA and USPTO: Joint Killers","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","April 5, 2011","In my posts Update: Patents Kill: Compulsory Licenses and Genzyme’s Life Saving Drug and Patents Kill: Compulsory Licenses and Genzyme’s Life Saving Drug, I noted that, due to the monopoly granted by patent, people suffering from the genetic illness Fabry disease are unable to obtain the drug Fabrazyme, which is in short supply because the sole, monopolistic manufacturer, Genzyme, can’t make...","https://mises.org/wire/fda-and-uspto-joint-killers" "Please spend irresponsibly","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 29, 2006","The air is slowly going out of the Denver housing market. Fortunately, we didn't experience the kinds of runaway growth rates such as in Phoenix and on the coasts, but the market here is still not good for homeowners who banked on significant appreciation.Foreclosures are high, and a major reason is that people have simply run out of money and can't keep going deeper into debt. Yet, economists...","https://mises.org/wire/please-spend-irresponsibly" "Capital is a Mystery to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez","Library Item","Mark Brandly","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media","April 4, 2019","While Ocasio-Cortez has a degree in economics, she apparently never learned the lessons stressed by Hernando de Soto in his The Mystery of Capital. Suggested Reading ""The 'Green New Deal' Debunked (Part 1 of 2)"" by Robert P. Murphy""The Economic Role of Saving and Capital Goods"" by Ludwig von Mises""The Plight of the Underdeveloped Nations"" by Ludwig von Mises Original Article: ""Capital is a...","https://mises.org/library/capital-mystery-alexandria-ocasio-cortez" "Private Property, Public Purpose","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","Book Chapters, Books","April 25, 2019","[Chapter 19 of The Conquest of Poverty (1996)] The socialists and communists propose to cure poverty by seizing private property, particularly property in the means of production, and turning it over to be operated by the government. What the advocates of all expropriation schemes fail to realize is that property in private hands used for the production of goods and services for the market is...","https://mises.org/library/private-property-public-purpose" "Fiber to the State","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","December 4, 2003","In Fiber to the People (Wired), Lawrence Lessig argues that advanced fiber networks are ""natural monopolies"" and hence should be backed by local governments as a cost-saving measures, so long as the customers remain the owners (in what sense they are owners is never spelled out). All his arguments are thoroughly addressed in ""The Myth of Natural Monopoly"" by Thomas DiLorenzo (RAE, 9.2) as long...","https://mises.org/wire/fiber-state" "Greenspan's Easy Money Madness","Wire","Robert Blumen","","February 17, 2004","Another fine piece by columnist Peater Eavis draws attention to the consequences of the Chairman's interest rate cuts:The extra debt may keep the economy afloat for a while, as it has since the crash of the Nasdaq economy and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But it does much more harm in the long run by preventing necessary restructuring of the economy, driving down saving, inhibiting future spending...","https://mises.org/wire/greenspans-easy-money-madness" "1.16. The more Labor there is in a State, the more the State is Judged Naturally Rich","Library Item","Richard Cantillon","An Essay on Economic Theory, Mises Media, Audio Books","December 1, 2014","The wealth of a nation depends on putting the labor force to work. Those who are unnecessary for farming can be employed in making higher quality products and manufactured goods, particularly durable goods made from metal. Saving is the key determinant of wealth and gold is a particularly useful form of savings because it can purchase all things, even in time of war. The prince and property...","https://mises.org/library/116-more-labor-there-state-more-state-judged-naturally-rich" "Mises Daily Tuesday: Is the Keynesian Multiplier a Real Thing?","Wire","Mises Institute","","May 12, 2015","Mises Daily Tuesday by Frank Shostak: The Keynesian multiplier would have us believe that economic growth can come from an increase in demand and spending. But if we look more closely, we find there is never a shortage of demand, and what an economy really needs to expand is more saving. ","https://mises.org/wire/mises-daily-tuesday-keynesian-multiplier-real-thing" "Why Americans Don't Have Any Savings","Library Item","Frank Hollenbeck","Audio Mises Wire, Mises Media, Audio Articles","April 27, 2020","Central bankers think too much saving is a problem that must be solved with more money creation. But the real problem is the Keynesian-style fractional reserve banking system. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: ""Why Americans Don't Have Any Savings"" ","https://mises.org/library/why-americans-dont-have-any-savings" "Blameless","Wire","Christopher Westley","","December 7, 2005","I am finding much in the news today discouraging and even disparaging the idea of personal responsibility and self ownership. Here are but three examples:First, if you have a fat kid, or if you are a fat kid, it is not your fault. The blame lies with television advertising that encourages unhealthy eating choices. A report issued yesterday by the government-chartered Institute of Medicine called...","https://mises.org/wire/blameless" "The Economic Consequences of Loan Maturity Mismatching in the Unhampered Economy","Library Item","Laura Davidson","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","August 21, 2014","Volume 17, No.1 (Spring 2014)ABSTRACT: Some economists of the Austrian School contend that business cycles are created when banks use the proceeds of short-term time deposits to create longer-term loans. These authors claim that while loan maturity mismatching of this kind does not create fiduciary media, it nevertheless artificially lowers the market rate of interest and causes forced saving and...","https://mises.org/library/economic-consequences-loan-maturity-mismatching-unhampered-economy" "Keynesism Crippled by Facts","Wire","Henry Hazlitt","","May 11, 2018","[Newsweek column from May 7, 1956, and reprinted in Business Tides: The Newsweek Era of Henry Hazlitt.] Keynesism—the philosophy of big government spending, deficit financing, and continuous inflation—today dominates the policy of nearly every government in the world. Yet developments in the last few years have destroyed its central prop. The disciples of Keynes disagree among themselves about...","https://mises.org/wire/keynesism-crippled-facts" "6. Profit and Loss in the Progressing and in the Retrogressing Economy","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books","February 2, 2016","We call a stationary economy an economy in which the per head quota of the income and wealth of the individuals remains unchanged. In such an economy what the consumers spend more for the purchase of some articles must he equal to what they spend less for other articles. The total amount of the profits earned by one part of the entrepreneurs equals the total amount of losses suffered by other...","https://mises.org/6-profit-and-loss-progressing-and-retrogressing-economy" "The Effects of Changes in the Money Relation Upon Originary Interest","Library Item","Jeff Riggenbach","Mises Daily Articles","April 5, 2010","Like every change in the market data, changes in the money relation can possibly influence the rate of originary interest. According to the inflationist view of history, inflation by and large tends to increase the earnings of the entrepreneurs. Commodity prices rise sooner and to a steeper level than wage rates. On the one hand, wage earners and salaried people, classes who spend the greater...","https://mises.org/library/effects-changes-money-relation-upon-originary-interest" "Is Deleveraging Bad for the Economy?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 15, 2011","The economic pundits have stressed more and more that this crisis is special because it involves ""deleveraging,"" and for that reason isn't a run-of-the-mill recession. Because households and corporations are collectively trying to reduce their net indebtedness, it is allegedly up to the government to run massive budget deficits in order to prop up aggregate spending.In the Austrian view, such...","https://mises.org/library/deleveraging-bad-economy-0" "Ebenezer Scrooge's Tiresome Crusade against ""Consumerism""","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 25, 2018","Although some capitalists and defenders of free markets believe that Ebenezer Scrooge has much to teach us about good economics, I have long found him to be less than inspiring in this respect. Scrooge, for example, demonstrates a lamentably bad understanding of the subjective nature of value, nor does he understand the concept of psychic profits. He perpetuates the nonsensical myth of the ""homo...","https://mises.org/wire/ebenezer-scrooges-tiresome-crusade-against-consumerism" "Flag Burning","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","May 29, 1999","The War on Yugoslavia has unleashed an unprecedented amount of anti-American sentiment. This is invariably accompanied by the tried-and-true method of political protest: flag burning.Who has the right to burn flags and under what conditions? Murray N. Rothbard sorts it all out in his classic article, The Flag Flap.James Bovard notes the irony of a Congress that wants to ban flag burning–even when...","https://mises.org/library/flag-burning" "4. Time Preference, Capital, Technology, and Economic Growth","Library Item","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","Economy, Society, and History, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Courses on History","September 3, 2004","The theory of time preference, capital, technology and economic growth will be viewed through both theoretical and historical elements. People have a preference for satisfaction earlier as compared to satisfaction later. Capital goods allow greater production, but this requires saving now, not consuming now.Humans are constrained by time preference. Our interest rate is always higher than zero....","https://mises.org/library/4-time-preference-capital-technology-and-economic-growth" "7. Capital, Interest, and the Structure of Production","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Fundamentals of Economic Analysis: A Causal-Realist Approach, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Courses on Economics","June 14, 2007","Time preference says that individuals prefer satisfaction now to later, present to future. This explains the loan market. In the structure of production, the capitalist pays wages now, despite the fact that he himself does not get paid until the final stage when the product actually comes to market. Consumption, saving, investment and spending occur in every production stage – across time. The...","https://mises.org/library/7-capital-interest-and-structure-production-0" "Money and Its Purchasing Power","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Rothbard Graduate Seminar, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Courses on Economics","August 28, 2008","This completes the study of money and of the effects of changes in monetary relations on the economic system. Like all commodities, money has its own supply and demand and price: purchasing power. Everyone deals in money. The annual production of money is small compared to the total stock of money. Earning money is the name for buying money. The sole purpose of buying money is to exchange it in...","https://mises.org/library/money-and-its-purchasing-power" "People's Pottage","Library Item","Garet Garrett","Books","June 15, 1953","A time came when the only people who had ever been free began to ask: ""What is freedom?""Who wrote its articles — the strong or the weak? Was it an absolute good? Could there be such a thing as unconditional freedom, short of anarchy?Given the answer to be ""no,"" then was freedom an eternal truth or a political formula?The three essays brought together in this book, entitled respectively, The...","https://mises.org/library/peoples-pottage" "The Economics of Recycling","Library Item","Floy Lilley","Economics for High School Students, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Introductory and High School","November 21, 2009","Recycling happens naturally when there is market demand for waste items like plastic, paper, metal or glass, but mandated recycling does more harm than good. When do you know that recycling is worthy? You know when some person or business asks to buy your particular waste from you, not when some authority forces you to recycle.Thus, metal and kraft cardboard currently do find markets but the...","https://mises.org/library/economics-recycling" "Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Variations on a Theme","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014"," Volume 6, No. 1 (Spring 2003) In a recent study, Keeler (2001) attempts to provide historical/empirical evidence for the Austrian business cycle theory by examining the effect of interest-rate changes on various components of investment spending (classified arbitrarily as early- or late-stage investment) and consumer spending. Our analysis implies that such research is likely to be misleading....","https://mises.org/library/austrian-business-cycle-theory-variations-theme" "Mariotti on the Discovery of the Mises Papers","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","September 23, 2013","Steve Mariotti writes in Huffington Post about the discovery of Mises's personal papers in a Moscow archive. As discussed here, rumors that the Soviets had acquired Mises's papers from the Nazis after World War II began swirling after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Two German scholars described the papers in a 1993 book, and American economist Richard Ebeling visited the archives in 1996 and...","https://mises.org/wire/mariotti-discovery-mises-papers" "Nasty GDP Report","Wire","Mark Thornton","","April 30, 2014","The latest GDP report for the first quarter can be reviewed here.GDP grew by only 1/10 of 1% in the first quarter. There were big negative reversals in both exports and equipment purchases from the 4th quarter of last year. The accumulation of inventories also was reduced, but is still accumulating rapidly indicating less of a need to add inventory in future quarters. Consumption grew at a 3%...","https://mises.org/wire/nasty-gdp-report" "The market strikes again","Wire","Jim Fedako","","August 6, 2006","Once again the capitalists, entrepreneurs, petty-bourgeois, and associated travelers exploited those in need of goods and services; they ripped me off by selling school supplies at an outrageous price. These profiteers recognized the increased demand for education wares as school fast approaches so they acted just as the interventionist predicted; they lowered priced, outrageously. Oh, well, I...","https://mises.org/wire/market-strikes-again" "The Recycling Myth","Wire","Per Bylund","","February 4, 2008","The coercive recycling structure is set up in layers, where the consumer (""producer"" of waste) gets to do most of the work of sorting, cleaning, and transporting the trash to collection centers. Government-appointed companies then empty the containers and transport the materials to regional centers where the trash is prepared for recycling. And then everything is transported to centralized...","https://mises.org/wire/recycling-myth" "The Fed's New Tricks Are Creating Disaster ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","March 19, 2008","The Federal Reserve is trying a range of new tricks to push new forms of lending as a means of preventing what they fear may otherwise be a major collapse in financial markets. What all these strategies have in common is an unwillingness to come to terms with the reality that the crisis is based on real factors and can't be merely papered over without grave consequence to economic health. The...","https://mises.org/wire/feds-new-tricks-are-creating-disaster" "Nothing Fishy About Growth","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","How Does an Economy Grow?, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Introductory and High School","October 8, 2014","Growth requires private saving first, then investment and then production. It cannot be accomplished through sheer credit and credit expansion. Money is not wealth.Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture by Danny Sanchez was presented at ""How Does an Economy Grow? A Seminar for High School and College Students"". Special thanks to an anonymous donor for making this event possible....","https://mises.org/library/nothing-fishy-about-growth" "1. Introduction","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","UP TO THIS POINT WE have analyzed the determination of the rate of interest and of the prices of productive factors on the market. We have also discussed the role of entrepreneurship in the changing world and the consequences of changes in saving and investment. We now return to analysis of the particular ultimate factors—labor and land—and to a more detailed discussion of entrepreneurial incomes...","https://mises.org/1-introduction-3" "John O'Donnell: How Central Banks Affect Culture","Library Item","John O'Donnell, III, Jeff Deist","The Human Action Podcast, Mises Media, Interviews","May 13, 2016","This weekend, Jeff Diest and John O'Donnell discuss central banking and culture. We tend to think of central banking as a dry subject for professional economists, rather than a cultural and even moral issue. But the Fed and other central banks create huge moral hazards, degrade longstanding social mores like hard work and thrift, and encourage economic hedonism today at the expense of tomorrow....","https://mises.org/library/john-odonnell-how-central-banks-affect-culture" "Why Savings Are So Critical to Improving the Standard of Living","Wire","Fabrizio Ferrari","","July 10, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Among the essential concepts Mises analyzes and dwells upon in Human Action (1949), there is the notion of capital. Mises conceives of capital as a factor of production intrinsically different from land and labor. In fact, capital is not nature given—its total amount increases or decreases depending upon human choices and intertemporal...","https://mises.org/wire/why-savings-are-so-critical-improving-standard-living" "Have We Saved Enough?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","May 18, 2005","According to official data last year the personal saving rate stood at around 1%. Some commentators have questioned the validity of this figure. It is argued that there is in fact plenty of savings in the US.For instance, it is held that if the 2004 appreciation in the value of homes and equities are counted in the calculation of disposable income then the 2004 saving rate would have been 46% and...","https://mises.org/library/have-we-saved-enough" "Monetary Savings versus Real Savings","Wire","Frank Shostak","","April 28, 2021","According to the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) the US personal savings rate stood at 13.6 percent in February 2021 against 8.3 percent in February 2020. Since consumption expenditure is considered as the driving force of the economy, obviously a strengthening in savings, which implies less spending, cannot be good for economic activity, so it is held. Conversely, a decline in...","https://mises.org/wire/monetary-savings-versus-real-savings" "A Note From Dr. Joe Salerno on MMT","Power & Market","The Editors","","January 24, 2019","[A note from Dr. Joe Salerno to our editor Ryan McMaken on MMT, a ""new"" policy proposal being pushed by economists like Stephanie Kelton and politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.] As I read through articles on MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) this morning, it strikes me that not only is it a recipe for massive inflation but it will also cause chronic depression and capital consumption from the...","https://mises.org/power-market/note-dr-joe-salerno-mmt" "Is the Economy a Perpetual Motion Machine?","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","March 25, 2009","The lead story of the March 9, 2009, edition of Newsweek says it all: ""Stop Saving Now!"" Writer Daniel Gross declares, For our $14 trillion economy to recover and thrive, hoarders must open their wallets and become consumers, and businesses must once again be willing to roll the dice. Nobody is advocating a return to the debt-fueled days of 4,000-square-foot second homes, $1,000 handbags and $6...","https://mises.org/library/economy-perpetual-motion-machine" "Down with the Rich, Again?","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","July 26, 2010","Maybe you saw the headlines blasting the rich (again!) for failing to spend money in order to enable us to get out of this ever-lasting recession. It turns out that in boom times, the rich spent $145 per day. Now they are only spending $119. So, there we go: a new scapegoat! Those greedy rich people are failing to do their duty.The press reports that the rich are not booking at the Four Seasons,...","https://mises.org/library/down-rich-again" "The homeownership rate is still too high","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 7, 2011","The AP reported today that the homeownership rate declined to 65.1 percent during 2010, which is “the biggest drop since the Great Depression.” However, in order to return to a more normal rate of homeownership, the present rate needs to drop even more.According to the Census Bureau’s quarterly estimates of the homeownership rate (found here), the homeownership rate peaked in the US at 69.2...","https://mises.org/wire/homeownership-rate-still-too-high" "Chapter 12 The Interest Rate","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 20, 2016","Human Action11. The Phenomenon of InterestIt has been shown that time preference is a category inherent in every human action. Time preference manifests itself in the phenomenon of originary interest, i.e., the discount of future goods as against present goods.Interest is not merely interest on capital. Interest is not the specific income derived from the utilization of capital goods. The...","https://mises.org/chapter-12-interest-rate" "Chapter 11 The Interest Rate","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 22, 2016","Human Action11. The Phenomenon of InterestIt has been shown that time preference is a category inherent in every human action. Time preference manifests itself in the phenomenon of originary interest, i.e., the discount of future goods as against present goods.Interest is not merely interest on capital. Interest is not the specific income derived from the utilization of capital goods. The...","https://mises.org/chapter-11-interest-rate" "Are Americans Undertaxed? ","Wire","Murray N. Rothbard","","April 13, 2017","Every day that passes brings further evidence, in the marvelous phrase of Bill Kauffman in Chronicles, of “the enormous gulf between those who live in America and those who run it.” We who live in America are firmly convinced that we are taxed far too much, that government spending and taxation are eating out our substance to support a growing parasitic army of crooks and moochers, and that the...","https://mises.org/wire/are-americans-undertaxed" "Will Savings Save Us?","Library Item","Antony P. Mueller","Mises Daily Articles","June 17, 2002","The subject of financing the needs of an increasing portion of elderly people is a matter of growing concern in many countries. Given the current demographic trends, the established systems of social security are no longer viable to guarantee the standards of the past.As a remedy, governments have initiated programs to foster private savings programs in order to provide a supplement to the...","https://mises.org/library/will-savings-save-us" "A Nudge in the Wrong Direction","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","July 18, 2008","Libertarian Paternalism. It would appear to be a contradiction in terms. But Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein argue for just such a thing in Nudge (Yale University Press, 2008). They try to combine the two by arguing that a nudge — ""any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people's behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic...","https://mises.org/library/nudge-wrong-direction" "Personal Savings Collapse","Library Item","Gregory Bresiger","Mises Daily Articles","April 2, 2001","The stock-market bubble of the past few years has distorted American economic values. The wealth effect is leading Americans to think that stock prices will never go down, so there is no reason to save. Americans, whose savings rates have been declining for decades, should save more. The stock-market boom of the past few years has been fueled by over-consumption and should stop. Are these the...","https://mises.org/library/personal-savings-collapse" "Economic Recovery Requires Capital Accumulation, Not Government ""Stimulus Packages""","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","February 25, 2009","PrefaceIntroductionCapitalSaving Hoarding Versus SavingDepressions and Credit ExpansionThe Housing BubbleKeynesian Ignorance and BlindnessWhat Economic Recovery RequiresThe Nature of Stimulus PackagesStimulus Packages Mean More Loss of CapitalStimulus Packages Are a Drain on the Rest of the Economic SystemRising Prices in the Midst of Mass Unemployment[This article is the second in a series of...","https://mises.org/library/economic-recovery-requires-capital-accumulation-not-government-stimulus-packages" "The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle: A Story of Calculation, Miscalculation, and Recalculation","Wire","Art Carden","","December 2, 2011","The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle is complex and sometimes counterintuitive. Roger Garrison’s lecture on The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle is indispensable, and I was pleased to see that his lecture “Keynes and Hayek: Head to Head” is also available on YouTube. Here, in a few words, is a brief summary of what the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle entails.Calculation: People...","https://mises.org/wire/austrian-theory-business-cycle-story-calculation-miscalculation-and-recalculation" "Negative Interest Rates (and Fear) Mean We'll Save More, not Less","Wire","Charles Hugh Smith","","February 24, 2016","The last hurrah of central banks is the negative interest rate policy — NIRP. The basic idea of NIRP is to punish savers so severely that households and businesses will be compelled to go blow whatever money they have on something — what the money is squandered on is of no importance to central banks.All that matters is that people and enterprises are forced to spend whatever cash they have...","https://mises.org/wire/negative-interest-rates-and-fear-mean-well-save-more-not-less" "Binary Intervention: Taxation I","Library Item","Jeffrey M. Herbener","Rothbard Graduate Seminar, Mises Media, Lecture Series, Courses on Economics","August 28, 2008","The uniqueness of the Austrian approach to taxation is to first cover Public Policy, then Antimarket Ethics and finally Taxation. It is a praxeological development approach. Robbery and counterfeiting are the revenues to the state. You can't look at taxation alone, you must look at expenditures, too.Those resources will never be available to private producers. There are net tax payers and net tax...","https://mises.org/library/binary-intervention-taxation-i" "Liberty and Property","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Ludwig von Mises Archives, Mises Media, Lecture Series","September 9, 1958","Liberty or freedom was generally restricted to a minority of elites while ordinary people were serfs or slaves during pre-capitalistic systems. The capitalist way to wealth was to serve the consumer with better and cheaper products and services. Private property of the factors of production was the foundation of wealth creation. Production, saving, and investment were the keys to prosperity. The...","https://mises.org/library/liberty-and-property-0" "Power and Market: Government and the Economy","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","July 20, 1970","What can government do to enhance social and economic well being? Nothing, says Murray N. Rothbard. Power and Market contains the proof. It will inoculate the reader against even the slightest temptation to invoke the state as a solution to any social or economic problem. It is the ultimate manual for completely de-mystifying the myth of the state.This beautiful new edition is the first to truly...","https://mises.org/library/power-and-market-government-and-economy" "Common Sense Economics","Library Item","L. Albert Hahn","Books","January 28, 1956","Professor Hahn, one of the greatest but least known Austrian economists of his generation, offers a fantastic refutation of Keynesian macroeconomics, including its wild obsession with effective demand, and also a systematic presentation of the Austrian theory of the business cycle.It might have been common sense in his day, but it is surely not in ours. In our times (this book appeared in 1948)...","https://mises.org/library/common-sense-economics" "Paul's World","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","May 16, 2013","Line of the day, from Michael Kinsley: ""Krugman sometimes writes as if, right or wrong, his view is the courageous one, held by folks willing to stand up to the plutocrats and their lackies. But his message to all classes is: party on.""I also like the way Luigi Zingales put it in 2009:Keynesianism has conquered the hearts and minds of politicians and ordinary people alike because it provides a...","https://mises.org/wire/pauls-world" "Overinvestment or Malinvestment","Wire","William Carden","","June 3, 2003","Not only does Mr. Phelps fail to address the ""artificiality"" of the boom faces, he blatantly mischaracterizes Austrian Business cylce theory as a theory of overinvestment. Everything I have read regarding Austrian theory explains how malinvestment occurs due to the distortion of the pricing/production process by excess creation of money and credit. Mises constantly cautions that this is not a...","https://mises.org/wire/overinvestment-or-malinvestment" "Further on Phelps","Wire","John P. Cochran","","June 4, 2003","Edmund Phelps’s ""False Hopes for the Economy-and False Fears"" (WSJ 6/3/03) attempt to undermine the current resurgence of interest in Austrian cycle. He states, ""One of the most unreasoning fears, yet pervasive, is the nightmare of interwar Austrian cycle theory: 'overinvestment'. But in truth, what should be real is the fear of the consequences unsustainable boom and what is blatantly false if...","https://mises.org/wire/further-phelps" "Washington Times on Steel Tariffs","Wire","William L. Anderson","","August 21, 2003","Anyone who might believe that the Washington Times is a friend of free markets and free trade should read this editorial produced today (August 21) on the steel tariffs. The basis of the editorial is that we need to keep the tariffs because 45,000 steel workers lost their jobs. I remember reading where the cost of each job ""saved"" was more than $1 million. When I mentioned that to a Buchananite...","https://mises.org/wire/washington-times-steel-tariffs" "Economist on the Austrians","Wire","Christopher Coyne","","November 10, 2003","The Economist ($) on the Austrians: ""Early last century, economists such as Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek argued that, if interest rates were held below their ""natural rate"" (at which the supply of saving from households equals the demand for investment funds by firms), credit and investment will rise too rapidly and consumers will not save enough.""Sound familiar? America displayed many...","https://mises.org/wire/economist-austrians" "Mises, Interventionism, and Marriage","Wire","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","","January 14, 2004","The Bush proposal to spend zillions to supposedly improve marriages is being sold mostly in the name of ""saving"" the marriages of low-income Americans. It's a classic case, in other words, of Mises's theory of interventionism: The welfare state has wrecked millions of marriages by eliminating the guilt from abandoning one's own children, and high taxes and inflation have created unbearable...","https://mises.org/wire/mises-interventionism-and-marriage" "Macromancers' Muddle","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","February 2, 2004","Here’s a timely reminder of the folly of those mainstream economists — to a man, maths aficionados who perform all manner of abstruse, but largely meaningless, numerical manipulations with government data that they might try (and usually ignominiously fail) to predict where the price of beans will be tomorrow.As the London Financial Times reports, not only has the UK’s Office for National...","https://mises.org/wire/macromancers-muddle" "Privatization Requires, oh, $1 Trillion in Debt","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","February 10, 2004","If you are new to this subject, it might strike you as odd that ""privatizing"" something would require the accumulation of an additional $1 trillion in debt. (See: Bush Seeks $1 Trillion Debt Boost). The advocates of Social Security privatization (I'll stop putting the word in quotes) haven't exactly been forthcoming about the ""transition costs"" (couldn't resist those quotes) associated with...","https://mises.org/wire/privatization-requires-oh-1-trillion-debt" "The State Taketh, Chinese Entrepreneurs Say","Wire","Robert Blumen","","March 13, 2004","Property rights are not respected in China, according to a Los Angeles Times article.URUMQI, China — Bai Yiben worked hard to build up his property development business after retiring from a state-owned textile company in 1992, saving every penny and plowing it back into the company. After years of struggling, his firm turned the corner in 2000. His newfound wealth didn't go unnoticed. Powerful...","https://mises.org/wire/state-taketh-chinese-entrepreneurs-say" "Evidence Regarding the Structure of Production","Wire"," Mises.org","","May 3, 2004","by Larry Sechrest (Sul Ross University)The Austrian approach to business cycles has seldom been examined in statistical terms. This paper first reviews the essentials of that approach. It then offers some simple regression results that seem to offer empirical support for several important Austrian propositions. Both business loans and industrial production are far more highly correlated with...","https://mises.org/wire/evidence-regarding-structure-production" "Street named for Libertarian who died in 9/11 WTC attack","Wire","David J. Heinrich","","October 2, 2004","From The LP.org webpage:Over 100 people attended the ceremony at which Franklin Avenue was designated as John W. Perry Avenue in honor of the officer, a member of the Libertarian Party who grew up on the street, who attended local schools — and who gave his life to help preserve the lives of others in the WTC.According to police reports, Perry was at police headquarters in Manhattan on Sept. 11...","https://mises.org/wire/street-named-libertarian-who-died-911-wtc-attack" "Managed Trade Lobby Cashes in on Sinophobia","Wire","J. Henderson","","July 20, 2005","Chevron raised its bid for Unocal to $63.01 per share, compared with CNOOC's bid worth $65.50. Unocal directors approved the Chevron bid, as Chevron's bid is favored by the U.S. government and faces less regulatory harassment. Chevron has been lobbying intensely to raise the expense and political risk of CNOOC's bid.It employed Wayne Berman, a top Bush fundraiser, and Drew Maloney, a former aide...","https://mises.org/wire/managed-trade-lobby-cashes-sinophobia" "Stockpiling Gas","Wire","Jim Fedako","","May 9, 2006","AOL News (AP) reports on a market solution to rising gas prices: buy gas now and store it for later. That's right; create your own strategic oil reserve!One lucky prospector is tapping the 99 cents a gallon gas that he has stored in his private reserve. What a deal! What a solution!The market always creates solutions for economic issues. Saving gas is the perfect hedge investment for those...","https://mises.org/wire/stockpiling-gas" "We Don't Need a President","Wire"," Mises.org","","March 6, 2008","Neither party will cut government in a way that is desperately needed. Instead, they offer a left- or right-tinged Americanized socialism or fascism. One promises domestic expansion and foreign reduction; the other promises foreign expansion and domestic reduction. The inevitable compromise: expand both domestically and internationally. In addition, whatever the new president does will make our...","https://mises.org/wire/we-dont-need-president" "Interventionism Kills Every Day","Wire","Dan Sanchez","","August 22, 2011","The city of Salem, Oregon invoked a law that prohibits residents from having more than three yard sales per year to shut down a woman with terminal bone cancer who was trying to raise money to pay her medical bills.The Reddit community is aghast at such heartlessness. Yet they do not realize that most of them support policies that result in similar tragedies on a daily basis.This particular...","https://mises.org/wire/interventionism-kills-every-day" "The Death of Patents","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","September 25, 2008","No, unfortunately, the patent system is not dying. The title refers to deaths caused by the patent system. According to the BBC News science report, Patent system ‘stifling science’, findings by the Canada-based Innovation Partnership indicate that “Life-saving scientific research is being stifled by a ‘broken’ patent system”. “‘Blocking patents’ are delaying advances in cancer medicine and food...","https://mises.org/wire/death-patents" """It's just money printing""","Wire","Doug French","","June 22, 2011","James Rickards explains to Becky Quick who gets burned when countries and banks are bailed out.Quick: You make up the money, it’s monopoly money that you’re playing with. who gets burn in the end? is it taxpayers around the globe that get left holding the bag?Rickards: It’s a form of inflation, savers, pensioners, people in annuities, average people. same thing happens. I’m saying over time, the...","https://mises.org/wire/its-just-money-printing" "Don’t want to be like Greece? Try some VAT?","Wire","Doug French","","April 28, 2010","David Ignatius penned a piece for today’s Investors Business Daily warning U.S. politicians not to dither. America has a growing federal deficit and, “The sensible real-world answer, many economists argue, is a value-added tax that would encourage saving at the same time it pays down the deficit to manageable levels. But politicians are terrified of being right too soon on this one,” writes...","https://mises.org/wire/dont-want-be-greece-try-some-vat" "Pardon me, your non sequitur is showing","Wire","Jim Fedako","","August 14, 2010","Some folks strain to find their agenda in every event. For Georgie Anne Geyer, state-mandated population control provides the only hope for her agenda: saving the environment, whatever that means. So she sees the heat, drought and fires this summer in Russia as proof that Malthus was right, all along. Yet …While it is true that today’s disasters are affecting the near-term supply of food, the...","https://mises.org/wire/pardon-me-your-non-sequitur-showing" "Diversity in Cardiology, with Martha Gulati","Library Item","Michel Accad, MD, Anish Koka","The Accad and Koka Report, Mises Media, Interviews","August 20, 2020","A recent article authored by Dr. Norman Wang on the history and current state of affirmative action programs in medical schools and cardiology departments has led to a storm of controversy and to Dr. Wang’s demotion as fellowship program director. To discuss that article and the controversies we are joined by Dr. Martha Gulati, division Chief of Cardiology at the University of Arizona. She is...","https://mises.org/library/diversity-cardiology-martha-gulati" "Coase on the Economists","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","November 21, 2012","Ronald Coase has a short piece in the December 2012 Harvard Business Review, ""Saving Economics from the Economists"" (thanks to Geoff Manne for the tip). Not bad for a fellow about to turn 102! I always learn from Coase, even when I don't fully agree. Here Coase decries the irrelevance of contemporary economic theory, condemning economics for ""giving up the real-world economy as its subject matter...","https://mises.org/wire/coase-economists" "The Central Question","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","December 19, 2004","The current debate on Social Security privatization has crystallized what is the central question (among many questions) that supporters of economic liberty ought to be asking the Bush administration and its think-tank backers. It is this:If we are willing to put up with the fiscal consequences of partially defunding the present revenue stream that pays the benefits enjoyed by present and future...","https://mises.org/wire/central-question" "Privatized, Good and Hard","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","December 29, 2004","A peculiar and dangerous feature of the Social Security privatization movement is how it proposes to create a new forced saving program to run parallel with the old one, rather than simply trusting people to manage their own money. The privatizers rarely discuss this openly but it's pretty clear why they want to do this: they do not trust the free market to manage people's savings habits.But in...","https://mises.org/wire/privatized-good-and-hard" "IMF explicit about carbosocialism","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","December 9, 2007","In a recent press briefing given by him and his colleagues, the Deputy MD of the mission-starved IMF was positively drooling over the prospect that the next round of Climate-camouflaged tax transfers from the pockets of the developed world's citizens will trigger a veritable host of 'adjustment' problems and hence offer this institutional dinosaur a whole new rationale for ill-judged economic...","https://mises.org/wire/imf-explicit-about-carbosocialism" "Mark Thornton on Skyscrapers, Interest Rates, Savings and The Business Cycle","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","May 1, 2015","Interviewed by WHUS in Connecticut: Dr. Mark Thornton discusses what skyscrapers mean for the global economy, what causes and exacerbates business cycles, what the current economic landscape looks like, why people just aren’t saving money, and what the role and function of interest rates are.Interest rates are a price which convey information, just like any other price in the economy. When the...","https://mises.org/wire/mark-thornton-skyscrapers-interest-rates-savings-and-business-cycle" "Jeb Bush’s Advice: Work Harder, Not Smarter","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Daily Articles","July 17, 2015","In a recent interview, Jeb Bush said that in order for the United States to reach a higher level of economic growth, “people need to work longer hours.”Leftists immediately jumped on this comment as proof that Bush is horribly out of touch with ordinary working Americans.Bush soon backtracked and attempted to explain that what he really meant was that there are too many people working fewer hours...","https://mises.org/library/jeb-bushs-advice-work-harder-not-smarter" "The Fed's Dependence on the Consumer Will Backfire","Library Item","C.Jay Engel","Mises Wire","February 28, 2017","The story is that it is consumers that are going ""to push the economy to grow more than 2 percent this year."" That's Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan's recently expressed view. It's the old fallacy of spending — rather than saving — our way into growth. It's remarkable that no one talks about the fact that the economy since 2008 was built on little but cheap debt, and therefore depends on the...","https://mises.org/library/feds-dependence-consumer-will-backfire" """Cost Cutting"" Is Necessary to Expand Real Investment","Wire","Frank Shostak","","March 28, 2020","Some commentators regard cost cutting by companies in order to secure profits as a major threat to the economy. They hold that if everyone tries to cut costs and save more, demand for goods and services from retrenched workers will fall, which in turn will hurt corporate revenues and thus profits. This allegedly sets in motion new layoffs and again eats into revenues and makes profits disappear....","https://mises.org/wire/cost-cutting-necessary-expand-real-investment" "What Is the Liquidity Trap? ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 27, 2017","Some economists such as a Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman are of the view that if the US were to fall into liquidity trap the US central bank should aggressively pump money and aggressively lower interest rates in order to lift the rate of inflation. This Krugman holds will pull the economy from the liquidity trap and will set the platform for an economic prosperity. In his New York Times article of...","https://mises.org/wire/what-liquidity-trap" "Why Capital Needs Entrepreneurs","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","December 31, 2018","The productivity theory of capital dominates the popular view and public discussions. It presumes that capital generates the yield like a tree begets its fruits. In this view, more savings imply more investment, and more investment generates a higher capital stock, which in turn raises future yields. The belief is widespread that monetary assets grow and render automatically the returns. Yet...","https://mises.org/wire/why-capital-needs-entrepreneurs" "Japan's Ultraloose Monetary Policy Has Undermined Savings and Prosperity","Wire","Gunther Schnabl, Taiki Murai","","November 12, 2020","Uncertainty over the corona crisis has raised the household savings in many countries. The closure of stores, restaurants, and borders has restricted people from spending money. The support of furlough, rescue credit, and the grant of tax-free bonuses by governments stabilizes incomes. Even in Japan where most stores and restaurants have remained open, the generous handout of around 950 US...","https://mises.org/wire/japans-ultraloose-monetary-policy-has-undermined-savings-and-prosperity" "Household Employment Goes Nowhere for Fourth Month ","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","August 5, 2022","With the release of new employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today, most commentators have focused on the big gains seen in the total number of jobs as reflected in the establishment survey. According to that survey, total nonfarm jobs reached 152 million which—30 months later—finally puts total jobs back at their pre-covid peak during January and February of 2020. This was hailed...","https://mises.org/power-market/household-employment-goes-nowhere-fourth-month" "Bush-Style Privatization: More and More Problems","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","June 12, 2005","In a previous article, I argued that Bush's original proposal to reform Social Security—in which up to one-third of a worker's (and his employer's) “contributions” would be channeled into the stock market, but no one's current benefits would be cut and other taxes would not be raised—would not increase investment or lower interest rates one iota, contrary to the claims of the plan's proponents....","https://mises.org/library/bush-style-privatization-more-and-more-problems" "Explaining Malinvestment and Overinvestment","Library Item","Larry J. Sechrest","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","June 21, 2021","Mainstream macroeconomists may—and do—disagree with such an assessment, but Austrian macroeconomists rightly consider the Misesian/Hayekian1 theory of the business cycle to be one of the signal achievements of the entire Austrian School of thought. This Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) offers a unique perspective on the destructive array of private sector incentives created by central bank...","https://mises.org/library/explaining-malinvestment-and-overinvestment" "9. The Formation of Capital","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","With the nature-given elements limited by his environment, and his labor restricted both by its available supply and its disutility, there is only one way by which man can increase his production of consumers’ goods per unit of time—by increasing the quantity of capital goods. Beginning with unaided labor and nature, he must, to increase his productivity, mix his labor energy with the elements of...","https://mises.org/9-formation-capital" "The Upside-Down World of MMT","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 23, 2019","[Editor's note: MMT is back in the news, championed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Bernie Sanders advisor Stephanie Kelton. Economists like Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman are giving MMT at least faint praise, and even National Review has favorable things to say. Ironically, MMT is neither modern nor truly ""monetary;"" instead it is a combination of tired fiscal and monetary...","https://mises.org/library/upside-down-world-mmt" "Why Government Spending Matters More than the Size of the Deficit ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 23, 2017","Budget deficits are often in the media spotlight. The budget deficit is defined as the difference between what the government spends and what the government collects. When the government spends more than it collects, a budget deficit exists. When the government collects more than it spends, a budget surplus emerges.The conventional view is that one can show that budget deficits reduce national...","https://mises.org/wire/why-government-spending-matters-more-size-deficit" "The Link between Knowledge and Economic Growth","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","October 6, 2021","In a thoughtful and thorough article at the Australian publication Quadrant, economist Wolfgang Kasper writes on the Austrian contribution to the role knowledge plays in global economic growth. Specifically, Kasper provides some helpful observations on the decentralized and specialized nature of knowledge. Unfortunately, though, Kasper veers off course in assigning an excessively exalted role for...","https://mises.org/power-market/link-between-knowledge-and-economic-growth" "A Thought Experiment Comparing Austrian and Keynesian Stimulus Packages","Library Item","Wladimir Kraus","Libertarian Papers, Journals, Other Journals","October 17, 2009"," An important argument in the arsenal of Keynesian economics in favor of fiscal stimulus is that during a recession/depression it will put unemployed resources back to work and produce, in the process, a net-gain in wealth. Keynesians begin with a fairly accurate description of a few crucial facts. Immediately before and during a crisis, fully equipped factories, tools, materials,...","https://mises.org/library/thought-experiment-comparing-austrian-and-keynesian-stimulus-packages" "Money and the Stock Market: What is the Relation?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 29, 2006","Is it true that changes in stock prices are predominantly set by changes in money supply? At some level, it makes sense that an increase in the rate of growth of money supply strengthens the rate of increase in stock prices. Conversely, a fall in the rate of growth of money supply should slow down the growth momentum of stock prices.The chart below seems to indicate that the yearly rate of growth...","https://mises.org/library/money-and-stock-market-what-relation" "Involuntary Unemployment: The Case of Serbia and Croatia","Library Item","Predrag Rajsic","Mises Daily Articles","May 10, 2010","""The few who did not take their lives into their own hands and waited for government support are still waiting.""The current economic crisis has captured pretty much everyone's attention by now. The debates over what caused it are ongoing. One of the popular debates revolves around the question of who is right, the Keynesians or the Austrians. While this article does not aspire to answer that...","https://mises.org/library/involuntary-unemployment-case-serbia-and-croatia" "8. Senior’s Lectures on Monetary Problems","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises, Richard M. Ebeling","Books","February 18, 2015","Nassau William Senior’s famous lectures* on money and international trade have been newly issued by the London School of Economics and Political Science in their series of reprints.1 On re-reading these classic treatises one is led to the conclusion that the practical application of economic reasoning seems to meet with very great difficulties. We are living in a world where trade barriers become...","https://mises.org/8-seniors-lectures-monetary-problems" "Capitalism Doesn't Cause Consumerism — Governments Do","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","January 21, 2019","Listen to Ryan McMaken's commentary on the Radio Rothbard podcast. Condemnations of consumerism are nearly ubiquitous in modern media and popular culture. Anyone who has seen ""A Charlie Brown Christmas,"" produced in 1965, knows the drill. Every time we see Charlie Brown choose an ""authentic"" Christmas — by buying a small, natural Christmas tree instead of a showy pink mass-produced aluminum one...","https://mises.org/wire/capitalism-doesnt-cause-consumerism-governments-do" "The Boom Is Worse than the Bust","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","November 30, 2019","The popularity of inflation and credit expansion, the ultimate source of the repeated attempts to render people prosperous by credit expansion, and thus the cause of the cyclical fluctuations of business, manifests itself clearly in the customary terminology. The boom is called good business, prosperity, and upswing. Its unavoidable aftermath, the readjustment of conditions to the real data of...","https://mises.org/library/boom-worse-bust" "Defending the Miser","Library Item","Walter Block","Mises Daily Articles","January 2, 2020","[Excerpted from Defending the Undefendable] The miser has never recovered from Charles Dickens's attack on him in A Christmas Carol. Although the miser had been sternly criticized before Dickens, the depiction of Ebenezer Scrooge has become definitive and has passed into the folklore of our time. Indeed, the attitude pervades even in freshman economics textbooks. There the miser is roundly...","https://mises.org/library/defending-miser" "The Scaremongers Are Wrong about Robots and AI","Wire","George Pickering","","April 29, 2019","Thanks to the recent efforts of such figures as Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang and British Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, the issue of Universal Basic Income (UBI) has been back at the forefront of the public discussion on economic issues, along with the various arguments and justifications for introducing such a policy. While many of these justifications have become quite...","https://mises.org/wire/scaremongers-are-wrong-about-robots-and-ai" "The Bank of England's Governor Fears a Liquidity Trap","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 17, 2020","The global economy is heading towards a “liquidity trap” that could undermine central banks’ efforts to avoid a future recession according to Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England. In a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times (January 8, 2020), the outgoing governor warned that central banks were running out of ammunition to combat a downturn: If there were to be a deeper downturn...","https://mises.org/wire/bank-englands-governor-fears-liquidity-trap" "El empleo de los hogares no va a ningún lado por cuarto mes","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","August 5, 2022","Con la publicación hoy de los nuevos datos de empleo de la Oficina de Estadísticas Laborales, la mayoría de los comentaristas se han centrado en los grandes aumentos observados en el número total de puestos de trabajo, como se refleja en la encuesta de establecimientos. Según esa encuesta, el total de empleos no agrícolas alcanzó los 152 millones, lo que —30 meses después— sitúa finalmente el...","https://mises.org/node/59938" "Why Keynesian Concepts Cannot Be Used to Explain Pre-Keynesian Economic Thought: A Reader’s Guide to Classical Economic Theory","Library Item","Steven Kates","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","November 10, 2014"," ABSTRACT: This note is built around five issues that center on the damage to economic theory caused by Keynes and his General Theory. They have been brought to mind by Machovec in his paper, “Our Classical Macro Heritage” (2014) but there are other similar papers in which classical economic thought is explained using Keynesian concepts with the actual intent of classical economists distorted if...","https://mises.org/library/why-keynesian-concepts-cannot-be-used-explain-pre-keynesian-economic-thought-readers-guide" "2. The Effect of Net Investment","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","Having considered the ERE and its relation to specific entrepreneurial profit and loss, let us now turn to the problem: When will there be aggregate profits or losses in the economy? This is connected with the question: What is the effect of a change in the level of aggregate saving or investment in the economy?Let us begin with an economy in the equilibrium depicted in chapters 5 and 6....","https://mises.org/2-effect-net-investment" "Is Deleveraging Bad for the Economy?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 20, 2008","On Wednesday July 30, the Federal Reserve announced that investment houses could tap the central bank for a quick source of cash through January 30. The program, started on March 17, was originally supposed to last until mid-September. Another program, where investment firms can temporarily swap more risky investments for safe Treasury securities will also continue through January 30, the Fed...","https://mises.org/library/deleveraging-bad-economy" "Day of Reckoning","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","August 10, 2011","The trigger that apparently caused the market meltdown was the ever-so-slight suggestion from Standard & Poor's that the US government's fiscal health might not be all it's cracked up to be.This was not a case of the little boy noting the emperor has no clothes. It is more like the little boy suggesting that the emperor's clothes, while beautiful, might have been more carefully tailored to...","https://mises.org/library/day-reckoning" "The Trouble with Deficit Finance","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","February 4, 2003","Elisabeth Bumiller reports in the Washington Post (""Bush's $2.2 Trillion Budget Proposes Record Deficits,"" 2/04/03) that a budget deficit of $304 billion is forecast for the current fiscal year—with higher deficits to follow. (These figures, she notes, leave the costs of a war with Iraq out of account.)Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the White House budget director, is reported as claiming that the...","https://mises.org/library/trouble-deficit-finance" "Private Ryan","Library Item","Paul Fussell","Mises Daily Articles","July 20, 1998","The Guts, Not the Glory, of Fighting the 'Good War'By Paul FussellWashington Post, Sunday, July 26, 1998; Page C01Instructed by his experience as a volunteer in Civil War military hospitals, Walt Whitman declared that the real war will never get in the books. Nor in films either, we can say, after we've seen attempts to represent more recent wars in such confections as ""Sands of Iwo Jima"" and ""...","https://mises.org/library/private-ryan" "The Trouble with Deficit Finance","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2003","The Free Market 21, no. 4 (April 2003) Elisabeth Bumiller reports in the Washington Post (""Bush's $2.2 Trillion Budget Proposes Record Deficits,"" 2/04/03) that a budget deficit of $304 billion is forecast for the current fiscal year—with higher deficits to follow. (These figures, she notes, leave the costs of a war with Iraq out of account.) Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., the White House budget...","https://mises.org/library/trouble-deficit-finance-0" "The Cliff: A Rothbarian Policy Alternative","Wire","Christopher Westley","","December 29, 2012","Last Wednesday (Dec 26, 2012), I posted the following comment on The Amazingly Popular Bush Tax Cuts by Randall Holcombe:No original expiration date, no current ‘crisis’ and no or little impact on policy and regime uncertainty attributed to this part of tax code which has hampered economic planning since the shift in Congress to Dems in 2006.“Real Housewives of the Beltway: How the script for the...","https://mises.org/wire/cliff-rothbarian-policy-alternative" "Incentives, Income, and Welfare ","Wire","Christopher Westley","","February 7, 2014","[Editor's Note: The debate over the effects of the Affordable Care Act on incentives to work continues. In this selection from Chapter 11 of Man vs. The Welfare State (1969), Henry Hazlitt discusses some impacts of welfare programs on incentives.] by Henry Hazlitt I should like to return here to the question of incentives. I have already pointed out how the guaranteed income plan, if adopted in...","https://mises.org/wire/incentives-income-and-welfare" "Turning Piketty Right Side Up","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","June 18, 2014","Thomas Piketty, a neo-Marxist French professor, has written a near-700-page book, published by Harvard University Press. His book is titled Capital in the Twenty-First Century, in honor of Karl Marx’s nineteenth century Das Capital. It has been greeted with fervent applause from the left-wing intellectual establishment and has been on The New York Times’s and Amazon.com’s best-seller lists.While...","https://mises.org/library/turning-piketty-right-side" "New Labor Productivity Numbers: The Worst in 35 Years","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 9, 2016","The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on labor productivity today. During the first quarter of 2016, labor productivity fell 0.5 percent, making the first quarter the third quarter in a row for falling productivity. Prior to the first quarter of this year, labor productivity had not fallen three quarters in a row since 1979 in the lead up to the 1980 recession and the 1981-82 recession...","https://mises.org/wire/new-labor-productivity-numbers-worst-35-years" "Deflation, Easy Money, and the Boom-Bust Cycle","Wire","Frank Shostak","","June 2, 2017","According to the president of the Federal Reserve of St. Louis James Bullard the current level of US prices is noticeably lower than what it would be if the Federal Reserve had delivered on its 2% inflation target, calling the trend “worrisome.” The yearly growth rate of the consumer price index (CPI) eased in April to 2.2% from 2.4% in March. Many economists maintain that a fall in prices...","https://mises.org/wire/deflation-easy-money-and-boom-bust-cycle" "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Doesn't Understand What Capitalists Do","Wire","Antón Chamberlin","","December 5, 2018","The third weekend of November, as usual, saw the crowning of a champion in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series — the Camping World Truck Series, the Xfinity Series, and the Monster Energy Cup Series. The 2018 Xfinity Series champion went to Tyler Reddick, driver of the #9 Camaro, after a dominating performance at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This was the third championship in five...","https://mises.org/wire/dale-earnhardt-jr-doesnt-understand-what-capitalists-do" "Social Security's Winners and Losers","Wire","Gary Galles","","May 14, 2019","The latest annual Social Security trustees report recently came out. One of its “lowlights” was the program’s massive unfunded liabilities (currently a $42.1 trillion cumulative shortfall under intermediate population and economic growth assumptions), reiterating what has long been known, though frequently ignored. The program is far from sustainable. Continuing the status quo, is not an option,...","https://mises.org/wire/social-securitys-winners-and-losers" "Absolving with Faint Criticism: A Media and Real Estate Mogul Defends the Fed","Wire","Dan Sanchez","","November 29, 2009","This post is one in a series entitled Posthumous Refutations. Previously in this series: Capitalism, Competition, Collaboration, and Kindness.Media and real estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman has written an op-ed piece in which he tries to deflect blame from the Fed, and even proposes giving it more power. In what amounts to a double-salvo on behalf of the Fed, the piece has been run in his own U.S...","https://mises.org/wire/absolving-faint-criticism-media-and-real-estate-mogul-defends-fed" "Why Central Bankers Think They're Doing Good for the Economy","Wire","Frank Shostak","","June 22, 2018","Many commentators are of the view that the US central bank should pursue policies that will prevent the possible decline of the economy into a liquidity trap hole. What is this all about? In the popular framework of thinking that originates from the writings of John Maynard Keynes, economic activity is presented in terms of a circular flow of money. Spending by one individual becomes part of the...","https://mises.org/wire/why-central-bankers-think-theyre-doing-good-economy" "Why Central Banks Are a Threat to Our Savings","Wire","Frank Shostak","","June 25, 2020","The US personal savings rate jumped to 33 percent in April from 12.7 percent in March and 8 percent in April last year. An increase in savings is regarded by popular economics as less expenditure on consumption. Since consumption expenditure is considered as the main driving force of the economy, obviously a rebound in savings, which implies less consumption, cannot be good for economic activity...","https://mises.org/wire/why-central-banks-are-threat-our-savings" "The Campaign Against Cost Cutting","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","September 9, 2002","Some influential Wall Street economists are alarmed that cost cutting by many companies in order to secure profits is a major threat to the economy. They say that if everyone tries to cut costs and save more, demand for goods and services from fired workers will fall, which in turn will hurt corporate revenues and, thus, profits. This, in turn, sets in motion new firings, and this again eats into...","https://mises.org/library/campaign-against-cost-cutting" "Deck the Halls with Macro Follies","Library Item","John Papola","Mises Daily Articles","December 24, 2012","[Reprinted from EconStories.] Each year, our attention turns to the holidays… and to holiday consumer spending! We’re told repeatedly that, because consumer spending is 70 percent of measured GDP, such spending is vital to economic growth and job creation. This must mean that savings, the opposite of consumption, is bad for growth.This view of macroeconomics was first popularly asserted by Thomas...","https://mises.org/library/deck-halls-macro-follies" "Bubble, Bubble, Housing in Trouble","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","April 30, 2013","It appears that the Fed’s zero-interest-rate and QE policies have finally achieved its insane goal of re-igniting a housing bubble.The Case-Schiller 20-City Index shows that housing prices increased by 1.2 percent in February and 9.3 percent year-over-year. All cities included in the index experienced substantial gains, which have been driven by staggeringly large increases in the bottom tier of...","https://mises.org/wire/bubble-bubble-housing-trouble" "II. The Two Classes of Credit","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","There is no difference between the ultimate objectives of the anti-interest policies of canon law and the policies recommended by modern interest-baiting. But the methods applied are different. Medieval orthodoxy was intent first upon prohibiting by decree interest altogether and later upon limiting the height of interest rates by the so-called usury laws. Modern self-styled unorthodoxy aims at...","https://mises.org/ii-two-classes-credit" "The Carrot and the Stick","Wire"," Mises.org","","December 21, 2009","[The Economist, June 29, 1946. Reprinted in American Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 4 (1946), p. 282.]The human donkey requires either a carrot in front or a stick behind to goad it into activity. It is fashionable at the moment to argue that the carrot is the more important of the two: ‘incentive’ is the watchword, and all classes of the community are busy arguing that if only they are given a little bit...","https://mises.org/wire/carrot-and-stick" "Hard Work (Alone) Won't Get Your Country Out of Poverty ","Wire","Jorge Eduardo García","","January 2, 2019","Work is a determining factor for personal success and social development. Furthermore, there is a socially accepted mantra around work that surrounds it with an aura of mysticism. It is said that hard work is what drives a person, and therefore a whole country. Is this true? This article tries to explain why the idea of hard work as the only determinant for development is incomplete. Work alone...","https://mises.org/wire/hard-work-alone-wont-get-your-country-out-poverty" "Subzero Rates Are Coming to the US and the UK","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","February 17, 2021","Negative rates are the destruction of money, an economic aberration based on the mistakes of many central banks and some of their economists, who all start from a wrong diagnosis: the idea that economic agents do not take more credit or invest more because they choose to save too much and therefore saving must be penalized to stimulate the economy. Excuse the bluntness, but it is a ludicrous idea...","https://mises.org/wire/subzero-rates-are-coming-us-and-uk" "Spotlight on Keynesian Economics","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","August 13, 2022","Its Significance Fifty years ago, an exuberant American people knew little and cared less about economics. They understood, however, the virtues of economic freedom, and this understanding was shared by the economists, who supplemented common sense with sharper tools of analysis. At present, economics seems to be the number one American and world problem. The newspapers are filled with complex...","https://mises.org/library/spotlight-keynesian-economics" "The Making of Modern Civilization: Savings, Investment, and Economic Calculation","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","April 17, 2019","Institutionalism1 is used to ridicule the classical economists because they started with “Crusoe economics.” In the beginning a fisherman got the idea that he could catch more fish one day than he needed and then he could have some leisure time to manufacture fishing nets. These nets and saved fish are “capital goods”; I don’t call them “capital.” Capital goods are the intermediate factors...","https://mises.org/wire/making-modern-civilization-savings-investment-and-economic-calculation" "Standing Keynesianism on Its Head","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","April 20, 2009","As Employment Increases in Response to a Fall in Wage Rates, the Rate of Profit Rises, Not FallsThis is the third in a series of articles that seeks to provide the intelligent layman with sufficient knowledge of sound economic theory to enable him to understand what must be done to overcome the present financial crisis and return to the path of economic progress and prosperity.IntroductionPopular...","https://mises.org/library/standing-keynesianism-its-head" "The Crisis Point of the Inflationary Boom","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","March 4, 2008","In a recent survey — jointly conducted by CFO magazine and Duke University — one of the top concerns being expressed by industry executives across the United States, Europe, and Asia was that of the rising cost and — to a slightly lesser extent — the reduced availability of labor, especially that of the skilled variety.The worry most forcibly competing with this angst was that of whether ""...","https://mises.org/library/crisis-point-inflationary-boom" "Inflation Leads to Protectionism","Library Item","Stefan Karlsson","Mises Daily Articles","March 4, 2004","The main argument for protectionism one hears today cites America's huge current account deficit, which is cited as evidence for the need for trade barriers.One example of this was in the debate between CNN's protectionist News anchor Lou Dobbs and free trader James Glassman from the American Enterprise Institute. Dobbs kept harping about the current account deficit, while Glassman responded by...","https://mises.org/library/inflation-leads-protectionism" "Africa: The Next Major Boom-Bust Cycle?","Library Item","Chris Becker","Mises Daily Articles","August 22, 2013","As Western economies start to regress in earnest following decades of failed and destructive monetary inflation and debt accumulation, yield-starved investors are allocating real capital to the one industrially untapped continent in the world: Africa. However, we’re not seeing industry moving to Africa to set up shop. Rather, politically-directed capital flowing into the African resources sector...","https://mises.org/library/africa-next-major-boom-bust-cycle" "Equality and the Death Tax","Library Item","Alexander Tabarrok","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 1, 1997","The Free Market 15, no. 9 (September 1997) At last, the Republican Congress has proposed cutting death taxes. It wants the exemption to be raised from $600,000 to $1 million. Not bad for a start. But if Congress is serious about reducing the tax, the rate should immediately index the exemption to the inflation rate. If the inflation of the last 10 years continues over the next, the $1 million...","https://mises.org/library/equality-and-death-tax" "Free Banking and Credit Creation: Implications for Business Cycle Theory","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014"," Volume 3, No. 3 (Fall 2000) Free banking is a process where the market makes the ultimate judgment on where to draw the line between money as a present good and money as a future good. Bankers must make a judgment on the proportion of their deposits that represent saving and the proportion that are currently serving as present money for the holders of the deposits. Only funds held as savings may...","https://mises.org/library/free-banking-and-credit-creation-implications-business-cycle-theory-0" "The State is more Dangerous than Anarchy","Wire","Robert Higgs","","October 22, 2013","Most people fear that without government (as we now know it), social and economic conditions would be horrible, with rampant crime, including theft, extortion, robbery, rape, and murder; chronic fighting among warlords and organized criminal gangs; and low rates of saving and investment, hence little or no economic growth, owing to people’s inability to form reliable expectations about the future...","https://mises.org/wire/state-more-dangerous-anarchy" "Making the Switch","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","May 12, 2003","As we continue to move stories from the ticker to the blog, here are a number that are worth reading:The Fed Press Release that everyone is talking about For-Profit Colleges Gain Luster CNN's excellent story on the myth of deflationUS Talks of Repudiating Iraqi Debt The Christian Science Monitor Gets it right on Oil Prices CNN on the Fed's New Anti-Deflation Policy Hilarious but...","https://mises.org/wire/making-switch" "Did Hayek Really Say That?","Wire","Roger W. Garrison","","May 15, 2003","In that Rediff.com item, Sudhir Mulji tells the following story: ""That during the period of sustained unemployment Kahn asked Hayek the question: 'Is it your view that if I went out tomorrow and bought a new overcoat, it would increase unemployment?' Hayek: 'Yes, but it would take a very long mathematical argument to explain why.'""This is the story as told by Joan Robinson in her Ely Lecture (...","https://mises.org/wire/did-hayek-really-say" "How Government Statistics Lie","Wire","Robert Blumen","","July 2, 2003","Richard Benson explains in this piece -- Government Statistics: Lessons in Cooking and Spinning -- how most government statistics are fabricated, padded, tweaked, or otherwised pushed and squeezed to come out more favorably than what the data shows. One example is that in the CPI, inflation is made to look lower by replacing house prices, which are inflating, with owner-equivalent rent. Rents...","https://mises.org/wire/how-government-statistics-lie" "The Japanese Mess","Wire","Robert Blumen","","October 22, 2003","The New York Times features a review of Gillian Tett's new book Saving the Sun: A Wall Street Gamble to Rescue Japan from its Trillion-Dollar Meltdown. In a market economy, entrepreneurs and managers make decisions about how to best use their capital goods and available savings toward future production possibilities. Their goal is to arrange production in such a way as to best meet consumer...","https://mises.org/wire/japanese-mess" "Economists and Time","Wire"," Mises.org","","February 15, 2004","The decision of Wesley Clark to forego Iowa for New Hampshire is the hook for David Leonhardt to discuss the economics of intertemporal choice (""A Penny Saved Might Just Cost You an Election""—NYT). As with all such popular treatments of mainstream economic theory, the piece can only make an average reader think: is this really what economists do all day? Sample:Traditional economic theory held...","https://mises.org/wire/economists-and-time" "Dude, You're Getting A Dell","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","December 19, 2004","Who's afraid of China?:""I set irrational goals, Michael and I together, to encourage our team so they don't think of conventional solutions,"" Rollins said in an interview. ""If we asked for a 10 or 15 percent increase in productivity, we'd get conventional solutions. But if we ask them to double their productivity, then they have to rethink everything.""This year, their goal was a 30 percent...","https://mises.org/wire/dude-youre-getting-dell" "Stop the U.S. Mail","Wire","Stephen Carson","","February 7, 2005","Andy Kessler of Wired wonders about American tolerance of the monopolistic US Postal Service:It's been said that Americans will put up with anything — as long as it doesn't involve waiting in line. And as I wasted half a day mailing a gift this past holiday season, I asked myself why that sentiment doesn't apply to the US Postal Service. In the age of instant communication, with trillions of...","https://mises.org/wire/stop-us-mail" "Where Has Austrian Economics Eliminated Poverty?","Wire","George Reisman","","May 2, 2006","ALBATROZ (an internet identity): ""And I would like to repeat my challenge to all of you:""Would anyone be so kind as to tell me in which countries poverty was eliminated by means of your (Austrian) enlightened theories?...""MY REPLY: Taking ""Austrian"" economics in its political application to mean private ownership of the means of production and respect for individual rights, including property...","https://mises.org/wire/where-has-austrian-economics-eliminated-poverty" "No Pictures Please","Wire","Ted Roberts","","May 10, 2006","Let us be honest. I'm only a 93% Libertarian and roughly a 90% patriot. That's why I curse our Alabama Legislature's proposal to mount cameras at traffic intersections, but view with calm equanimity the wiretapping of suspects or even suspected suspects who'd like to blow up New York City; or poison Chicago's water supply or otherwise harm me or my countrymen.A democracy only works if you vote...","https://mises.org/wire/no-pictures-please" "Nocera Replies","Wire","George Reisman","","June 4, 2006","Dear Mr. Reisman— I enjoyed reading your blog just now, but if you go back and read what I wrote, you'll note that I specifically set a parameter: to qualify a book had to be published in the last two decades. Atlas Shrugged was published, I believe, in 1959. The point I was trying to make is that over the last two decades, as business has become more central to American life—or least a more...","https://mises.org/wire/nocera-replies" "The Keynes of Marx; the brother Groucho that is","Wire","Jim Fedako","","January 7, 2007","While watching the classic comedy Animal Crackers, I laughed as Groucho Marx — playing the character Captain Spaulding — engaged a gentleman named Chandler in a very funny Marxian discussion of inflation and fiat money:The nickel today is not what it was fifteen years ago. Do you know what this country needs today?...A seven-cent nickel. Yessiree, we've been using the five-cent nickel in this...","https://mises.org/wire/keynes-marx-brother-groucho" "Vaccinations by the state","Wire","Jim Fedako","","February 8, 2007","Reichsführer Perry is mad with power. How else can you explain his executive order mandating that Texas girls ages 11 and 12 receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine before entering the sixth grade starting in September 2008?The principled Libertarian view is that Perry's order is an aggression on the bodies of these young girls. But, of course, all forms of compulsory vaccination are an...","https://mises.org/wire/vaccinations-state" "Financial Times Letter Confuses Credit and Savings","Wire","Robert Blumen","","February 6, 2008","The Feb 5 Financial Times published a letter stating: Sir, The widespread consensus that the aggressive interest rate cut policy adopted by the then Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan after the tech bubble's burst caused the recent market turmoil is totally misleading. The Fed by making money cheaper has determined a large-scale tendency to borrow money for making investments. This has...","https://mises.org/wire/financial-times-letter-confuses-credit-and-savings" "The True Money Supply and the Future of the U.S. Economy","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","January 12, 2015","EcPoFi recaps last year's development of the True Money Supply (TMS), a monetary aggregate developed by Murray Rothbard and myself in the 1980s. The author of the post points out that in 2014, ""the money supply increased by a total of $731 billion, the fourth biggest expansion ever recorded,"" although its rate of growth was 7.4%, substantially below its average growth rate of 8.1% since 1981. He...","https://mises.org/wire/true-money-supply-and-future-us-economy" "Food Stamps and Mises's Theory of Intervention","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","February 6, 2015","Agricultural economist Jayson Lusk has a nice discussion of the US government's SNAP (""food stamps"") program that nicely illustrates Mises's theory of interventionism. Mises argued that government interventions such as price controls, subsidies, and other regulations not only fail to achieve their stated aims, but also generate unanticipated side-effects, calling for further interventions to...","https://mises.org/wire/food-stamps-and-misess-theory-intervention" "6 The Saver as a Voter","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","In the phrase, ""protection of savers,"" the word ""protection"" has a different meaning from that usually attributed to it in present-day political circles. Generally speaking, protection of the ""little man"" or of agriculture means protecting firms from competition on the market, at the expense of consumers. Privileges to advance the special interests of particular groups, at the expense of the...","https://mises.org/6-saver-voter" "It happens every 50 years or so","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","December 31, 2009","Most people under 40 years old spent their holidays fixing their parents and grandparents computers and trying to teach them things about new devices – facing down the inevitable resistance of the older generation to change. They say that they like the old ways better and do not want new things, all while depending on younger people to actually make possible various labor-saving devices that...","https://mises.org/wire/it-happens-every-50-years-or-so" "Profiting from Sickness","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","August 7, 2009","An old-time socialist cliche in favor of socialized medicine is that private companies profit from people’s sickness, which is supposed to be unconscionable. Actually the best way to meet people’s needs is through a system that permits profitability as a sign of success and efficiency, just as it makes sense that farmers should profit from people’s hunger or builders should profit from people’s...","https://mises.org/wire/profiting-sickness" "Deleveraging has barely begun","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","January 12, 2012","Housingwire today reports that bank risk managers still believe that excessive levels of mortgage debt, student loan debt and credit-card debt are still a serious risk.FICO drew that conclusion from a fourth-quarter survey of bank risk professionals conducted by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association.Of those surveyed, 47% of risk managers say they expect mortgage delinquencies...","https://mises.org/wire/deleveraging-has-barely-begun" "Irving Kristol, RIP","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","September 18, 2009","The news reports the death of Irving Kristol, one-time socialist turned democratic capitalist. He was of course not a libertarian; his love for the market extended to two cheers only. He was also instrumental in tying the capitalist cause to a celebration of the warfare state–the whole ideology of neoconservatism–which didn’t help the cause much in the end. This ideological move he helped bring...","https://mises.org/wire/irving-kristol-rip" "The vigilant alphabet","Wire","Jim Fedako","","June 29, 2010","On my way home from work I was browbeaten by a timely public service announcement: Acting U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines wants you to Put Safety In Play During the Fourth of July.Of course you can be assured that Gaines is vigilant when it comes to your safety. He is, after all, acting U.S. fire administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration.According to the administration’s website, “As an...","https://mises.org/wire/vigilant-alphabet" "Letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer ","Wire","Patrick Barron","","November 24, 2015","Patrick Barron, an associated scholar with the Mises Institute, passes along a letter he wrote to the Philadelphia Inquirer in response to their article, ""Fed to help teachers learn finance"". Dear Sirs:Here is what the Fed will teach about money and finance: Lesson #1: Print moneyLesson #2: Print more moneyLesson #3: Print even more money Here is a quote from Mr. Bill Martin, a high school...","https://mises.org/wire/letter-philadelphia-inquirer" "Eliminating Cash Makes it Easier to Silence Critics ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","November 25, 2015","As Joseph Salerno has observed, the elimination of physical cash makes it easier for the state to keep track of private persons, and it assists central banks in efforts to punish saving and expand the money supply by implementing negative interest rate schemes. A third advantage of the elimination of physical cash would be to more easily control people and potential dissidents through the...","https://mises.org/wire/eliminating-cash-makes-it-easier-silence-critics" "Where Keynes Went Wrong","Library Item","Hunter Lewis","Books","October 1, 2009","Hunter Lewis's book Where Keynes Went Wrong was the greatest literary surprise of 2009, a welcome relief from a slew of awful books on economics appearing in the popular press. Lewis's book is thoroughly Austrian, a recapitulation of Hazlitt's argument against Keynes applied to contemporary problems, and is accessible to anyone with a basic economic understanding. He has learned from Rothbard,...","https://mises.org/library/where-keynes-went-wrong" "The Week in Review: March 12, 2016","Library Item","Mises Institute","Mises Wire","March 12, 2016","This weekend, Americans move forward their clocks for daylight saving time, one of the more absurd (outdated) examples of insane government control. Notes James Alexander Webb, the government mandated spring forward is simply another example of “disrespect for the principle of simply leaving people alone.” Unfortunately the principle of lassiez-faire is one too often ignored in today’s world. The...","https://mises.org/library/week-review-march-12-2016" "CBO Cost Estimate of Cap & Trade Pulls Out All the Gimmicks","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","June 25, 2009","On Friday the House is expected to vote on the Waxman-Markey climate change and energy bill, which contains an aggressive cap-and-trade program. Critics have pointed out that it could impose serious harms on the U.S. economy with little environmental benefit. The CBO entered the fray [.pdf] recently and announced that by 2020, the annual cost to the average household would be a mere $175. Not bad...","https://mises.org/wire/cbo-cost-estimate-cap-trade-pulls-out-all-gimmicks" "Central Banks: ""Gold Is Money""","Wire","Per Bylund","","November 17, 2011","No, you didn’t hear them actually say it. In fact, Bernanke says quite clearly “no” – gold is not money. But their actions speak much louder than words. The Financial Times reports that central bank gold buying is at a 40-year high. In other words, whereas central banks have primarily been net sellers of gold since the crash of the Bretton Woods system, they are now net buyers – and quite heavily...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-gold-money" "The Fed vs. Savings","Wire","Mark Thornton","","September 6, 2016","The Federal Reserve and in particular fiat money ruins the incentive to save for a better future. Half of all Americans have zero dollars in a savings account and another 20% have less than $1,000.You can see this clearly on the graph. Personal savings as measured by the government peaked in the final days of the Bretton Woods gold standard in the early 1970s at around 14%. Since then there has...","https://mises.org/wire/fed-vs-savings" "Say's Law: The Antidote to Countless Economic Fallacies ","Wire","Russell Lamberti","","February 14, 2017","To understand the principle that has been called Say’s Law, it is useful to start by thinking about what unhampered exchange is: the mutual offering of goods and services between people. Seeing exchange as a mutual offering shows demand-and-supply is not an unsolvable chicken-or-egg problem. People produce what in their best judgment they think others want, in the expectation that others are...","https://mises.org/wire/says-law-antidote-countless-economic-fallacies" "Why We Need Savings to Produce What We Need","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 19, 2019","Conventional wisdom says that savings is the amount of money left after monetary income was used for consumer outlays, implying that saving is synonymous with money. Hence, for a given consumer outlays an increase in money income implies more saving and thus more funding for investment. This in turn sets the platform for higher economic growth. Following this logic, one could also establish that...","https://mises.org/wire/why-we-need-savings-produce-what-we-need" "61. The Ups and Downs of Drug Prices: An Economist’s View","Library Item","Michel Accad, MD, Anish Koka","The Accad and Koka Report, Mises Media, Interviews","February 5, 2019","Some drugs cost more than diamonds, though their health benefit seems marginal. Others cost less than a package of M&Ms, though they are demonstrably life-saving. Some drug prices have spiked to three-fold, four-fold, or even ten-fold from what they were just a few years ago. Drug pricing seems to be an irrational and incomprehensible aspect of our economy. To help us gain clarity on the...","https://mises.org/library/61-ups-and-downs-drug-prices-economists-view" "Savings Are Critical to a Prosperous Economy ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","June 12, 2020","It is held by most mainstream economists that spending is the heart of economic activity. Economic activity is depicted as a circular flow of money. Spending by one individual becomes part of the earnings of another individual, and vice versa. In contrast saving is viewed negatively as it weakens the potential demand for goods and services. If, however, people have become less confident about the...","https://mises.org/wire/savings-are-critical-prosperous-economy" "Man, Economy, and State: Entrepreneurship and Change","Library Item","Jeff Deist, Hunter Hastings","The Human Action Podcast, Mises Media, Interviews","August 1, 2020","The Human Action podcast with Jeff Deist continues tracking Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State, this time focusing on the role of entrepreneurs in the production process (Chapter 8). Hunter Hastings joins the show with great insights into the social benefits of profit vs. interest, entrepreneurial risk, progressing and retrogressing economies, and the bunkum known as the ""Paradox of Saving."" This...","https://mises.org/library/man-economy-and-state-entrepreneurship-and-change" "The Fallacies of Underconsumptionism","Library Item","Vladimir Menshikov","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 2005","In my capacity as an economics student one of the hardest things to grasp has always been the exact relationship between consumption expenditures, savings, and prosperity. At the undergraduate level, I was fed the standard IS/LM story, which says in effect that consumption drives production. The standard story can be told in a few simple sentences using some obvious ""facts"" about the functioning...","https://mises.org/library/fallacies-underconsumptionism" "Paul Krugman and the Consumption Myth","Library Item","Jonathan M. Finegold Catalan","Mises Daily Articles","March 25, 2010","In ""China's Water Pistol,"" Paul Krugman turned commentary on China into a general attack on those who remain wary of the United States' large public debt. In it, he sums up the Keynesian views on saving, consumption, and government spending. Whatever his intentions, all Krugman does is underscore his own lack of understanding of economic theory.Yet, it is his misguided view of economics that is...","https://mises.org/library/paul-krugman-and-consumption-myth" "A Reformulation of Austrian Business Cycle Theory in Light of the Financial Crisis","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014"," Volume 17, No. 1 (Spring 2012)ABSTRACT: The financial crisis and the events leading up to it have sparked a remarkable renewal of interest in Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT). A number of mainstream macroeconomists have criticized this resurgence of interest in ABCT on the grounds that the theory cannot explain the positive correlation of consumption and investment that occurs over the...","https://mises.org/library/reformulation-austrian-business-cycle-theory-light-financial-crisis-0" "China Does Not Determine U.S. Interest Rates","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","June 3, 2005","Most experts hold that China's reluctance to allow its currency the Yuan to appreciate against the US dollar is the key factor behind the low interest rate structure in the US. This is incorrect, for reasons I explain below. It is important to understand the causal factors now, before the US falls back into recession and China, rather than the Federal Reserve, catches the blame.The Chinese...","https://mises.org/library/china-does-not-determine-us-interest-rates" "Destroying an Economy to Save It","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","April 24, 2003","From either side of the Atlantic, two of the more influential proselytes of that degenerate old collectivist, John Maynard Keynes, have chosen to re-iterate all the old myths once again.'Now the corporate sector at large doesn't merely want to reduce its net borrowings but actually in many cases wants to become a net saver. In the language of corporate finance that is becoming cash flow positive...","https://mises.org/library/destroying-economy-save-it" "The Myth of Functional Finance: Mises vs. Lerner","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","May 23, 2006"," Those familiar with the history of twentieth 20th-century economic thought know of the dominance of ""Keynesian economics"" following the Second World War. While John Maynard Keynes typically receives credit for transforming economics, much postwar Keynesian economics was actually developed by his interpreters and followers.Perhaps the single most important one of these followers was the Romanian...","https://mises.org/library/myth-functional-finance-mises-vs-lerner" "Stiglitz in The Times: A Study in Confusion","Wire","George Reisman","","October 4, 2006","In the New York Times, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winner in economics, has an article titled ""How to Fix the Global Economy."" Judging from his article, Stiglitz appears to believe that the main problem of the global economy is ""global financial imbalances."" By this, he means ""America's enormous trade deficits,"" which he states are close to $3 billion a day, and ""China's growing trade surplus...","https://mises.org/wire/stiglitz-times-study-confusion" "Commentaries","Online Text Chapter","Friedrich A. Hayek","Books","February 18, 2015","Ivor Pearce Professor of Economics and Head of Department, University of Southampton, 1962–72 Director of Research, Econometric Model Building Unit, University of Southampton, 1973–75 Author of A Model of Output, Employment, Wages and Prices in the UK (1976) If I had the temerity, which I do not, to claim the existence of a fault in Professor Hayek's superb Choice in Currency, it would...","https://mises.org/commentaries" "5. The Incidence and Effects of Taxation Part III: The Progressive Tax","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","June 2, 2015","Of all the patterns of tax distribution, the progressive tax has generated the most controversy. In the case of the progressive tax, the conservative economists who oppose it have taken the offensive, for even its advocates must grudgingly admit that the progressive tax lowers incentives and productivity. Hence, the most ardent champions of the progressive tax on “equity” grounds admit that the...","https://mises.org/5-incidence-and-effects-taxation-part-iii-progressive-tax" "16. Schumpeter's Theory of Business Cycles","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","Joseph Schumpeter's business cycle theory is one of the very few that attempts to integrate an explanation of the business cycle with an analysis of the entire economic system. The theory was presented in essence in his Theory of Economic Development, published in 1912. This analysis formed the basis for the “first approximation” of his more elaborate doctrine, presented in the two-volume...","https://mises.org/16-schumpeters-theory-business-cycles" "5. The Incidence and Effects of Taxation Part III: The Progressive Tax","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","March 31, 2016","Of all the patterns of tax distribution, the progressive tax has generated the most controversy. In the case of the progressive tax, the conservative economists who oppose it have taken the offensive, for even its advocates must grudgingly admit that the progressive tax lowers incentives and productivity. Hence, the most ardent champions of the progressive tax on “equity” grounds admit that the...","https://mises.org/5-incidence-and-effects-taxation-part-iii-progressive-tax-0" "Free Markets Do Not Need Negative Interest Rates ","Wire","Louis Rouanet","","May 5, 2016","Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, seems to have forgotten the nature of interest rates and their coordinating role. According to him, central banks are not to blame in the persistence of low or negative interest rates. He writes: “We must regard ultralow rates as symptoms of our disease, not its cause.”Wolf then goes on to claim that “negative...","https://mises.org/wire/free-markets-do-not-need-negative-interest-rates" "Do We Need More Savings Before We Can Have More Lending?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","September 26, 2019","There is an emerging view held by many commentators that it is banks and not the central banks that are key for the expansion of money. This way of thinking is promoted these days by the followers of the Post Keynesian school of economics (PK). In a research paper by the Bank of England’s Zoltan Jakab and Michael Kurnhof, they suggest that In the intermediation of loanable funds model of banking...","https://mises.org/wire/do-we-need-more-savings-we-can-have-more-lending" "Central Bankers Have Declared War on Your Savings","Wire","Andrew Moran","","November 30, 2019","When any one of the plethora of bubbles burst – pick your poison – and the next financial crisis impacts Wall Street and Main Street, how will the central banks and federal governments react? They have fired all their unconventional rounds of bullets, from subzero interest rates to vast money-printing . One other proposal could conceivably be giving your deposits a haircut, much like what...","https://mises.org/wire/central-bankers-have-declared-war-your-savings" "It Should Shock Us That There's Any Consumer Price Inflation at All","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 15, 2020","Thanks to lockdowns, high unemployment, and general uncertainty and fear over covid-19, the personal saving rate in the United States in October was 13.6 percent, the highest since the mid-1970s. This is down from April’s rate of 33.7 percent, which was the highest saving rate recorded since the Second World War. Moreover, among those who received “stimulus” checks under the CARES Act, only 15...","https://mises.org/wire/it-should-shock-us-theres-any-consumer-price-inflation-all" "Reflections on the Pure Theory of Money of Mr. J.M. Keynes","Library Item","Friedrich A. Hayek","Mises Daily Articles","December 3, 2021","Introduction by Joseph T. Salerno Friedrich A. Hayek was only thirty-two years old when he published this two-part article in Economica, at the time, the world's leading English-language economics journal. The article is a review essay of John Maynard Keynes's two-volume book, A Treatise on Money, published the previous year. Keynes, a generation senior to Hayek, was at the time the leading...","https://mises.org/library/reflections-pure-theory-money-mr-jm-keynes" "Role of Interest in Entrepreneurial Calculations","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","May 14, 2010","[This article is excerpted from chapter 20 of Human Action: The Scholar's Edition and is read by Jeff Riggenbach.] A drop in the gross market rate of interest affects the entrepreneur's calculation concerning the chances of the profitability of projects considered. Along with the prices of the material factors of production, wage rates, and the anticipated future prices of the products, interest...","https://mises.org/library/role-interest-entrepreneurial-calculations" "My Advice to Young People","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","September 12, 2011","Over the last few years I've been freely dispensing financial advice to young people. I usually preface my remarks by saying, ""I feel funny telling you what to do with your life, but since I'm bald you know I'm older and that I worry a lot."" In the present article I'll summarize my recommendations. I am comfortable reproducing them for wide distribution, because they are conservative tips that...","https://mises.org/library/my-advice-young-people" "Anarcho-Syndicalism: A Recipe for Ruin","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","Mises Daily Articles","September 5, 2011","""Believe it or not, there are a few things worse than the state.""While browsing the blogosphere, Mises.org readers may have come across self-styled ""left-libertarians."" You may even consider yourself something of a left-libertarian. Some of these folk, like the philosopher Roderick Long, have some very sound ideas, and many deep insights.There is a large subset of left-libertarians who can be...","https://mises.org/library/anarcho-syndicalism-recipe-ruin" "How Far Will We Fall?","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","The Free Market, Institute Publications","July 1, 2010","The Free Market 28, no. 7 (July 2010) Many people are rightly concerned about economic conditions, which are far more grim than the official statistics suggest. Young people out of college are facing a stagnant job market. Businesses have rethought expansion plans. Retrenchment continues to be the watchword in nearly every area of commercial life.It is one thing to deal with recession. But there...","https://mises.org/library/how-far-will-we-fall" "Real Bills Raises its Ugly Head, Again and Again","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","September 8, 2005","""I know no time which is lost more thoroughly than that devoted to arguing on matters of fact with a disputant who has no facts, but only very strong convictions."" So said, James E. Thorold Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages, London 1901. In line with the above definition of futility, I shall not spend time re-refuting all the false lines of argument and logical errors in the latest blast...","https://mises.org/wire/real-bills-raises-its-ugly-head-again-and-again" "The Week in Review: October 15, 2016","Wire","Mises Institute","","October 14, 2016","We are less than a month away from the election and it can’t be over soon enough. In the latest strange turn, several DC libertarians came out against prosecuting unlawful politicians and in support of a government-managed “common market,” rather than genuine free trade that can be imposed unilaterally. In DC, regulators continue to expand their power, while special interests are trying to create...","https://mises.org/wire/week-review-october-15-2016" "After Years of ""Stimulus"" Come Surging Debt and Falling Wages","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","November 22, 2022","As interest rates rise on everything from mortgages to car loans to Treasurys, interest is also rising on credit card debt. That’s not exactly great news, as so many indicators point to a recession—and the worsening job situation that comes with it—on the horizon. Many Americans may soon find themselves with more debt and higher interest rates, all while real wages are falling. Earlier this month...","https://mises.org/wire/after-years-stimulus-come-surging-debt-and-falling-wages" "13. Capitalism versus Socialism","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises, Richard M. Ebeling","Books","February 18, 2015","I.*Most of our contemporaries are highly critical of what they call “the unequal distribution of wealth.” As they see it, justice would require a state of affairs under which nobody enjoys what are to be considered superfluous luxuries as long as other people lack things necessary for the preservation of life, health, and cheerfulness. The ideal condition of mankind, they pretend, would be an...","https://mises.org/13-capitalism-versus-socialism" "The Central Fallacy of Keynesian Economics","Library Item","Robert F. Mulligan","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","November 19, 2014","Volume 17, No. 3 (Fall 2014)ABSTRACT: Keynes’s theory of Aggregate Expenditures from the General Theory is examined and criticized. Keynes suggested numerous reasons why his marginal propensity to consume (MPC) might vary across individuals, over different time periods, and might be fundamentally heterogeneous in other respects, but assumed a constant MPC for tractability. He also argued that...","https://mises.org/library/central-fallacy-keynesian-economics-0" "Can More Yen Save Japan?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","September 23, 2002","In the latest move to revive Japan's financial system, the governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that the central bank would buy stocks directly from lending institutions in order to help them reduce the impact of falling share prices. According to the plan, the BOJ will hold the purchased stocks for at least 10 years.The persistent fall in stock prices has severely eroded banks’ capital...","https://mises.org/library/can-more-yen-save-japan" "Can the State Reduce Poverty?","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","Mises Daily Articles","May 16, 2022","From the beginning of history, sincere reformers as well as demagogues have sought to abolish or at least to alleviate poverty through state action. In most cases their proposed remedies have only served to make the problem worse. The most frequent and popular of these proposed remedies has been the simple one of seizing from the rich to give to the poor. This remedy has taken a thousand...","https://mises.org/library/can-state-reduce-poverty" "The Downturn Is Good News","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","August 15, 2008","Sometimes the bad news is the good news. So it is with the report that retail sales are down by 0.1 percent in July, the sharpest drop in many months.Why good news? It means that consumers are starting to cut back. They could be going into less debt. They might be saving more. They are being more careful about long-term plans pending short-term trends.These are all preconditions for recovery. It'...","https://mises.org/library/downturn-good-news" "Obama's Fix-It Plans","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","June 25, 2009","The entire presumption of the Obama-proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency is that banks and mortgage companies are under-regulated by the state. This is why the financial meltdown took place — never mind that the federal regulatory Gosplan includes tens of thousands of pages purporting to regulate the mortgage industry alone.Let's leave aside the unknown costs that will be associated with...","https://mises.org/library/obamas-fix-it-plans" "Interest Rates Can Do Their Job!","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","September 10, 2002","In these times of faltering growth and worries about a relapse into recession, we ask pointed questions about the competency of our leaders and policymakers. Is Mr. Bush not doing his job? Is Mr. Greenspan not doing his? There is plenty of finger-pointing to be done, but to bring the original culprit into view, we must step back from the current politics and personalities and ask: Are interest...","https://mises.org/library/interest-rates-can-do-their-job" "Mises on Business","Library Item",", William H. Peterson","Mises Daily Articles","March 1, 1999","Investors Business DailyMarch 1, 1999America's Masochistic Business Classby William H. PetersonThe aim of politics, H.L. Mencken observed, ""is to keep the populace alarmed - and hence clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."" One popular hobgoblin is the businessman.Item: ""It's a terrible thing,"" said Dick Mabry, a Mobil refinery...","https://mises.org/library/mises-business" "In Defense of Gas-Guzzling","Library Item","Karen De Coster, CPA","Mises Daily Articles","June 28, 2001","We’ve all listened to the incessant criminalizing of SUVs and of those who have a fondness for driving them. The anti-SUV crowd is led by the maniacal green people, though they are joined by the carpool fanciers and the general collectivist rank-and-file that despises anything remotely resembling status or success. And, let’s face it, an imposing vehicle of great size and impenetrable steel does...","https://mises.org/library/defense-gas-guzzling" "That Savings Glut vs. Those Low Interest Rates","Library Item","David Howden","Mises Daily Articles","August 28, 2013","Five years after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, economists are still starkly divided as to its causes. Perhaps this is not too surprising as we are now more than 80 years past the Great Depression with little end in sight to the debate surrounding the causes of that downturn.Most economists fall into one of two camps when explaining where the imbalances originated that led...","https://mises.org/library/savings-glut-vs-those-low-interest-rates" "Performance Budgeting Myth, The","Library Item","Francois Melese","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 1995","The Free Market 13, no. 4 (April 1995) Performance budgeting (PB) is the newest strategy to make the public sector work. Yet as with other similar strategies, PB is fundamentally flawed. Without a system of profit and loss, a bureaucracy not only has trouble motivating its employees; it can't determine the value of what they are doing in the first place.The social sciences have traditionally...","https://mises.org/library/performance-budgeting-myth" "Family-Wrecking Tax, The","Library Item","Timothy D. Terrell","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 1997","The Free Market 15, no. 10 (October 1997) Among the tax discussions on Capitol Hill this year are the proposed changes in the 80-year-old inheritance tax. Part of the Republican tax plan calls for an increase in the estate tax exemption from $600,000 to $1,000,000, with considerably larger exemptions for farmers and other small business owners. The less generous Clinton Administration proposal...","https://mises.org/library/family-wrecking-tax-0" "Is Capital a Blessing or a Curse?","Wire"," Mises.org","","June 5, 2014","Shawn Ritenour discusses how the accumulation of capital, far from being harmful to labor, is what makes improvements in the standard of living possible for people at all income levels, while making it possible for people to pursue goals other than economic ones. (See also Gary Galles on this.) Ritenour writes: “Capital is opposed to labor, and the rich get richer while the poor get poorer” is a...","https://mises.org/wire/capital-blessing-or-curse" "Mises's Legacy 40 Years Later: How His Work Influenced Me","Wire","Walter Block","","October 4, 2013","Thursday is the 40th Anniversary of the death of Ludwig von Mises.First, let me start out with a bit of braggadocio. I must be one of the few people, still living, who has actually shaken hands with Ludwig von Mises (and never washed his hand afterward; so, if you shake hands with me, you come off a bit smelly, but you can directly channel Mises himself through my intermediation).Now, to business...","https://mises.org/wire/misess-legacy-40-years-later-how-his-work-influenced-me" "Consumption Does Not Drive the Macroeconomy ","Wire","John P. Cochran","","April 23, 2014","Mark Skousen, through his Economic Logic and The Structure of Production, has been leading the fight for years for a measurement of economic activity that more closely aligns with a capital structure based macroeconomics. GDP is truly a Keynesian–based view of the economy; a data set that often hampers rather than helps advance Austrian macroeconomics. Misguided use of the data set encourages...","https://mises.org/wire/consumption-does-not-drive-macroeconomy" "On McTeer, Keynes, and Bastiat","Wire","Mark Thornton","","June 5, 2003","Here is my letter to the editor concerning Bob McTeer's piece, June 4, 2003. By the way, I had already critiqued him in Monetary Hawks and Doves (Mises.org, Sept 30, 2002) Dear Editor, Wall Street Journal: When the great 19th century economist Frederic Bastiat is quoted in the Journal it is encouraging. When John Maynard Keynes is endorsed it is frightening. President of the Dallas Federal...","https://mises.org/wire/mcteer-keynes-and-bastiat" "2. The Misinterpretation of the Human Condition","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books, PDF Texts","February 18, 2015","As all brands of positivism see it, the eminent role man plays on the earth is the effect of his progress in the cognition of the interconnectedness of natural—i.e., not specifically mental and volitional—phenomena and in its utilization for technological and therapeutical behavior. Modern industrial civilization, the spectacular affluence it has produced, and the unprecedented increase in...","https://mises.org/2-misinterpretation-human-condition" "The Evil of Patenting Food and Seeds","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","June 13, 2011","From Don’t Save Your (Patented) Seed:As reported on the Patent Baristas blog: “To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “Well, There You Go Again!” The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit again affirmed that, while the practice of savings seeds after a harvest to plant the next season is as old as farming itself, you can’t save patented seeds.”From The Patent, Copyright, Trademark, and Trade Secret...","https://mises.org/wire/evil-patenting-food-and-seeds" """Entrepreneurs are accustomed to a manic-depressive economy""","Wire"," Mises.org","","December 31, 2009","Huerta: ‘El empresario está acostumbrado a una economía maniaco-depresiva’Interview with Jesús Huerta de Soto, Professor of Political Economy‘We must allow the market to detect and rectify its own errors.’ Professor Huerta de Soto holds that ‘governments attack the symptoms, and not the causes, of recessions.’D. Gracia / C. Cuesta (Madrid) ExpansiónIf we are to emerge from the crisis, ‘...","https://mises.org/wire/entrepreneurs-are-accustomed-manic-depressive-economy" "Government ""Stimulus"": The Real Trickledown Economics","Wire","Roy Cordato","","February 14, 2018","In the media and among pundits use of the term trickledown economics is common. Reportedly first used in the 1930s by Will Rogers, the expression was prominently adopted as a pejorative description of what is more appropriately called supply side economics, by those who opposed Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts.The implication of the term, when used to describe Reagan’s plan, was that these cuts were...","https://mises.org/wire/government-stimulus-real-trickledown-economics" "Chapter 18: ""Bull"" Market?","Online Text Chapter","Mark Thornton","Books, Books","July 10, 2018","It was on a weekend during the winter of 2004 and I was getting suspicions of the coming of another Fed-induced bubble like the one of the late 1990s. Social psychology seemed to be becoming more optimistic. However, it was not perfectly clear if it was just a general boom throughout the economy, or a bubble in a particular sector. I decided to take a look for myself. It would be hard to deny...","https://mises.org/chapter-18-bull-market" "Europe's Spending Binge Is Slowing Its Economy","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","October 21, 2019","The idea that governments can’t lower taxes because there is a deficit, but are free to raise all expenses even if there is a deficit can be found in many political manifestos these days. Central planners always see the economic challenges as a problem of demand, and as such cringe at the idea of prudent investment and saving. When GDP growth, gross capital formation, and consumption are lower...","https://mises.org/wire/europes-spending-binge-slowing-its-economy" "Why Sweden Ended Its Negative Interest Rate Experiment","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","January 7, 2020","Negative rates are the destruction of money, an economic aberration based on the mistakes of many central banks and some of their economists, who start with a wrong diagnosis: the idea that economic agents do not take more credit or invest more because they choose to save too much and that therefore saving must be penalized to stimulate the economy. Excuse the bluntness, but it is a ludicrous...","https://mises.org/wire/why-sweden-ended-its-negative-interest-rate-experiment" "Coronavirus vs. the Economy: We Are at the Tipping Point","Power & Market","Paul T. Prentice","","May 1, 2020","Most states and municipalities have shut down major sectors of their economies in the hope of minimizing the very real medical damage from the spread of the coronavirus. The benefit is assumed to be in saved lives, or at least a “flattened curve” that allows time for hospitals to ramp up capacity and for medical research to find treatments and a vaccine. To that extent, the economic shutdown will...","https://mises.org/power-market/coronavirus-vs-economy-we-are-tipping-point" "The Importance of ""Fedspeak""","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","May 28, 2020","The Webster's New World College Dictionary defines “Fedspeak” as: (informal) Impenetrable economic jargon used by the US Federal Reserve. It’s not a condition that affects the chair of the Federal Reserve only; the wave of Fedspeak has been exhibited by members of its inner circle as well. Just last week, in a speech made to the New York Association for Business Economics, Vice Chair Richard H....","https://mises.org/power-market/importance-fedspeak" "Bitcoin Hodling and Gresham’s Law","Power & Market","Connor Mortell","","July 16, 2021","In 2013, a bitcoiner posted “I AM HODLING” on a bitcoin forum, intending to write that he was holding during a large price drop. He was explaining that most people are not successful traders and as a result they will inevitably just lose out in the process of trying to time the bear market, so instead he encouraged that bitcoiners should hold and trust bitcoin. Since that day, this typo, “hodl,”...","https://mises.org/power-market/bitcoin-hodling-and-greshams-law" "Why Aren’t People Working?","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","August 23, 2022","Federal Reserve Governor Michelle W. Bowman gave a speech entitled Working Women in the Pandemic Era, where she talked about the challenges women face in the labor market. The surprising parts occurred when she deviated away from this subject and instead focused on outlining ways in which government intervention can harm the labor market. She begins with her own experiences working as a community...","https://mises.org/power-market/why-arent-people-working" "Shedding Light on the Law of Unintended Consequences","Wire","Joshua Schubert","","May 5, 2023","The US Department of Energy has recently announced two new rules banning the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs starting in July, 2023, and phasing in standards across industries over the following months. The Biden administration claims that this ban is a cost-saving measure that will “save consumers about $3 billion annually when fully implemented.” However, the net impact of this policy...","https://mises.org/wire/shedding-light-law-unintended-consequences" "Financial Crisis and Recession","Library Item","Jesús Huerta de Soto","Mises Daily Articles","October 6, 2008","The severe financial crisis and resulting worldwide economic recession we have been forecasting for years are finally unleashing their fury. In fact, the reckless policy of artificial credit expansion that central banks (led by the American Federal Reserve) have permitted and orchestrated over the last fifteen years could not have ended in any other way.The expansionary cycle that has now come to...","https://mises.org/library/financial-crisis-and-recession" "Man, Economy, and Seoul","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","April 11, 2013","Picture a mono-racial New York metropolitan area with a fraction of the murders, if you can. Add in unreadable signs and buildings and infrastructure completed in 1960 or later. Then you might have a picture of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea and, quite possibly, the new center of global capitalism. At least, that is my conclusion after spending several days there on academic and...","https://mises.org/library/man-economy-and-seoul" "Extending the Recession Indefinitely","Library Item","Vin Suprynowicz","Mises Daily Articles","October 14, 2009","Unemployment continues to tick upward. Small businesses forgo profits on two-for-one deals just to keep the doors open.But we're in recovery. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the guy who couldn't get around to paying his own taxes, says so. After all, government is doing all it can to speed the recovery, isn't it?""Fed keeps key rate near zero,"" the business-page headline screamed on September...","https://mises.org/library/extending-recession-indefinitely" "Greenspan's Austrian Roots","Library Item","Samuel Bostaph","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 2001","The Free Market 19, no. 1 (January 2001) Earlier last year (February 17) in testimony before the House Banking Committee, Alan Greenspan argued that increases in productivity tend to create greater increases in aggregate demand than in potential aggregate supply. His reasoning was that productivity increases stimulate optimistic corporate earnings forecasts, which stimulate stock price increases...","https://mises.org/library/greenspans-austrian-roots" "Austrian Insights on 'Full' Employment","Wire","John P. Cochran","","April 27, 2012","A commentator on my recent daily article, “Not Enough Inflation,” asked,“John (and I really hope you answer this question),Why is no one dismissing the “concept” of full-employment as utter nonsense? Doesn’t that give Krugman and his ilk a route to deceive people while sounding economically profound? I see the use of full employment as a goal to justify Keynesian prescriptions all over the place...","https://mises.org/wire/austrian-insights-full-employment" "Want to Have Less of Something? Make its Provision a ""Right""","Wire","Dan Sanchez","","May 3, 2012","John Tamny at Forbes cites Mises to explain how the Lone Path to Cheap Healthcare is Expensive Healthcare, and how the path to highly scarce healthcare is state-mandated “free” and “affordable” healthcare.“Healthcare is not an inalienable right as the Left maintains. How could it be, considering it didn’t even exist until very recently and still doesn’t for much of the world?” – Bill Flax, The...","https://mises.org/wire/want-have-less-something-make-its-provision-right" "It's Not Consumption that Drives the Economy","Wire","Nicolai J. Foss","","October 4, 2013","Good news from Mark Skousen: Important Announcement and some good news: It looks like government may be starting to adopt my new macro model, based on my concept of Gross Domestic Expenditures (GDE), rather than the old GDP, which is what gives the false impression that consumption, rather than production and investing, is what makes the difference in the economy. Skousen has long argued that...","https://mises.org/wire/its-not-consumption-drives-economy" "Gerontopia CAN work!","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","July 19, 2003","A recent post (Why Social Security Can't Work) cited an article from First Quadrant which argued that as a society ‘ages’ savings ‘become irrelevant’, only the ratio of workers to retirees counts. I have met the same fallacy being expressed elsewhere.A correspondent of mine cited the hypothetical example of an almost completely aged society, left with only one worker upon whom to rely – a man who...","https://mises.org/wire/gerontopia-can-work" "Gas Prices Zoom","Wire"," Mises.org","","August 25, 2003","Gas Prices Zoom at Record Pace (CNN.com)E-Commerce Sales Up 4.6% (CNN.com)The Trouble with Low Interest Rates (George Feiger, Milken Review): ""The current economic cycle, from internet boom through Enron bust, has been unusually extreme. The Federal REserve has responded as expected, lowering interest rates time and again, in an effort to stimulate demand. These low rates have yet to generate...","https://mises.org/wire/gas-prices-zoom" "Austrian Business Cycle Theory Questioned","Wire","Robert Blumen","","May 9, 2004","The Mises Institute received the following questions about the Austrian business cycle theory:How can an injection of credit bring about a general boom? Won't it merely transfer resources from consumer industries to capital goods industries? It seems to me that according to Mises the injection of credit would merely redistribute resources.If it is true that the injection just changes the...","https://mises.org/wire/austrian-business-cycle-theory-questioned" "Our Friend, The State","Wire"," Mises.org","","June 29, 2004","This website is dedicated to the mass-murder that has been committed by The State. Via democide and genocide, 174,000,000 people have been murdered by States in the 20th century, with no end in sight; that's more than 4 times the number of people murdered by war alone, which is also mortifyingly high (36,000,000). All of the people murdered by the State, head to toe, would encircle the earth four...","https://mises.org/wire/our-friend-state" "Wait a Sec: Why Are Misers Good?","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","December 23, 2004","At least two bloggers ( 1 and 2) have cheerfully cited Steve Landsburg's article in praise of misers. Although it is refreshing anytime someone takes such an unconventional and pro-capitalist position, I'm afraid that I must be a Scrooge with the kudos. Landsburg's main point—at least, the point to which he devotes the opening of his article, and which the skeptical reader will first see and...","https://mises.org/wire/wait-sec-why-are-misers-good" "State of Fear","Wire","David J. Heinrich","","December 24, 2004","After reading Michael Crichton's latest book, State of Fear, I bought a copy of it as a Christmas present for a family member. This isn't the ""normal"" Michael Crichton book. For one thing, unlike many of his books, there isn't an over-aggressive company engaging in reckless behaviour. Rather, the target of scorn is rightfully the environmentalist movement, and the fanatic fear-mongering regarding...","https://mises.org/wire/state-fear" "Gold Gets No Respect","Wire","Robert Blumen","","December 8, 2005","Fed Chair-in-Waiting Benjamin Bernanke is a ""Great Depression Buff"", reports the Wall Street Journal. Based on extensive research, he has drawn some important conclusions:Beware of outdated orthodoxies such as the gold standard.The Fed's key objective should be stable prices.Don't try to prick asset bubbles.A magazine calling itself The Economist writes The little yellow god: Even at $500, it's...","https://mises.org/wire/gold-gets-no-respect" "The Real Friends and Enemies of Wage Earners: An Intellectual Challenge to the Left","Wire","George Reisman","","April 26, 2006","The reaction to my article on the United Automobile Workers and GM , confirms how many people—namely, ""liberals,"" ""moderates,"" socialists, communists, syndicalists, ""mutualists"" and others—believe that businessmen and capitalists are the enemy, and labor unions and labor legislation, the friend, of wage earners. This is an enormous error, with devastating consequences. The integration of Austrian...","https://mises.org/wire/real-friends-and-enemies-wage-earners-intellectual-challenge-left" "Government by Contract","Wire","Christopher Westley","","February 4, 2007","This morning's New York Times reports on the growing trend of outsourcing government activities via contracting duties to private firms. The result is an increasingly common accounting trick, in which the state can expand its activities while both reducing its size and increasing the scope of activities that occur without public scrutiny. And like most every other aspect of government during the...","https://mises.org/wire/government-contract" " Be Careful When you Wish for a Weak Dollar","Wire","David Howden","","October 10, 2014","A little over a year ago, Canadians were alarmed by the surging loonie. As the argument went, foreigners (and Americans in particular) couldn’t afford to buy Canadian-made goods. Since the country couldn’t compete, better get the Bank of Canada on the job and inflate so as to depreciate the dollar. One year on and people got what they wished for. The loonie has lost about 7% of its value against...","https://mises.org/wire/be-careful-when-you-wish-weak-dollar" "Old Statism, New Statism","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","September 10, 2010","The old statism (Progressivism, New Dealism, Stalinism) was all about forcing material progress on people even when the economic structures and people make them work were not prepared for it. So we had these huge dams made to force electrification in the U.S. and Russia. Wires had to be stretched all over rural areas so they could be modernized. We had interstate highways built. Everyone had to...","https://mises.org/wire/old-statism-new-statism" "The Rule of Yunus Is Ending Too","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","March 2, 2011","The NYT reports that Muhammad Yunus has been forced out of his own Grameen Bank under allegations of fraud and mismanagement. He denies the charges but one paragraph from the article certainly raises questions about Grameen’s operations:A Norwegian documentary alleged that the bank had improperly transferred $100 million donated by the Norwegian government for housing loans to another nonprofit...","https://mises.org/wire/rule-yunus-ending-too" "Failed leadership = failed policy = faltering economy","Wire","John P. Cochran","","August 31, 2011","Below is a letter I sent to Denver post in response to an editorial praising recent remarks by Fed Chairman Bernanke: Denver Post, “Fed chief speaks loud and clear“:In your August 27, editorial “Fed chief speaks loud and clear” you correctly summarize that the U.S. economy should bounce back and that what is standing in the way, is the people in charge. But Chairman Bernanke’s analysis is wrong...","https://mises.org/wire/failed-leadership-failed-policy-faltering-economy" "Why the Recurring Economic Crises? ","Wire","Murray N. Rothbard","","August 27, 2015","A selection from Chapter 42 of Economic Controversies.Why, then, does the business cycle recur? Why does the next boom-and-bust cycle always begin? To answer that, we have to understand the motivations of the banks and the government. The commercial banks live and profit by expanding credit and by creating a new money supply; so they are naturally inclined to do so, “to monetize credit,” if they...","https://mises.org/wire/why-recurring-economic-crises" "Rothbard’s Depression Analysis Is Now More Relevant than Ever ","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","March 1, 2016","When Murray Rothbard published his book America’s Great Depression in 1963, Keynesian economics ruled supreme. Monetarism had just begun its campaign to conquer the mainstream while Austrian economics had fallen into slumber. Rothbard’s analysis of the Great Depression was the second wake-up call for Austrian economics, after the American publication of Ludwig von Mises’s Human Action. In the...","https://mises.org/wire/rothbards-depression-analysis-now-more-relevant-ever" "Capital As a Form of Charity","Wire","F.A. Harper","","November 13, 2017","Tools as a Form of CharityBoth fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an act of charity. And further, I believe it to be — as a type — the greatest economic charity of all.By economic tools of production I mean, of course, things with exchange value — trucks, factories, railroads, stores — which assist human...","https://mises.org/wire/capital-form-charity" "Donald Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Helped Defend Obamacare ","Power & Market","Tho Bishop","","July 10, 2018","Donald Trump has made his second Supreme Court nomination: Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Relative to the other names that were discussed, Kavanaugh’s selection could be seen as a win for the establishment. For one, he will uphold the Court’s record of Justices with law degrees from either Harvard or Yale. Two, he has a very swamp-friendly resume,...","https://mises.org/power-market/donald-trumps-supreme-court-nominee-helped-defend-obamacare" "46. Reforming Medical Education: Beyond the Usual Platitudes","Library Item","Michel Accad, MD, Anish Koka","The Accad and Koka Report, Mises Media, Interviews","November 27, 2018","The reform of medical education is a usually boring conversation that needs its own reform. The discussion we have on this episode does just that. It goes far beyond the usual proposals to tweak the curriculum and directly addresses the question of what it means to be a physician. Our guest is Dr. Adam Cifu, an award-winning medical educator and author. Dr. Cifu is a Master in the Academy of...","https://mises.org/library/46-reforming-medical-education-beyond-usual-platitudes" "Thoughts on Tyler Cowen's ""State Capacity Libertarianism""","Power & Market","Jeff Deist","","January 1, 2020","George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen has penned a brief manifesto for what he calls ""State Capacity Libertarianism"" on the Marginal Revolution blog. In it he makes the case for libertarians to embrace ""state capacity"" in certain limited cases. You can read his essay here. My initial responses, in no particular order, are as follows: 1. There is no political will or constituency for...","https://mises.org/power-market/thoughts-tyler-cowens-state-capacity-libertarianism" "How Many Lives Will Politicians Sacrifice in the Name of Fighting COVID-19?","Wire","Bradley Thomas","","May 7, 2020","During the current coronavirus lockdown, I’d pay good money to see just one public official be asked: “How many lives are you willing to sacrifice to prevent one coronavirus death?” Thomas Sowell has repeatedly written that in a world of scarcity there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. The lockdown debate has thus far focused on that tradeoff as one between saving lives versus a temporary blip in...","https://mises.org/wire/how-many-lives-will-politicians-sacrifice-name-fighting-covid-19" "Joe Weisenthal Thinks Debasing the Dollar Is the Moral Thing to Do","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","November 25, 2021","Joe Weisenthal is an editor and host at Bloomberg who has recently been using his large Twitter platform to cast stones at the inflation hawks. In one recent thread, Weisenthal mocked the people worried about the falling purchasing power of the US dollar, and claimed in fact that it would be immoral for currency to maintain its value over time. As we’ll see, although Weisenthal’s thought...","https://mises.org/wire/joe-weisenthal-thinks-debasing-dollar-moral-thing-do" "Murphy vs. Weisenthal on Currency Debasement","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","The Bob Murphy Show, Mises Media, Interviews","January 25, 2022","Bob critiques a Guardian article from an economist favoring price controls, and explains his argument with Joe Weisenthal about the social benefit of saving actual cash. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Dr. Keith Smith (of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma) contact page.The Guardian article advocating price controls.Murphy Mises.org critique of Weisenthal.Murphy article on the...","https://mises.org/library/murphy-vs-weisenthal-currency-debasement" "Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System","Wire","Lee Friday","","March 25, 2023","The provision of private healthcare in Canada is contingent on the ability of private actors to satisfy all of the conditions embedded within government legislation. However, the severity of these conditions means that most aspects of private healthcare are essentially outlawed, as they have been for many decades. Perhaps that wouldn’t matter if the government kept the promise it made to...","https://mises.org/wire/democracy-created-canadas-lethal-healthcare-system" "Why the ""Just Wage"" Theory Doesn't Make Much Sense","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","September 1, 2023","The concept of the ""fair wage"" or the ""just wage"" is centuries old. It dates back at least to the Middle Ages and was founded on the idea that ""just"" prices of goods must be sufficient to provide ""a reasonable wage to maintain the craftsman or merchant in his appropriate station of life."" In its modern form, the idea of the just wage is often known as a ""living wage."" But whatever its form, the...","https://mises.org/wire/why-just-wage-theory-doesnt-make-much-sense" "In Defense of Austrian Theory","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","December 3, 1998","Contrary to what Krugman says in his attack on Austrian business cycle theory in Slate, the Austrian or Misesian business cycle theory is not about the creation of too much capacity, but rather about the generation of uneconomic investment or malinvestment. It is about the use of scarce real funding contrary to the wishes of consumers i.e. the misallocation of resources.The crux of the business...","https://mises.org/library/defense-austrian-theory" "The Hangover Theory?","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","March 16, 2001","Many media pundits compare the business cycle to a party in which the host (the central bank) takes away the punch bowl (raises interest rates) just as the party (the boom) is really getting underway. The idea is that tight money and credit policies trigger recessions. Ergo, loose or easy credit policy is the way to prevent a recession.In contrast, the Austrian business cycle theory traces the...","https://mises.org/library/hangover-theory" "The Tax Shift Racket","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","November 15, 2002","Every new president in memory has plotted a grand ""tax reform,"" and the outlines of George W.'s are becoming ever more clear. The Washington Post reports that the administration—particular treasury secretary Paul O'Neill—is seriously considering a move away from the income tax toward a national consumption tax.The purpose is not to yield lower taxes. On the contrary. One Treasury official quoted...","https://mises.org/library/tax-shift-racket" "Grand Theft Society","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","July 1, 2008","A core problem with government is that its managers believe that all reality will conform to their wishes if they issue the right orders, pass the right laws, and put the right people in charge. Reality resists this simple-minded approach; witness the debacle of the war on terror. Sadly, the same group that has managed that war is now managing another one: the war on recession.The tendency of...","https://mises.org/library/grand-theft-society" "The Upside-down World of John Maynard Keynes","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","April 23, 2009","John Maynard Keynes often employed flowery language like ""animal spirits"" and ""liquidity trap"" to describe things he did not understand. He was, after all, more of a bureaucrat than an economist. In fact, he would best be described as an anti-economist because he eschewed things like supply and demand and held the opinion that government could run the economy.So, for example, he could not...","https://mises.org/library/upside-down-world-john-maynard-keynes" "How Central Banks Are Waging War on Your Savings","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","May 21, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises DailyMartin Wolf is the chief economics commentator at the influential Financial Times. He has received numerous honorary awards, positions, and degrees. My first knowledge of him came from a friend who had attended a lecture where Mr. Wolf mentioned that the best research on real estate economics was being done in Auburn, Alabama. I was quite...","https://mises.org/library/how-central-banks-are-waging-war-your-savings" "Christmas and Consumption","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","December 25, 2007","Christmas is a make-or-break time for many retailers, and the holiday season's importance to the American economy is so great that ""Black Friday"" sales at some retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, are reported as a macroeconomic indicator. The holiday season is indeed festive and inspiring even in spite of clichéd paeans against the ""commercialism"" of Christmas. But does the Christmastime ""...","https://mises.org/library/christmas-and-consumption" "Credit Expansion and Submarginal Investments","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","January 3, 2008","Markets are ruthlessly efficient, meaning in large part that people will not undertake investment projects with risk characteristics that are not aligned with savers' preferences. All profitable opportunities will be exploited in equilibrium, and no potentially profitable projects will be left undone. One of the unfortunate consequences of credit expansion is that many projects which were...","https://mises.org/library/credit-expansion-and-submarginal-investments" "Green Baptists Preach Salvation by Breaking Car Windows","Library Item","Tyler A. Watts","Mises Daily Articles","July 22, 2009"," Who could possibly claim that buying up drivable used cars at prices far in excess of their market value, for the express purpose of destroying them, will be beneficial for the economy or the planet? You guessed it: a combination of economy-saving politicians and earth-saving green activists are peddling the wonders of a new government program popularly known as ""Cash for Clunkers."" The Consumer...","https://mises.org/library/green-baptists-preach-salvation-breaking-car-windows" "Defending Kim Kardashian","Library Item","James E. Miller","Mises Daily Articles","January 9, 2012","Unlike the majority of us who live relatively boring lives, Kim Kardashian has made a career out of selling the public an up-close-and-personal view of her private affairs. This recently included a rumored farce of a wedding to NBA superstar Kris Humphries, which fizzled after only three days but made the reality star millions.Ms. Kardashian's financial success hasn't been met warmly by everyone...","https://mises.org/library/defending-kim-kardashian" "The War on Recession","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","March 1, 2008","The Free Market 26, no. 3 (March 2008) We all want to live well and no one wants their living standard to decline. No one likes recession. It’s just the way we are made. This is one reason that the official environmentalist movement has an uphill battle. The poverty that comes with living without industrial civilization lacks public support—once people clue in that this is what they are after.At...","https://mises.org/library/war-recession-0" "Incitement to Class War at The New York Times/Pravda","Wire","George Reisman","","August 28, 2006","The lead article in today's New York Times/Pravda is titled ""Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity."" The piece is a denunciation of capitalism and its offshoot ""globalization"" for allowing such a thing to happen. In the print edition of the newspaper, the subhead ominously declares, ""POLITICAL FALLOUT IS SEEN.""As the means of providing a thinly veiled statement of the doctrine of class...","https://mises.org/wire/incitement-class-war-new-york-timespravda" "3. Capital Values and Aggregate Profits in a Changing Economy","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","Net saving, as we have seen, increases gross investment in the economy. This increase in gross investment at first accrues as profits to the firms doing the increased business. These profits will accrue particularly in the higher stages, toward which old capital is shifting and in which new capital is invested. An accrual of profits to a firm increases, by that amount, the capital value of its...","https://mises.org/3-capital-values-and-aggregate-profits-changing-economy" "Pharmaceutical Prices, Patents, and the FDA","Library Item","Timothy D. Terrell","Mises Wire","August 17, 2015","In this article by economist Jeffrey Sachs, pharmaceutical company Gilead is taken to task for selling its hepatitis C cure, Sofosbuvir (sold as Sovaldi), at a price of $84,000 per course of treatment. Sachs says that the actual production cost of Sofosbuvir is about $100.Sachs says that Gilead is ""bilking the taxpayer"" by charging the government prices far above production costs — and government...","https://mises.org/library/pharmaceutical-prices-patents-and-fda" "Government Debt Is Not Like Private Debt","Library Item","Simon Wilson","Mises Wire","December 8, 2015","As the Labour Party fights with Tories over the need to slightly rein in government spending in the UK, opponents of even the slightest bit of austerity have turned out to claim that there is no virtue in “living within your means.”In a recent article in The Guardian, Ha-Joon Chang, attacked even the Tory government’s timid claim that it wasn’t a great idea to spend more than the government...","https://mises.org/library/government-debt-not-private-debt" "The Week in Review: March 19, 2016","Library Item","Mises Institute","Mises Wire","March 19, 2016","Janet Yellen was forced to wave a white flag this week, admitting what was long obvious — the Federal Reserve overestimated the strength of the global economy and will not be able to go through with its planned four rate hikes in 2016. As David Stockman noted in his take down of the FOMC announcement, “Listening to even a small portion of Simple Janet’s incoherent babble makes very clear that the...","https://mises.org/library/week-review-march-19-2016" "Home Prices Outpacing Official Inflation Rate, Household Income ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 29, 2016","This week, the latest numbers from the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed continued significant home price growth in most of the 20 cities within the survey. The cities with the most growth were found in the Western US and, to a lesser extent, the South:According to the report: ""Home prices continue to rise twice as fast as inflation, but the pace is easing off in the most recent numbers,"" David M...","https://mises.org/wire/home-prices-outpacing-official-inflation-rate-household-income" "Americans Are Addicted to Homeownership, and the Government is the Pusher","Wire","Doug French","","December 22, 2017","Americans loved their houses. Their four walls and a roof always went up in value, until it ended. But, now housing is back: 2008 was just a bad dream. Jared Dillian has written a dandy piece for Bloomberg making the case for housing to be taken from its preferred status in the tax code. Mr. Dillian has the website The Daily Dirtnap and wrote the wonderful book Street Freak.Eliminate deductions...","https://mises.org/wire/americans-are-addicted-homeownership-and-government-pusher" "Capital is a Mystery to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez","Wire","Mark Brandly","","April 4, 2019","We all know that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is dominating the political news with her demands for socializing the economy. Bob Murphy has explained that her Green New Deal “makes no sense on economic grounds” and even for Keynesians it “ would be nonsensical to implement such a program today.” Given the inanity of the Green New Deal, I would like to propose a course of study for Ocasio-...","https://mises.org/wire/capital-mystery-alexandria-ocasio-cortez" "Why Trump Wants the Fed To Pump Even More Easy Money","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 4, 2019","Donald Trump this morning condemned the Federal Reserve's ""unnecessary and destructive actions,"" by which he presumably means the Fed's recent attempts to tighten monetary policy. Since 2016 — after nearly a decade of ultra-accommodative monetary policy, the Fed began to ever-so-slightly scale back its easy-money policies, beginning with gradual increases in the federal funds rate. It wasn't...","https://mises.org/wire/why-trump-wants-fed-pump-even-more-easy-money" "Government Money Is No Substitute for Real Savings","Power & Market","Patrick Barron","","June 21, 2019","Perhaps the most destructive premise of modern, mainstream economics is that a central bank-induced monetary/credit expansion can cause an economy to grow without adverse consequences. Let's be perfectly clear from the start: this policy has been tried by many central banks many times and all such attempts have led to economic disaster. The latest victims are the poor citizens of Venezuela, a...","https://mises.org/power-market/government-money-no-substitute-real-savings" "Will More Easy Money Strengthen the Ailing Economy? ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","March 11, 2020","In the Wall Street Journal article from February 21, 2020 “The Central Bank Advised to Use Tool Kits Aggressively during Trouble,” it is suggested that a group of top Wall Street economists recommend that central banks consider a more aggressive monetary stance to counter future economic slumps. Because of the very low level of interest rates in countries such as the US, the central banks are...","https://mises.org/wire/will-more-easy-money-strengthen-ailing-economy" "Why Americans Don't Have Any Savings","Wire","Frank Hollenbeck","","April 15, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. In response to a likely worldwide recession, governments have turned on full blast the fiscal and monetary spigots. A $2 trillion spending plan has just been approved in the USA, central banks are on a buying spree, and the $1200 stimulus payment is just helicopter money. Since the government does not have a magical tree of plenty and can...","https://mises.org/wire/why-americans-dont-have-any-savings" "Monetary Pumping and Idle Resources","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 5, 2021","As a result of the recent stimulus policies employed by the US government and the Fed, most commentators are of the view that the risk of a deepening slump in the US economy on account of the covid-19 pandemic has now receded. Some other commentators are not so certain that the risk has declined, arguing that the economy is still heading towards difficult times ahead. These commentators are of...","https://mises.org/wire/monetary-pumping-and-idle-resources" "ECB’s Long Journey into Currency Collapse Just Got a Lot Shorter","Power & Market","Brendan Brown","","July 23, 2022","The ECB’s announcement on Thursday July 21 of a “new instrument” for tackling “fragmentation risk” is ominous for the future of the euro. The idea is to pre-empt the emergence of serious break-up risk for the euro-zone as the policy interest rate continues to move higher in coming quarters towards “neutral.” Chief Lagarde and her colleagues are determined to pre-empt this process triggering...","https://mises.org/power-market/ecbs-long-journey-currency-collapse-just-got-lot-shorter" "Why Economic Stimulus Can't Work","Wire","Stephen Apolito","","January 9, 2023","President Barack Obama returned from the 2010 G20 Summit held in Toronto having failed to convince world leaders that more “economic stimulus” was needed to cure what ails the world’s economies. Walking a seeming tightrope between too much spending and spiraling deficits, on the one hand, and too little spending and economic recession, on the other, world leaders reluctantly agreed to err on the...","https://mises.org/wire/why-economic-stimulus-cant-work" "Forget the Liquidity Trap—Loose Monetary Policies Cause Recessions","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 21, 2023","Advocates of Keynesian economics believe the Federal Reserve should pursue policies that will prevent the possible decline of the economy into a liquidity trap. But what is a liquidity trap? Economic activity often is presented in terms of a circular flow of money. Spending by one individual becomes part of the earnings of another individual, and spending by another individual becomes part of the...","https://mises.org/wire/forget-liquidity-trap-loose-monetary-policies-cause-recessions" "Why the Fed Should Not Lower Rates","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 20, 2002","For the time being, the Fed’s decision makers have decided to keep the federal funds rate target unchanged at 1.75 percent. They hinted, however, that if the economy were to slow further, they would lower the rate. Some commentators have protested that the Fed should not lower rates because doing so will dilute the strength of this tool in ""fighting"" a future economic slump. A rate of 1 percent...","https://mises.org/library/why-fed-should-not-lower-rates" "Capital Goods and Capital","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","May 2, 2022","There is an impulse inwrought in all living beings that directs them toward the assimilation of matter that preserves, renews, and strengthens their vital energy. The eminence of acting man is manifested in the fact that he consciously and purposefully aims at maintaining and enhancing his vitality. In the pursuit of this aim his ingenuity leads him to the construction of tools that first aid him...","https://mises.org/library/capital-goods-and-capital" "The Gold Problem","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","August 10, 2007","Why have a monetary system based on gold? Because, as conditions are today and for the time that can be foreseen today, the gold standard alone makes the determination of money's purchasing power independent of the ambitions and machinations of governments, of dictators, of political parties, and of pressure groups. The gold standard alone is what the nineteenth-century freedom-loving leaders (...","https://mises.org/library/gold-problem" "Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","September 19, 2011","Ever since Rick Perry derided Social Security as a Ponzi scheme, economists and other pundits have jumped into the fray. Progressive blogger Matt Yglesias says it's ""nuts"" for anyone to talk like this, because Social Security merely relies on future economic growth — just like a private pension plan. Free-market economist Alex Tabarrok responded to Yglesias with links to arch-Keynesians (and...","https://mises.org/library/social-security-ponzi-scheme" "Freedom Is Indivisible","Library Item","Bruce Winton Knight","Mises Daily Articles","September 23, 2009","[From The Freeman, January 1952. An MP3 audio file of this article, read by Floy Lilley, is available for download.] Now that our country is expected to be the foremost champion of the ""free world"" (for how long and at what cost nobody knows), it has become more important than ever for Americans to think clearly about American freedom. It should be quite obvious to us that our freedom is...","https://mises.org/library/freedom-indivisible" "21. Socialism, Inflation, and the Thrifty Householder","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","The most serious dangers for American freedom and the American way of life do not come from without. They are not of a military character. Neither will socialism conquer this country?and, for that matter, the civilized nations of Western Europe?in the shape of an open surrender to the program of the Communist International. Whatever chances socialism may have in the United States are due to the...","https://mises.org/21-socialism-inflation-and-thrifty-householder" "38. The Secret of American Prosperity","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","The United States is today the world's most prosperous nation. There is no need to dwell upon this fact. Nobody contests it.But, in the present-day political and ideological climate, riches are held in evil repute. By and large, people look upon the more prosperous with unconcealed envy and hatred. The New Deal philosophy assures that an individual's fortune which exceeds that of the much talked-...","https://mises.org/38-secret-american-prosperity" "Capitalism as It Is and as It Is Seen by the Common Man","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","February 11, 2019","The emergence of economics as a new branch of knowledge was one of the most portentous events in the history of mankind. In paving the way for private capitalistic enterprise it transformed within a few generations all human affairs more radically than the preceding ten thousand years had done. From the day of their birth to the day of their demise, the denizens of a capitalistic country are...","https://mises.org/wire/capitalism-it-and-it-seen-common-man" "Our Economy Needs a Good Dose of Customer-Driven Deflation","Power & Market","James Anthony","","May 21, 2022","Inflation is created by governments, so the solution to inflation is political. Governments and cronies falsely claim that inflation is good or even necessary, when it’s neither. It’s just best for elites. Deflation, on the other hand, comes naturally when customers are in control, and this customer-driven deflation brings sustainable investment and increased productivity. This is best for...","https://mises.org/power-market/our-economy-needs-good-dose-customer-driven-deflation" "Thanks to the Fed, You'll Work More This Year to Keep Last Year's Standard of Living","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 12, 2022","According to the establishment survey of employment, released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total employment increased, month over month, by 263,000 jobs. The “job market stays strong,” reads one CNBC headline, and the new jobs print was hailed as a great achievement of the Biden administration by MSNBC pundit Steve Benen. Yet the employment data is possibly the only data that...","https://mises.org/wire/thanks-fed-youll-work-more-year-keep-last-years-standard-living" "Gracias a la Fed, este año se trabajará más para mantener el nivel de vida del año pasado","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 12, 2022","Según la encuesta de empleo, publicada la semana pasada por la Oficina de Estadísticas Laborales, el empleo total aumentó, mes a mes, en 263.000 puestos de trabajo. El «mercado de trabajo se mantiene fuerte», reza un titular de la CNBC, y el experto de la MSNBC Steve Benen calificó el nuevo dato de empleo como un gran logro de la administración Biden. Sin embargo, los datos sobre el empleo son...","https://mises.org/node/60619" "Does the Current Financial Crisis Vindicate the Economics of Hyman Minsky?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","November 27, 2007","The currently observed turmoil in financial markets, which is believed to have been ignited by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, has recently brought to prominence the ideas of Hyman Minsky (1919–1996), a prominent member of the post-Keynesian school of economics. Many commentators are of the view that Minsky's framework of thinking accurately anticipated the current financial crisis....","https://mises.org/library/does-current-financial-crisis-vindicate-economics-hyman-minsky" "The Fed and the Housing Bubble/Bust","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","October 1, 2020","[This article is part of the Understanding Money Mechanics series, by Robert P. Murphy. The series will be published as a book in 2021.] In chapter 9 we presented Ludwig von Mises’s circulation credit theory of the trade cycle, or what is nowadays referred to as Austrian business cycle theory. In the present chapter, we will apply the general theory to the specific case of the US housing bubble...","https://mises.org/wire/fed-and-housing-bubblebust" "Understanding the Rothbardian Critique of Free Banking","Wire","Kristoffer Mousten Hansen","","January 28, 2022","The free banking debate seems to be a perennially reoccurring event with no resolution in sight. On Twitter, George Selgin recently had a series of tweets and threads again criticizing the “Rothbardian” position on free banking. Although partly due to the limitations of the medium, the description of the Rothbardians’ objections to free banking was less than accurate. Since we are never going to...","https://mises.org/wire/understanding-rothbardian-critique-free-banking" "Some Additional Reflections on the Economic Crisis and the Theory of the Cycle","Library Item","Jesús Huerta de Soto","Mises Daily Articles","December 29, 2011","The three years that have passed since the world financial crisis and subsequent economic recession hit have provided Austrian economists with a golden opportunity to popularize their theory of the economic cycle and their dynamic analysis of social conditions. In my own case, I could never have imagined at the beginning of 1998, when the first edition of my book Money, Bank Credit, and Economic...","https://mises.org/library/some-additional-reflections-economic-crisis-and-theory-cycle" "Some Thoughts on Supply-side Economics","Library Item","Richard M. Ebeling","Mises Daily Articles","March 2, 2010","[Libertarian Forum, 1980] When Keynes's General Theory was published in 1936 there was no reason to believe that it would soon serve as the framework for 40 years of economic theory and policy. Almost to a man, every important economist of that era condemned the book and its message as confused, inconsistent and dangerous.Joseph Schumpeter compared Keynes's proposals with the types of economic...","https://mises.org/library/some-thoughts-supply-side-economics" "What If Social Security Were Completely Scrapped?","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","June 18, 2007","Social Security privatization is, once again, a dead issue. President Bush did ultimately propose a reform. Unfortunately, the Bush proposal aimed at establishing a bureaucratically managed national savings program, instead of genuine privatization.Ironically, Democrats saved us all from Bush's national savings program by characterizing it as a ""risky scheme to privatize Social Security."" While...","https://mises.org/library/what-if-social-security-were-completely-scrapped" "The Second Coming of Keynes","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","Mises Daily Articles","July 22, 2009","[This Mises Daily was originally published July 22, 2009.]Paul Krugman wants to be our savior. Moreover, he wants to be a specific kind of savior: a magus of the scientific age, a blackboard prophet.The roots of this curious ambition can be seen in his recent profile in Newsweek:Krugman says he found himself in the science fiction of Isaac Asimov, especially the ""Foundation"" series ""It was nerds...","https://mises.org/library/second-coming-keynes" "For Civilization, It Is Mises or Bust","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","Mises Daily Articles","December 17, 2009"," Probably what most sets Austrian economics apart from the mainstream is the Austrian School's careful analysis of the structure of production. When an Austrian economist considers the structure of production, he doesn't just dwell on crude aggregates, such as the total number or total value of capital goods in an economy. Rather, he considers how long (or how ""roundabout"") a given structure of...","https://mises.org/library/civilization-it-mises-or-bust" "Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: Reply","Library Item","Randall G. Holcombe","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 2, No. 2 (Summer 1999)Frank Shostak and Jörg Guido Hülsmann have written thoughtful comments on my article, “Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth” (1998). In some places, I agree with them but believe clarification is worthwhile, and in other places I find myself in disagreement. Despite the fact that we do not always agree, I appreciate their interest in the issues. The relationship...","https://mises.org/library/entrepreneurship-and-economic-growth-reply" "Los auges artificiales y la teoría del ""ahorro forzoso""","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","September 7, 2018","En un sentido general o amplio, hemos de entender que el «ahorro forzoso» surge siempre que se produce un incremento de la cantidad de dinero en circulación o una expansión del crédito bancario (no respaldado por ahorro voluntario) que se inyecta en el sistema económico por alguno de sus concretos intersticios. Si el dinero o el crédito se distribuyeran por igual entre todos los agentes...","https://mises.org/node/44095" "Why the IMF Is Wrong about Liquidity Traps","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 25, 2020","In the Financial Times from November 2, 2020, the International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath suggested that world economies at present are likely to be in a global liquidity trap. Gopinath has reached this conclusion because the yearly growth rate of the price indexes has been trending down despite very low interest rates policies. According to the IMF chief economist, central...","https://mises.org/wire/why-imf-wrong-about-liquidity-traps" "China Needs More Economic Freedom—Not a Bigger Welfare State","Wire","Mihai Macovei","","February 18, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. China has not been spared heavy criticism about its growth mode since it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. Leading the choir of discontent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claimed that “high savings are at the heart of China’s external and internal imbalances.” Other mainstream pundits also believe that China’s...","https://mises.org/wire/china-needs-more-economic-freedom-not-bigger-welfare-state" "Ahorro monetario frente a ahorro real","Wire","Frank Shostak","","April 28, 2021","Según las Cuentas Nacionales del Ingreso y el Producto (NIPA), la tasa de ahorro personal de EEUU se situó en el 13,6% en febrero de 2021, frente al 8,3% de febrero de 2020. Dado que el gasto de consumo se considera el motor de la economía, obviamente un fortalecimiento del ahorro, que implica un menor gasto, no puede ser bueno para la actividad económica, por lo que se mantiene. Por el contrario...","https://mises.org/node/54852" "Wages, Prices, and the Demand for Money: Keynes Got It All Wrong","Wire","Robert Blumen","","June 18, 2021","Markets clear. Or so was the accumulated wisdom in the half century before John Maynard Keynes. The British economist proposed a novel theory of economics in 1936 based on the opposite premise: markets don’t clear. While Keynesian theory is quite complex and his book widely regarded as unreadable, in his system, chronic idleness of useful resources is the rule. In Keynes’s world, the market can...","https://mises.org/wire/wages-prices-and-demand-money-keynes-got-it-all-wrong" "Keynesian Fallacies Are Not Just Wrong, but Dangerous","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","May 1, 2020","As an Austrian economist, I’ve known for years that Keynesian economics rests on crude fallacies—indeed, Tom Woods and I have an entire podcast dedicated to the (usually wrong) columns of Paul Krugman. But in the arguments over the coronavirus, we see that the Keynesian commentary isn’t just wrong, but dangerous. Specifically, Neil Irwin, the senior economics correspondent for the New York Times...","https://mises.org/wire/keynesian-fallacies-are-not-just-wrong-dangerous" "What is Interventionism?","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","August 22, 2003","Interventionism is any act of government that both represents the initiation of physical force and, at the same time, stops short of imposing an all-round socialist economic system, in which production takes place entirely, or at least characteristically, at the initiative of the government. In contrast to socialism, interventionism is a system in which production continues to take place...","https://mises.org/library/what-interventionism" "President Coolidge and the Laffer Curve","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","March 14, 2013","Amity Shlaes has been busy promoting her new biography Coolidge and in the process is making a strong argument for real tax and budget reform as a foundation for increased sustainable market driven prosperity. She made the case very strongly in her Hillsdale College lecture of January 27, 2013, “Calvin Coolidge and the Moral Case for Economy.”Shlaes discussed the “‘scientific taxation’—an early...","https://mises.org/library/president-coolidge-and-laffer-curve" "Understanding Argentina","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Mises Daily Articles","May 24, 2002","The Analyst, published by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI), interviewed Joseph T. Salerno, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, concerning the financial and banking chaos in Argentina:Q: Are proposed reforms enough to justify having the IMF lend a helping hand to Argentina?SALERNO: To begin with, it was the IMF that is responsible for the disaster...","https://mises.org/library/understanding-argentina" "The Reswitching Question","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 24, 2003","Largely confined to the outer fringe of ""scientific"" economics, Austrians have to jump with glee at any mention—positive or negative—that their theories receive in mainstream journals. It is with this attitude that I examine Paul Samuelson's article in The Quarterly Journal of Economics entitled ""A Summing Up.""Historical BackgroundThis article contains Samuelson's comments on the intense debate...","https://mises.org/library/reswitching-question" "Mankiw vs. Rothbard on Tax Reform","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","February 21, 2012","In a recent New York Times piece, bestselling textbook author, Harvard professor, and Mitt Romney advisor Greg Mankiw offered four principles of tax reform that are almost universally endorsed by professional economists, even extremely free-market ones.In the present article, I'll critique Mankiw's views from a Rothbardian perspective. The ostensible consensus viewpoint among economists on fixing...","https://mises.org/library/mankiw-vs-rothbard-tax-reform" "Trade Makes People Better Off, Even Superheroes","Library Item","Art Carden, Mike Hammock","Mises Daily Articles","October 13, 2008","Paul Samuelson, one of the most famous and influential economists of the 20th century, was once asked to name an idea in economic theory that was both true and nontrivial. After several years, he responded that the law of comparative advantage fits the bill, saying that its logical truth ""need not be argued before a mathematician"" and arguing that its nontriviality was ""attested by the thousands...","https://mises.org/library/trade-makes-people-better-even-superheroes" "To Protect and Conserve","Library Item","Ninos P. Malek","Mises Daily Articles","April 2, 2012"," Texas ranchers are doing more for animal conservation than animal-rights groups, because they allow animals to be hunted and killed on private ranches. Charly Seale, executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Association, makes this bold — and likely controversial — point on a recent CBS 60 Minutes report. Although this seems counterintuitive, a small dose of economic thinking will unravel this...","https://mises.org/library/protect-and-conserve" "Benjamin Franklin Was All Wet on Economics","Library Item","Alexander Villacampa","Mises Daily Articles","August 1, 2006","Benjamin Franklin is regarded by many to be one of the most influential of the founding fathers and a sort of ""renaissance man""; an individual who delved into all aspects of knowledge and science. He is believed to have been the originator of such things as the lightning rod and wrote extensively on the moral arguments in favor of liberty.Franklin was also a diplomat and often represented that...","https://mises.org/library/benjamin-franklin-was-all-wet-economics" """Neanderthal"" Economics","Library Item","Chris Brown","Mises Daily Articles","November 25, 2008","It seems the Austrian economist possesses more truth in his pinky finger than Paul Krugman in his entire Nobel Prize–winning body. What other explanation can there be for Krugman's consistent policy ""solutions"" to the current economic crisis, which would actually exacerbate the problem and lead to a deepening and prolonging of a recession? Austrians not only predicted the current financial crisis...","https://mises.org/library/neanderthal-economics" "What’s So Scary About Deflation?","Library Item","Frank Hollenbeck","Mises Daily Articles","June 26, 2013","When it comes to deflation, mainstream economics becomes not the science of common sense, but the science of nonsense. Most economists today are quick to say, “a little inflation is a good thing,” and they fear deflation. Of course, in their personal lives, these same economists hunt the newspapers for the latest sales.The person who epitomizes this fear of deflation best is Ben Bernanke,...","https://mises.org/library/whats-so-scary-about-deflation" "Nine Myths About the Crash","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 1988","Ever since Black, or Meltdown, Monday October 19th, the public has been deluged with irrelevant and contradictory explanations and advice from politicians, economists, financiers, and assorted pundits.Let's try to sort out and rebut some of the nonsense about the nature, causes, and remedies for the crash. Myth One It was not a crash, but a ""correction.""Rubbish. The market was in a virtual crash...","https://mises.org/library/nine-myths-about-crash" "Keynes's Upside-down World","Library Item","Mark Thornton","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","May 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 5 (May 2009) John Maynard Keynes often employed flowery language like “animal spirits” and “liquidity trap” to describe things he did not understand. He was, after all, more of a bureaucrat than an economist. In fact, he would best be described as an anti-economist because he eschewed things like supply and demand and held the opinion that government could run the economy....","https://mises.org/library/keyness-upside-down-world" "Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics, by George Reisman","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 2001","A Masterful TreatiseMises Review 7, No. 3 (Fall 2001)CAPITALISM: A TREATISE ON ECONOMICSGeorge ReismanJameson Books, 1998, l + 1046 pgs. Professor Reisman centers his enormous book about a key insight: It is capitalists who run the capitalist system. (He has been greatly influenced by Ayn Rand, and I suspect that his claim is in part inspired by Atlas Shrugged.) This insight enables him to bring...","https://mises.org/library/capitalism-treatise-economics-george-reisman" "The Role of Fractional-Reserve Banking and Financial Intermediation in the Money Supply Process: Keynes and the Austrians","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 1, No. 3 (Fall 1998)Timothy Fuerst (1994) has argued for the need for more banking theory in monetary theory.[1] A review of the history of economic thought indicates that, until the 1930s, banking theory and the role of banks in the process of financial intermediation and credit creation were emphasized in the writings of monetary economists beginning at least in the early 1800s.[2] In...","https://mises.org/library/role-fractional-reserve-banking-and-financial-intermediation-money-supply-process-keynes-0" "The Flagellation of the Pursuit of Happiness","Wire","George Reisman","","June 6, 2006","Paul Krugman is at it again. In today's New York Times, in his official capacity as a professional bleeding heart ""liberal,"" he once again revels in his role of flagellating the pursuit of happiness with the whip of human misery. Specifically, he denounces the prospect of the impending Senate vote to abolish the estate tax, on the grounds that the government's loss of revenue ""will cause 65,000...","https://mises.org/wire/flagellation-pursuit-happiness" "Chinese Savings vs. American Spending","Library Item","Peter Wong","Mises Daily Articles","January 1, 2015","Earlier this month, the IMF released a new report noting that via Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) calculations, China’s GDP in 2014 is estimated at $17.6 trillion (all dollars in this article are US dollars), surpassing the US’s $17.4 trillion to become the world’s largest economy. MarketWatch subsequently published a recent article titled “It’s Official: America is now No. 2.” The article points...","https://mises.org/library/chinese-savings-vs-american-spending" "6. The Psychological Roots of Antiliberalism","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","It cannot be the task of this book to discuss the problem of social cooperation otherwise than with rational arguments. But the root of the opposition to liberalism cannot be reached by resort to the method of reason. This opposition does not stem from the reason, but from a pathological mental attitude?from resentment and from a neurasthenic condition that one might call a Fourier complex, after...","https://mises.org/6-psychological-roots-antiliberalism" "Rothbard: Nine Myths About the Crash","Wire","Murray N. Rothbard","","August 24, 2015","Following the Crash in 1987, many myths circulated about the nature, causes, and remedies for the crash at the time. Rothbard's debunking of many of these myths is still informative today. Originally published in the January 1988 issue of The Free Market: Ever since Black, or Meltdown, Monday October 19th, the public has been deluged with irrelevant and contradictory explanations and advice from...","https://mises.org/wire/rothbard-nine-myths-about-crash" "Yet Another Way the Feds Make It Harder to Save for Retirement","Wire","James Ketler","","September 27, 2018","On August 31, President Donald J. Trump signed the Executive Order on Strengthening Retirement Security in America, a preliminary step in allowing seniors more economic freedom and security in retirement. As part of the executive order, Trump discussed how rules regarding 401(k) distributions prevent Americans from saving as much money as they otherwise would. Up to age 70 ½, retirees are not...","https://mises.org/wire/yet-another-way-feds-make-it-harder-save-retirement" "The Cure for Poverty","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","Book Chapters, Books","January 5, 2019","[Chapter 20 of The Conquest of Poverty, 1996.] The theme of this book is the conquest of poverty, not its ""abolition."" Poverty can be alleviated or reduced, and in the Western world in the last two centuries it has been almost miraculously alleviated and reduced; but poverty is ultimately individual, and individual poverty can no more be ""abolished"" than disease or death can be abolished....","https://mises.org/library/cure-poverty" "Why Socialism Must Fail","Wire","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","","July 8, 2019","Socialism and capitalism offer radically different solutions to the problem posed by scarcity: everybody can’t have everything they want when they want it, so how can we effectively decide who will own and control the resources we have? The chosen solution has profound implications. It can mean the difference between prosperity and impoverishment, voluntary exchange and political coercion, even...","https://mises.org/wire/why-socialism-must-fail" "The Cost of Lockdowns in Human Health and Human Lives Is Becoming Increasingly Clear","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","May 27, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The cost of destroying the economy in the name of saving lives from COVID-19 is becoming increasingly apparent, and the details of just how costly the ""lockdown"" strategy will be for countless human beings continue to emerge. In the past, we've examined the long-term cost of unemployment on mental health, physical health, and long-term...","https://mises.org/power-market/cost-lockdowns-human-health-and-human-lives-becoming-increasingly-clear" "What Germany Must Do for a Speedy Recovery","Wire","Philipp Bagus","","July 7, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. On June 29, the German parliament reacted as parliaments normally do when there is a problem, namely, by allowing the government to spend more. In order to respond to the economic difficulties due to the corona epidemic and the government restrictions, it passed a typical Keynesian stimulus package in order to boost aggregate demand. The...","https://mises.org/wire/what-germany-must-do-speedy-recovery" "Technology Alone Won't End Poverty. We Need Savings First. ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 16, 2021","According to some commentators such as economics Nobel Laureate Paul Romer, technical knowledge is key to economic growth. But if this is the case, why do third world economies continue to experience poverty? After all, individuals in these economies have access to the same technical knowledge as the developed world. Careful examination, however, shows that a key driver of economic growth is the...","https://mises.org/wire/technology-alone-wont-end-poverty-we-need-savings-first" "Savings Are the Foundation of Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 5, 2021","Most commentators’ regard savings as harmful to economic growth on the ground that savings are associated with fewer outlays. These commentators portray economic activity as a circular flow of money. Spending by one individual becomes part of the earnings of another individual, and spending by another individual becomes part of the first individual’s earnings. If for whatever reason people become...","https://mises.org/wire/savings-are-foundation-economic-growth" "Low Interest Rates and High Taxes Won't Help against Inflation: The Economy Needs Savings and Real Investment","Wire","Josh L. Ascough","","August 10, 2022","With the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hitting a forty-year high of 9.1 percent, the Bank of England has responded by raising interest rates to 1.25 percent, up by 0.25 from the previous period. This, alongside ex-chancellor and PM hopeful Rishi Sunak planning to “tackle inflation before tax cuts,” signals a poor plan for combating the rising effects of inflation. First, inflation must be defined by...","https://mises.org/wire/low-interest-rates-and-high-taxes-wont-help-against-inflation-economy-needs-savings-and-real" "Woods Tells the Story of the Meltdown","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","July 3, 2009","[Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse. By Thomas E. Woods Jr. Regnery 2009. Xi + 194 pages.]Tom Woods has made an invaluable contribution with his latest book. The public today looks for an explanation of the current economic crisis and a prescription for recovery. Conflicting accounts abound. Should the...","https://mises.org/library/woods-tells-story-meltdown" "The Unit of Social Life","Library Item","Frank Chodorov","Mises Daily Articles","December 29, 2011","[The Rise and Fall of Society (1959; 2007)] Beginning with the obvious — there must be men before there is a Society, and there must be a Society before there is a Government. Social institutions must seminate in the soil of which the individual is made. Therefore, we are compelled to ask the individual, the unit of social life, to tell us why he socializes, why he becomes political. The...","https://mises.org/library/unit-social-life" "The Fundamental Obstacles to Economic Recovery: Marxism and Keynesianism","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","March 30, 2009","In a previous article, I explained how falling prices, far from being deflation, are actually the antidote to deflation. They are the antidote, I explained, because they enable the reduced amount of spending that deflation entails to buy as much as did the previously larger amount of spending that took place in the economic system prior to the deflation.Despite the fact that the freedom of prices...","https://mises.org/library/fundamental-obstacles-economic-recovery-marxism-and-keynesianism" "The Great Conservative Hoax","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","May 4, 2006","Jacob Heilbrunn, writing in the Washington Monthly, uses various criticisms that leading conservatives have made of Bush to proclaim a new ""conservative crackup."" In the course of his narrative, he rehearses the same old ho-hum history of postwar American conservatism, tells the same old story of how intriguing it is that conservatives are upset with the person they put into power, and then comes...","https://mises.org/library/great-conservative-hoax" "Who's Afraid of Deflation?","Library Item","Philipp Bagus","Mises Daily Articles","July 22, 2011","When it comes to deflation, even Austrian economists disagree. In contrast to those who favor a 100 percent–reserve system and the effect such a system would have on prices, Austrian defenders of a fractional-reserve, free-banking (FRFB) system still seem to harbor a fear of price deflation.1 Examples of this group include Steven Horwitz, George Selgin, and Lawrence H. White, who support a...","https://mises.org/library/whos-afraid-deflation" "Blast from the Past: A Warning about Socialism","Library Item","Gene Epstein","Mises Daily Articles","September 24, 2010","[This review appeared in ""Balancing the Books"" at Barrons.com.] Pictures of the Socialistic Future tells an engrossing story about a socialist paradise that swiftly degenerates into a societal dungeon. Originally published in an English translation back in 1893 — which adds immeasurably to its resonance — it has been reissued recently in paperback by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a research...","https://mises.org/library/blast-past-warning-about-socialism" "Does Capitalism Require War?","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","April 7, 2003","Of all the false charges leveled against capitalism, the indictment of promoting or requiring imperialism and warfare is most certainly the least deserved. Given recent events, this proposition has received much undeserved attention, but is by no means new. This claim has a long legacy, tracing back at least to 19th century critics of Political Economy.J.A. Hobson claimed that capitalism...","https://mises.org/library/does-capitalism-require-war" "How the Presidency Is Invading Your Home","Library Item","Ben Lieberman","Mises Daily Articles","November 9, 2010","[New York Post, October 11, 2010]The Obama administration isn't satisfied giving the American public vast things we don't want — from stimulus packages to bailouts to ObamaCare. Witness its attempt to redesign home appliances.In the pipeline are dumb regulations for almost everything that plugs in or fires up in your home.Just weeks after taking office, the president ordered the Energy Department...","https://mises.org/library/how-presidency-invading-your-home" "Prices and Production and Other Works","Library Item","Friedrich A. Hayek","Books, Books","September 15, 1931","Hayek was not only a leading champion of liberty in the 20th century. As this massive book reveals, he was also a great economist whose elaboration on monetary theory and the business cycle made him the leading foe of Keynesian theory and policy in the English-speaking world. Here his most important works are collected, re-typeset, indexed for the first time, and beautifully bound in a 536-page...","https://mises.org/library/prices-and-production-and-other-works" "How Clinton Destroyed the Bond Market","Library Item","Ivan Pongracic","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","March 1, 1995","The Free Market 13, no. 3 (March 1995) In 1994, bondholders lost hundreds of billions, thanks to Clinton's monetary escapades. What happened? It's a sad story of interest rates and their manipulation by government planners.In 1993 President Clinton began with a plan to jump-start the economy. His view was simple: the economy was already rebounding, so all it needed was lower interest rates.Short-...","https://mises.org/library/how-clinton-destroyed-bond-market" "Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 2009","Mises Review 15, No. 2 (Summer 2009)MELTDOWN: A FREE-MARKET LOOK AT WHY THE STOCK MARKET COLLAPSED, THE ECONOMY TANKED, AND GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS WILL MAKE THINGS WORSEThomas E. Woods, Jr.Regnery 2009, xi + 194 pgs. Tom Woods has made an invaluable contribution with his latest book. The public today looks for an explanation of the current economic crisis and a prescription for recovery. Conflicting...","https://mises.org/library/meltdown-free-market-look-why-stock-market-collapsed-economy-tanked-and-government-bailouts" "Encouraging Growth and Recovery or Reducing Goverment Deficits and Debt","Wire","John P. Cochran","","January 11, 2013","Encouraging Growth and Recovery or Reducing Goverment Deficits and Debt: Not a Trade OffLast week in “Thoughts on Capital-Based Macroeconomics”, Part III (drafted in early November) I made an argument that a Rothbardian anti-recession policy of slashing government spending while cutting taxes, “particularly taxes that interfere with saving and investment”, would be a win-win policy for...","https://mises.org/wire/encouraging-growth-and-recovery-or-reducing-goverment-deficits-and-debt" "An economy built on an illusion is hardly a sound structure","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","February 7, 2013","George Melloan’s “The Fed’s Asset-Inflation Machine” in today’s Wall Street Journal, while not mentioning Austrian economics, provides some very Austrian sounding analysis of the impact of Fed policy, both current and past on the economy.Some highlights:The nearly 2,000-point rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since last June no doubt at least partly reflects asset inflation, since there...","https://mises.org/wire/economy-built-illusion-hardly-sound-structure" """Cultural Entrepreneurship""","Wire","Peter G. Klein","","June 26, 2013","I am wary of adding yet another conceptual margin for entrepreneurial action but I highly recommend a new (and for the moment, ungated) paper in the Scandinavian Economic History Review by the distinguished economic historian Joel Mokyr on “cultural entrepreneurship.” Starting from a broadly Schumpeterian perspective, Mokyr focuses on individuals who introduce and disseminate novel ideas:[E]ach...","https://mises.org/wire/cultural-entrepreneurship" "Negative Interest Rates— Only The Start?","Wire","Hunter Lewis","","June 7, 2014","As Ryan McMaken noted on June 5, the European Central Bank has instituted negative interest rates for member banks. This could soon spread to the US and also to consumer accounts. If so, you would find money taken out of your bank account each quarter unless you spend it. Some observers think that in the US at least it will start with higher account fees, which will be stealth negative interest...","https://mises.org/wire/negative-interest-rates-only-start" "Edmund Phelps on Austrian Theory","Wire","John P. Cochran","","June 3, 2003","Edmund Phelps of Columbia University writing in the WSJ (June 3, 2003) critiques the Austrian (Mises-Hayek) theory of the business cycle with no reference at all to the central-bank induced artificiality of the boom phase, which is the very core of the theory:One of the most unreasoning fears, yet pervasive, is the nightmare of interwar Austrian cycle theory: ""over-investment."" Wall Street gurus...","https://mises.org/wire/edmund-phelps-austrian-theory" "Epstein Continues Assault on Fed","Wire","Robert Blumen","","August 30, 2003","Gene Epstein, writing in Barron's ($), continues his assault on the Fed. Auburn University economics professor Roger W. Garrison points out that the enduring capacity of monetary and fiscal policy to do harm derives directly from their adaptability. One period is never the same as the next. But the 1920s and the 1990s have a lot in common. Of course, they had very different outcomes — the stock...","https://mises.org/wire/epstein-continues-assault-fed-0" "Pension Problems Defined: A Contribution","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","September 16, 2003","Just as in the US, another area which produces rich harvest of muddled thinking in the UK, too, is the whole vexed question of company pensions.We raise this because the papers here are filled with condemnation of the National Australia Group’s decision to close its defined benefits pension to new entrants at its main British subsidiaries, Yorkshire Bank, Clydesdale Bank and Northern Ireland's...","https://mises.org/wire/pension-problems-defined-contribution" "Foreign Purchases in One Lesson","Wire"," Mises.org","","November 4, 2003","The question comes to Mises.org:""In his Mises.org article (posted October 29) entitled ""Saving the Dollar from Destruction,"" Hans Sennholz wrote: 'Foreigners are financing the American purchase of goods and services, half a trillion dollars worth every year, which visibly sustain American standards of living.' I have heard this countless times. But I do not understand how this works, or the...","https://mises.org/wire/foreign-purchases-one-lesson" "On the Monetary System","Wire","Robert Blumen","","August 25, 2004","Rothbard's classic essay What Has Government Done to Our Money? gives a brief history of the rise and decline of the international monetary system, under The Monetary Breakdown of the West. Bob Landis' recent essay, Fiat's Reprieve: Saving the System, 1979-1987 takes the story from where Rothbard left it in the mid-70s up to the present, illuminating his commentary with the insights of Mises and...","https://mises.org/wire/monetary-system" "Forced Savings vs. Forced Federalism","Wire","Christopher Westley","","January 28, 2005","I reeceived the following e-mail raising questions about my recent Mises.org critique of ""forced savings"" as a solution to the mess that is Social Security. My response follows.Professor Westley,I'm writing in regard to your article entitled ""Robbing Peter to Pay Peter"" at Mises.org. Let me start by saying that I fully agree with you that the *best* way of dealing with SS would be to get rid of...","https://mises.org/wire/forced-savings-vs-forced-federalism" "Blue Moon?","Wire","Christopher Westley","","February 7, 2005","Oh so rarely, the New York Times' editorial page make good economic sense, and its position opposing the Bush Administration's Social Security privatization plans is one of those times. Sure, its motives reflect devotion to winning a partisan battle than to sound economics. Indeed, it would rather have Social Security strengthened and expanded. Nonetheless, its editorial on the subject in...","https://mises.org/wire/blue-moon" "Hey Rocky, Watch Me Prove Positive Interest Rates Without Time Preference!","Wire","Gil Guillory","","March 11, 2005","OK, so it's not Rocky and Bullwinkle. But it seems like it.Bryan Caplan claims to have demonstrated that time preference is superfluous to the explanation of positive interest rates, since marginal utility all by itself explains positive interest rates. He says: ""If you are stuck on an island with two bananas for two days, a perfectly patient person would still want to eat one banana per day....","https://mises.org/wire/hey-rocky-watch-me-prove-positive-interest-rates-without-time-preference" "Objectivists on Katrina, or: A pack of wolves unleashed on a pack of sheep","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","September 7, 2005","This column, An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State by capital-O Objectivist Robert Tracinski makes some insightful points, if you can get past the giggle-inducing Objectivist stock-phrases like ""sense of life"". E.g.:Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to...","https://mises.org/wire/objectivists-katrina-or-pack-wolves-unleashed-pack-sheep" "Central Bankers Debate Asset Bubbles","Wire","Robert Blumen","","January 15, 2006","Should central bankers actively undertake to burst asset bubbles, or should they stand around and watch them run out of steam, then try to clean up the mess by cutting interest rates? This has been the subject of a recent round of debate between central bank economists and other interest macro thinkers:Greenspan Fans at Jackson Hole May Differ on View of BubblesDanger time for America: The...","https://mises.org/wire/central-bankers-debate-asset-bubbles" "They Still Don't Know What They're Doing, But They Want to Do It at the Point of a Gun","Wire","George Reisman","","April 1, 2006","Here's a message from an environmentalist who hides under the name ""Tokyo Tom."" He says it comes ""off of the web page of the world-renowned Wood`s Hole Oceanographic Institute"":[W]orld leaders may be planning for climate scenarios of global warming that are opposite to what might actually occur.It is important to clarify that we are not contemplating a situation of either abrupt cooling or global...","https://mises.org/wire/they-still-dont-know-what-theyre-doing-they-want-do-it-point-gun" "Gradualism or abolitionism?","Wire","Manuel Lora","","April 8, 2006","I saw this article by Albert Esplugas some time ago and decided it should be translated to English, so here it is.Gradualism or abolitionism?Do we dismantle the interventionist State step by step or at once? How quickly shall the path to liberty be traveled? It is obvious that a libertarian answer cannot be in contradiction with its own principles. It's not possible, in the defense of freedom, to...","https://mises.org/wire/gradualism-or-abolitionism" "Shedlock on Wages and Inflation","Wire","Robert Blumen","","June 4, 2006","Mike Shedlock gives a rather Austrian-flavored explanation of inflation, noting that it is ""best described as a net expansion of money supply and credit"" through fractional reserve banking; that it cannot accurately be measured; that it can not accurately be measured with a fixed index; and that it generates a boom and bust cycle.Then why does he, in this post, approvingly cite Billmon referring...","https://mises.org/wire/shedlock-wages-and-inflation" "The Can't-Do Government","Wire","Manuel Lora","","August 5, 2007","On The Washington Post, John McQuaid has determined that the United States is now the can't-do nation. He starts by mentioning the recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis and wonders whether there has ""ever been a period in our history when so many American plans and projects have, literally or figuratively, collapsed? In both grand and humble endeavors, the United States can no longer be relied...","https://mises.org/wire/cant-do-government" "The Truth About Labor Day","Wire","Gary Galles","","September 3, 2007","Labor Day is supposed to honor all American workers. And every year, union Labor Day rhetoric does just that. Unfortunately, it then makes the false leap to the claim that unions advance the interests of all American working men and women, not just their members. In fact, despite unions' pro-worker rhetoric, the effect of most union activities and union-backed policies is to harm most American...","https://mises.org/wire/truth-about-labor-day" "Did Amazon Just Unveil a Keynesian Smartphone?","Wire","Christopher Westley","","June 21, 2014","Amazon's new Fire phone is generating much buzz since being announce this week, and for good reason because it appears to be simply the latest impressive product a very impressive company has offered to consumers seeking to ""alleviate the felt uneasiness"" in their lives (to borrow a phrase from Mises).Will the Fire phone become as ubiquitous as the Kindle? We'll see. Yet it already has...","https://mises.org/wire/did-amazon-just-unveil-keynesian-smartphone" "5. The Sovereignty of the Consumers","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books, PDF Texts","February 18, 2015","One of the characteristics of the market economy is the specific way in which it deals with the problems offered by the biological, moral, and intellectual inequality of men.In the precapitalistic ages the superior, i.e., the smarter and more efficient individuals, subdued and enthralled the masses of their less efficient fellows. In the status society there are castes; there are lords and there...","https://mises.org/5-sovereignty-consumers" "I. The Unpopularity of Interest","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","One of the characteristic features of this age of wars and destruction is the general attack launched by all governments and pressure groups against the rights of creditors. The first act of the Bolshevik Government was to abolish loans and payment of interest altogether. The most popular of the slogans that swept the Nazis into power was Brechung der Zinsknechtschaft, abolition of interest-...","https://mises.org/i-unpopularity-interest" "Hayek's Work on Business Cycles and Monetary Theory","Wire"," Mises.org","","July 24, 2008","Hayek was not only a leading champion of liberty in the 20th century. As this massive book reveals, he was also a great economist whose elaboration on monetary theory and the business cycle made him the leading foe of Keynesian theory and policy in the English-speaking world. Here are collected his most important works on these topics: re-typeset, indexed for the first time, and beautifully bound...","https://mises.org/wire/hayeks-work-business-cycles-and-monetary-theory" "Life Coach Says Blow That Refund Check","Wire","Doug French","","April 1, 2011","As society is built on savings and accumulated capital, personal finance dictates that individuals live within their means and save for rainy days. However, author, inspirational speaker, and life coach John P. Strelecky counsels us to live each day like we are dying.Strelecky says we don’t know what the future brings, so spend more time doing what you want. “Invest in you and the life you really...","https://mises.org/wire/life-coach-says-blow-refund-check" "10. Action as an Exchange","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","We have stated that all action involves an exchange—a giving up of a state of affairs for what the actor expects will be a more satisfactory state.43 We may now elaborate on the implications of this truth, in the light of the numerous examples that have been given in this chapter. Every aspect of action has involved a choice among alternatives—a giving up of some goods for the sake of acquiring...","https://mises.org/10-action-exchange" "5. Cost","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","At this point, let us reintroduce the concept of “cost” into the analysis. We have seen above that the cost, or “marginal” cost, of any decision is the next highest utility that must be forgone because of the decision. When a means M must be distributed among ends E1, E2, and E3, with E1 ranked highest on the individual's value scale, the individual attempts to allocate the means so as to attain...","https://mises.org/5-cost" "Taxpayers vs. Teachers","Wire","Doug French","","March 8, 2011","There just never seems to be enough money to fund public education. During the boom years teachers and their unions were constantly complaining that taxpayers were too stingy. That drumbeat was heard throughout the nation. The more money school districts received, the more they asked for.Imagine if your property taxes set you back $43,000 a year, with 86% of that going to the school system. You...","https://mises.org/wire/taxpayers-vs-teachers" "General Motors, RIP","Wire","George Reisman","","June 3, 2009","General Motors was once not only the world’s greatest and most prosperous automobile company but the world’s greatest and most prosperous manufacturing company, indeed, the world’s greatest and most prosperous company of any kind. Its success, wealth, and economic power, were symbolic of the success, wealth, and economic power of the United States.General Motors has now perished, brought down by...","https://mises.org/wire/general-motors-rip" "How the West Poisoned the Mind of the East","Wire","Carmen Elena Dorobăț","","July 28, 2015","In a short but interesting piece published for The Spectator, James Bartholomew writes about the trail of misery that the graduates of British universities have left in their countries of origin, after implementing the detrimental economic doctrines they learned in the West.Bartholomew connects the dots between the socialist policies carried out by the presidents and prime ministers of India,...","https://mises.org/wire/how-west-poisoned-mind-east" "Krugman's Latest Financial Fantasy","Wire","William L. Anderson","","June 1, 2009","Paul Krugman often will wind a very big lie around a kernel of truth, and in his column today, he does not disappoint. Now, here is someone who openly extols the ""virtues"" of inflation and complains that the real problem today is that the government is not inflating enough.Today, he turns his guns back on his favorite bug-a-boo, Ronald Reagan, promoting the Krugman myth that all was well in the...","https://mises.org/wire/krugmans-latest-financial-fantasy" "The Diabolical Side of ZIRP","Wire","Mark Thornton","","December 14, 2015","The pages of Mises.org have been filled with analysis on the impacts of ZIRP, or Zero Interest Rate Policy (of the Federal Reserve) for many years. Even though the recession officially ended 6 1/2 years ago, the policy has remain in place for the last 7 years. The main results of the policy has been to benefit the large banks and to generate bubble in asset markets. However, there is a much more...","https://mises.org/wire/diabolical-side-zirp" "Central Banker Warns of Coming Financial Collapse","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","January 22, 2016","On the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, William White, chairman of the Economic Development and Review Committee of OECD and former chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements, delivered a dire warning concerning an impending meltdown of the global financial system:The situation is worse than it was in 2007. . . . Debts have continued to build up over the last...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banker-warns-coming-financial-collapse" "Bank of Japan Goes Negative, ""Strong Dollar"" Surges","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","January 29, 2016","In a surprise move, the Bank of Japan announced last night that it would employ negative interest rate policy for the first time in its history.The formula for this is rather complex. It's based on interest for bank reserves held with the central bank, and it seems that only new deposits will be charged the negative rate.We're not talking about a straightforward single rate on overnight lending,...","https://mises.org/wire/bank-japan-goes-negative-strong-dollar-surges" "Luddy: We Need More Deflation ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","February 22, 2016","Robert Luddy explains today at The American Spectator how the Fed's fixation on promoting price inflation is a big problem:The Fed’s policies severely undermine the middle class by making goods and services more expensive. For example, an average American family loses $700 in purchasing power if inflation is 2% annually. Many workers do not receive a 2% raise yearly; as a result, their standard...","https://mises.org/wire/luddy-we-need-more-deflation" "For Keynesians, April 15 Is ""Stimulus Day""","Wire","William L. Anderson","","April 15, 2016","April 15 is here and we are required to do the following: tell the government our income and send much of it to Washington.Austrian-school economists are likely to tell you this is a bad thing and that taxes and government spending lower our living standards. In other words, the more government we are required to finance, the poorer we will be. According to the Austrians, economies grow through...","https://mises.org/wire/keynesians-april-15-stimulus-day" "How You Don't Cure Poverty","Wire","Henry Hazlitt","","May 6, 2016","From the beginning of history sincere reformers as well as demagogues have sought to abolish or at least to alleviate poverty through state action. In most cases their proposed remedies have only served to make the problem worse.The most frequent and popular of these proposed remedies has been the simple one of seizing from the rich to give to the poor. This remedy has taken a thousand different...","https://mises.org/wire/how-you-dont-cure-poverty" "The End of Ultra-Easy Money?","Library Item","C.Jay Engel","Mises Wire","April 11, 2017","After eight years of extremely loose monetary policy, the economy is great again and we are to enter into a post-stimulative era of monetary policy. So said Yellen at a recent discussion at the University of Michigan. In her words, the Fed had given the economy all the ""oomph [they] possibly could"" and it was time to ""allow"" the economy to coast along. Paying no attention to their own econometric...","https://mises.org/library/end-ultra-easy-money" "Why Politicians Win (and Workers Lose) Under Socialism","Wire","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","","April 19, 2017","Socialism leads to the politicization of society. Hardly anything can be worse for the production of wealth.Socialism, at least its Marxist version, says its goal is complete equality. The Marxists observe that once you allow private property in the means of production, you allow differences. If I own resource A, then you do not own it and our relationship toward resource A becomes different and...","https://mises.org/wire/why-politicians-win-and-workers-lose-under-socialism" "Trump Pushes Death Penalty for Drug Dealers, Can We Start with the CIA? ","Power & Market","Tho Bishop","","March 19, 2018","In New Hampshire today, President Trump announced his plan for tackling the opioid crisis. The main points from the plan, as reported by Axios, are:Work with coastal services and shipment services to set up screening technologies to detect illicit substances that are being shipped into the country.Support research and development efforts for technologies and additional therapies designed to...","https://mises.org/power-market/trump-pushes-death-penalty-drug-dealers-can-we-start-cia" "A Comparison of Investment and Cash Building of Savings: A Rejoinder","Library Item","Alexandru Pătruți","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","April 3, 2018","[Full issue of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 20, no. 4 (2017)ABSTRACT: Although Austrian literature does not usually dwell on this particular aspect, there are differences between the direct investment of savings and adding to one’s personal cash balance (hoarding). Following Bagus’s (2016) critic of my original article, the present paper will introduce supplementary qualifications...","https://mises.org/library/comparison-investment-and-cash-building-savings-rejoinder" "Bankruptcy: Turkey Now, America Later?","Power & Market","Ron Paul","","August 27, 2018","President Trump recently imposed sanctions on Turkey to protest the Turkish government’s detention of an American pastor. Turkey has responded by increasing tariffs on US exports. The trade war is being blamed for the collapse of Turkey’s currency, the lira. While the sanctions may have played a role, Turkey’s currency crisis is rooted in the Turkish government’s fiscal and (especially) monetary...","https://mises.org/power-market/bankruptcy-turkey-now-america-later" "Republicans Share the Blame for Socialism’s Comeback","Wire","Ron Paul","","September 17, 2018","According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey, 70 percent of Americans, including about 50 percent of Republicans, support Medicare for all, the latest incarnation of single-payer health care. Republican support for a health plan labeled “Medicare for all” is not surprising considering that Republican politicians support Medicare and that one of their attacks on Obamacare was that it would harm the...","https://mises.org/wire/republicans-share-blame-socialisms-comeback" "The Myth of Synchronized Growth and the Era of Secular Stagnation","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","October 13, 2018","Adapted from an interview with Real Vision. We have been hearing from international bodies, from central banks that we were living in a synchronized growth territory. That we were seeing developed markets grow faster than what was typical while emerging markets were also growing in tandem. And that the economies were much healthier, that everything was much better, and that 2018 was a year in...","https://mises.org/wire/myth-synchronized-growth-and-era-secular-stagnation" "Don't Let Bernie's Craziness Distract from Warren's Radical Tax Plans","Power & Market","Daniel J. Mitchell","","September 25, 2019","Social Security is projected to consume an ever-larger share of America’s national income, mostly thanks to an aging population. Indeed, demographic change is why the program is bankrupt, with an inflation-adjusted cash-flow deficit of more than $42 trillion. Yet Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to make a bad situation even worse. In a blatant effort to buy votes, she is proposing a radical...","https://mises.org/power-market/dont-let-bernies-craziness-distract-warrens-radical-tax-plans" "Central Banking Is Socialism","Power & Market","Ron Paul","","March 11, 2020","Last week, the Federal Reserve responded to Wall Street’s coronavirus panic with an “emergency” interest rate cut. This emergency cut failed to revive the stock market, leading to predictions that the Fed will again cut rates later this month. More rate cuts would drive interest rates to near, or even below, zero. Lowering interest rates punishes people for saving, thus encouraging consumers and...","https://mises.org/power-market/central-banking-socialism" "Americans Have No Savings. Thank (in Part) the Fed.","Power & Market","Jp Cortez","","April 13, 2020","Two weeks ago, during a March 17 address to the nation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, President Donald Trump asked that Americans work from home, postpone unnecessary travel, and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people. And last week, on March 27, Trump signed a stimulus package of over $2 trillion dollars to provide relief to an economy on the precipice of collapse. The aid...","https://mises.org/power-market/americans-have-no-savings-thank-part-fed" "Central Banks Are Destroying What Was Left of Free Markets","Wire","Alasdair Macleod","","May 23, 2020","President Reagan memorably said that the nine words you don’t want to hear are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Governments in all the major jurisdictions are now making good on that unwanted promise and are taking responsibility for everything from our shoulders. Those receiving subsidies and loan guarantees are no doubt grateful, though they probably see it as the government’s...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-are-destroying-what-was-left-free-markets" "When Fascism Comes, It Will Be Wearing a Mask","Power & Market","Ron Paul","","January 26, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Almost immediately after his inauguration, President Joe Biden began creating new government dictates via executive orders. Many of these executive orders concern coronavirus, fulfilling Biden’s promise to make ramping up a coronavirus-inspired attack on liberty a focus of his first one hundred days. One of Biden’s executive orders imposes...","https://mises.org/power-market/when-fascism-comes-it-will-be-wearing-mask" "In Defense of Savings","Power & Market","Peter G. Klein","","March 3, 2021","I can't recall the last time I heard something on National Public Radio in defense of savings but, there it was, in this morning's Marketplace segment on Karen Petrou's new book Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America. Savings, Petrou asserts, are the ""engine of wealth accumulation."" Petrou, whose work has been discussed on these pages before, identifies the Fed's...","https://mises.org/power-market/defense-savings" "Does the FOMC Even Believe What It's Saying?","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","April 15, 2021","The latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes shows a series of questionable ideas. Other than the people in the closed door meeting, it’s difficult to know whether they believe what they discuss, or just go through the motions, attempting to stave off economic collapse for as long as possible. With just a few quotes, the direction the Fed/US Government is taking us becomes...","https://mises.org/power-market/does-fomc-even-believe-what-its-saying" "Is Guaranteed Basic Income the Solution to Robots Taking Our Jobs?","Wire","Robert Blumen","","June 14, 2021","The idea of universal basic income (UBI) is near the peak of the hype cycle. Democrat Andrew Yang made it the flagship issue of his presidential campaign. A small industry of advocates tirelessly push arguments in its favor. I will address two in this piece. The first: the claim of permanent elimination of jobs. The second: the resulting need for income to compensate for the fall in purchasing...","https://mises.org/wire/guaranteed-basic-income-solution-robots-taking-our-jobs" "The Dangers of State-Owned Lithium in Mexico","Power & Market","Antón Chamberlin","","November 19, 2021","By 1982, Mexico had nationalized 85 percent of its economy. The eighties did not treat Mexico kindly and supposed attempts at neoliberalization took over Mexico in the late eighties and nineties. But as the stupidity of government ventures fades from our collective memory, old methods get reintroduced. Despite a history of failure, the Mexican government, led by President Andrés Manuel López...","https://mises.org/power-market/dangers-state-owned-lithium-mexico" "The End of Monetary Hedonism","Wire","Jeff Deist","","January 31, 2023","Does cheap money and credit make us richer? Does more money and credit create more stuff, or better stuff? Do they make us happier and more productive? Or do these twin forces actually distort the economy, misallocate resources, and degrade us as people? These are fundamental questions in an age of monetary hedonism. It is time we began to ask and answer them. Millions of people across the West...","https://mises.org/wire/end-monetary-hedonism" "The End of Monetary Hedonism","Library Item","Jeff Deist","The Austrian, Institute Publications","January 31, 2023","Does cheap money and credit make us richer? Does more money and credit create more stuff, or better stuff? Do they make us happier and more productive? Or do these twin forces actually distort the economy, misallocate resources, and degrade us as people? These are fundamental questions in an age of monetary hedonism. It is time we began to ask and answer them. Millions of people across the West...","https://mises.org/library/end-monetary-hedonism" "16. Civil War in July, 1967 Part III","Online Text Chapter","Murray N. Rothbard","Books, Books","August 2, 2016","Masterpiece of Unconscious Humor during the July Days: the unmitigated gall of President Johnson in his July 24 proclamation: “We will not endure violence. It matters not by whom it is done, or under what slogan or banner. It will not be tolerated.”Let us savor that statement, surely a classic of its kind. It is a statement from a man in charge of the greatest violence-wielding machine, the...","https://mises.org/16-civil-war-july-1967-part-iii" "Overcoming Government Intervention in the Economy","Wire","Marc Batlle","","May 26, 2023","Once again, the economic system is trying to adjust to political and monetary interventions. The year 2023 marks the end of a historical period characterized by zero-cost credit. The monetary expansion that began in the early 2000s led to the great financial crisis of 2008 and the emerging markets boom. Exaggerated demand expectations and easy access to capital caused an overexpansion of...","https://mises.org/wire/overcoming-government-intervention-economy" "Myth #2: Deficits Do Not Have a Crowding-Out Effect on Private Investment","Library Item","Mises Institute","The Mises Report, Mises Media, Commentary","June 12, 2023","Recorded by the Mises Institute in the mid-1980s, The Mises Report provided radio commentary from leading non-interventionists, economists, and political scientists. In this program, we present another part of ""Ten Great Economic Myths"". This material was prepared by Murray N. Rothbard. In recent years there has been an understandable worry over the low rate of saving and investment in the United...","https://mises.org/library/myth-2-deficits-do-not-have-crowding-out-effect-private-investment" "Is Milton Friedman a Keynesian?","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 2010","[From Dissent on Keynes, edited by Mark Skousen, 1992]He Isn't but He IsThere is a story about a young job candidate interviewing for an entry-level position in the geography department of a state university. One senior faculty member, whose opinion of our modern educational system was not especially high, asked the simple question, ""Which way does the Mississippi River run?"" In ignorance of the...","https://mises.org/library/milton-friedman-keynesian" "The Mystery of the Money Supply","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","March 1, 2000","At his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony, chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan was asked whether the Fed attaches any significance to the money supply data. The Fed chairman replied that he regards money as an important variable but admitted that he has difficulty in establishing what part of liquidity constitutes ""money."" In short, Greenspan was suggesting that US central bank policy makers...","https://mises.org/library/mystery-money-supply" "Can the Fed Control the Stock Market?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","June 6, 2000","The recent softening in some economic indicators prompted market players to conclude that the Fed is unlikely to pursue its tighter interest rate stance further. The reason for this view is that slower economic activity will cool off consumer demand and, consequently, the rate of inflation as measured by various price indices will follow suit.With this model in mind, many market players have...","https://mises.org/library/can-fed-control-stock-market" "Is the United States in a Liquidity Trap?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","January 25, 2012","In his New York Times article of January 11, 2012, the Nobel laureate Paul Krugman wrote,If nothing else, we've learned that the liquidity trap is neither a figment of our imaginations nor something that only happens in Japan; it's a very real threat, and if and when it ends we should nonetheless be guarding against its return — which means that there's a very strong case both for a higher...","https://mises.org/library/united-states-liquidity-trap" "Immense Discovery","Library Item","Claude Frédéric Bastiat","Mises Daily Articles","September 13, 2012","[Included in The Bastiat Collection (2011), this article appeared in Economic Sophisms (1845).] At a time when everybody is bent on bringing about a saving in the expense of transport — and when, in order to effect this saving, we are forming roads and canals, improving our steamers, and connecting Paris with all our frontiers by a network of railways — at a time, too, when I believe we are...","https://mises.org/library/immense-discovery" "Three More Attacks on Civilization","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","April 20, 2011","Thank goodness we've got a global marketplace where banned and nearly banned products can be purchased with a click. This is how I obtained a box of Savogran Trisodium Phosphate, which sounds like an explosive but is really just a cleanser that was in every dish-washing soap until last year. It is made of phosphorous, an element from bone ash or urine that was discovered in Germany in the 17th...","https://mises.org/library/three-more-attacks-civilization" "The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Miracle","Library Item","Jeffrey M. Herbener","Mises Daily Articles","September 25, 2021","In 1943, John Maynard Keynes claimed that central-bank credit expansion performs the ""miracle of turning a stone into bread."" In its attempt to revive itself after a long recession, the Japanese government and central bank have given the world its last twentieth-century Keynesian experiment. It is an experiment that has failed, and miserably so. Not just Japan’s history but the whole of economic...","https://mises.org/library/rise-and-fall-japanese-miracle" "The War on Recession","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","March 19, 2008","We all want to live well and no one wants their living standard to decline. That makes sense, right? It's just the way we are made.What does not make any sense is the strange article of faith that has descended over Washington, DC, that says that no prices must ever be permitted to decline due to recessionary pressures. All resources in the national treasury, every conceivable monetary...","https://mises.org/library/war-recession" "Madoff as Metaphor","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","December 22, 2008","The mystery of Bernard Madoff will be storied a hundred years from now. As history's biggest financial criminal, he took a cheap ripoff that you can use at home—the Ponzi scheme—and turned it into a global empire worth some $50 billion.One ingredient was financial intelligence. Madoff had buckets of it. Early in his career, he was the real deal, an actual innovator. He combined this with an...","https://mises.org/library/madoff-metaphor" "Gross Wage Rates and Net Wage Rates","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","July 16, 2010","[This article is excerpted from chapter 21 of Human Action: The Scholar's Edition and is read by Jeff Riggenbach.] What the employer buys on the labor market and what he gets in exchange for the wages paid is always a definite performance which he appraises according to its market price. The customs and usages prevailing on the various sectors of the labor market do not influence the prices paid...","https://mises.org/library/gross-wage-rates-and-net-wage-rates" "The Smithian Conquest of Economic Thought","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","April 3, 2012","[An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (1995)]By the turn of the 19th century, the views and doctrines of Adam Smith had swept the board of European opinion, though they had scarcely been embodied in political institutions. Even in France, as will be seen in the second volume of this series, the pre-Smithian subjective utility-scarcity approach to value, as well as the stress...","https://mises.org/library/smithian-conquest-economic-thought" "Mises Strengthens the Case for Markets","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","May 26, 2010","[Economic Freedom and Interventionism: An Anthology of Articles and Essays• By Ludwig von Mises • Selected and edited by Bettina Bien Greaves • Irvington-on-Hudson, New York: Foundation for Economic Education, 1990. This review was first published in The Review of Austrian Economics (1991)]Admirers of Ludwig von Mises will welcome this new collection of 46 articles and essays, most from the 1950s...","https://mises.org/library/mises-strengthens-case-markets" "Government and the Flu: A Short History","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","January 2, 2004","Last month, my wife decided to get flu shot for our children, but when she saw the long lines that stretched around whole city blocks, she decided that even if a flu shot were important, nothing could justify subjecting young children to waiting for hours. We may try later – or we may not try at all and just hope we remain healthy this winter. Given the U.S. Government’s track record on...","https://mises.org/library/government-and-flu-short-history" "What's Not to Like about a Regulatory Nudge?","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","June 1, 2011","Now that we are more than a decade into the third millennium, I wish the political classes would stop their incessant references to ""21st-century"" plans and ""21st-century"" regulations. They talk as if living in the year 2011 gives government some special new access to the truth. Washington is full of this nonsense, and perhaps no one is more full of it than Cass Sunstein, coauthor of Nudge, the...","https://mises.org/library/whats-not-about-regulatory-nudge" "The Dam Breaks","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","October 3, 2001","The Fed's Open Market Committee, that supposed bulwark against monetary profligacy, has opened the floodgates with its latest move to push the federal funds rate to a forty-year low. It's the ninth cut this year, and the one that pushes the real rate of interest 1.3 percent below the median measure of CPI. We are now waiting for just two of the eighteen Fed districts to join the party and cut...","https://mises.org/library/dam-breaks" "Doing Everything Wrong","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","November 12, 2001","Despite yet another half-point cut in interest rates from three of the world's more important central banks--as well as various reductions from a host of their satellites--the noose is gradually tightening around banks and financial institutions everywhere, not just in the Asia, but in the U.S., Europe, and Canada, too, as news arrives of multiple increases in loan loss provisions, matched by...","https://mises.org/library/doing-everything-wrong" "Robbing Peter to Pay Peter","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","January 26, 2005","I believe in forced savings. In fact, whenever my son comes into some money, usually through a gift from a relative, I force him to place a certain percentage into a savings account. In a few years, I will transfer this money into an investment account of some sort.He has come to accept the process, though this has not always been the case. He's eight years old, and as Keynes might say, his...","https://mises.org/library/robbing-peter-pay-peter" "The Carpool Canard","Library Item","Karen De Coster, CPA","Mises Daily Articles","May 18, 2001","Propose that energy needs be met through more production, and up will go the cry from the left: not production but conservation! Have these people had a new idea since the New Deal?In 1943, the Government Printing Office for the Office of Price Administration made a placard that read: ""When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!"" Hence, supporting the war effort meant saving gas and thus carpooling...","https://mises.org/library/carpool-canard" "The Conservation Hoax","Library Item","N. Joseph Potts","Mises Daily Articles","October 6, 2005","President Bush tells us to drive less and limit trips to only the essentials, while the EPA's EnergyStar program is urging us all to ""change a lightbulb"" in our homes, from a regular one to a government-approved one, which they claim will save hundreds of millions.You are also supposed to take a pledge: ""I pledge to do my part to save energy and help protect our environment by changing a light in...","https://mises.org/library/conservation-hoax" "The Law of Intended Darkness","Library Item","Jason King","Mises Daily Articles","March 27, 2009"," Last year, on the last Saturday in March, Google's white background turned black, as a symbolic gesture for 2008's ""Earth Hour.""They accompanied this gesture with a puzzling rationale:As to why we don't do this permanently — it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display.Such a gesture, done with an almost Faustian acceptance that such a gesture...","https://mises.org/library/law-intended-darkness" "A Democracy (and Republic) of Decrees","Library Item","Stephen Mauzy","Mises Daily Articles","June 8, 2011"," Sleep tight; a few weeks ago the federal government announced it was implementing a new cell-phone warning system — Personal Localized Alerting Network, deliberately and unimaginatively titled to reduce to the sophomoric acronym PLAN. PLAN will enable emergency bureaucrats, including the president himself, to hector the citizenry in the form of a text-message warning sent by FEMA to all cell...","https://mises.org/library/democracy-and-republic-decrees" "German Gold","Library Item","Godfrey Bloom, Patrick Barron","Mises Daily Articles","December 7, 2012"," The greatest threat to worldwide prosperity is the collapse of what remains of free-market capitalism. Not depletion of scarce natural resources. Not environmental degradation. Not global warming (or is it ""climate change"" now?) No, the greatest threat to worldwide prosperity is the complete collapse of what little remains of free-market capitalism. Throughout the world, and not just in...","https://mises.org/library/german-gold" "Budget Tricks","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 1995","The Free Market 13, no. 7 (July 1995) To understand the House Republicans' budget ""revolution,"" pay careful attention to this number: $55 billion. That's the amount federal spending will increase next year. A year later, according to their plan, the budget ticks up another $38.1 billion. It goes up an average of $45 billion every year thereafter.Congressmen talk of ""slashing"" the budget, ""killing...","https://mises.org/library/budget-tricks" "Reform Is Not Impossible","Library Item","Robert Higgs","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 1996","The Free Market 14, no. 1 (January 1996) The sad spectacle of political stalemate in the United States suggests that Americans are stuck with our current size and scope of government—and the lackluster economy that the government's strictures cause. Is the welfare state a tangled web from which no nation can escape?Evidently not. Chileans and New Zealanders have shown that big government can be...","https://mises.org/library/reform-not-impossible" "Lab-Coat Welfare","Library Item","Timothy D. Terrell","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 1998","The Free Market 16, no. 4 (April 1998) Medical researchers are often so convinced of the overriding social importance of their work that they won't let something as petty as market valuations get in the way of their agenda. That's why they haven't missed many opportunities at securing tax-funded grants and subsidies, and they're about to score again.Over the past ten years, the budget of the...","https://mises.org/library/lab-coat-welfare" "Will Microcredit Save the World?","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 2006","The Free Market 24, no. 11 (December 2006) After World War II, American politicians had the idea that Europe could be rebuilt through billions in aid and loans. The Marshall Plan did go through but not without the very vocal opposition of Henry Hazlitt, whose book, Will Dollars Save the World? showed that prosperity comes through saving, capital accumulation, and enterprise—not through floods of...","https://mises.org/library/will-microcredit-save-world" "The Folly of Stimulus","Library Item","Christopher Westley","The Free Market, Institute Publications","February 1, 2008","The Free Market 26, no. 2 (February 2008) Years of spending, inflating, taxing, and redistributing has left the US economy teetering on a recession that our best and brightest—meaning the ones who created this mess—claim requires a multibillion-dollar economic-relief package to quell fears, promote confidence, and spur recovery.And, one might add, to keep things calm past election time, which is...","https://mises.org/library/folly-stimulus" "Greenspan's Bogus Defense","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 4 (April 2009)In a March 11 Wall Street Journal op-ed, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan tried to exonerate himself from the housing boom and bust. Even though more and more analysts are realizing that Greenspan’s low interest rates fueled the bubble, the ex-maestro himself uses statistics to defend his record.Greenspan Couldn’t Push Up Rates?Greenspan’s main...","https://mises.org/library/greenspans-bogus-defense-0" "From Subsistence to Exchange and Other Essays, by Peter Bauer","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 2000","The Poverty of EnvyMises Review 6, No. 4 (Winter 2000)FROM SUBSISTENCE TO EXCHANGE AND OTHER ESSAYSPeter Bauer Princeton University Press, 2000; xi + 153 pgs. Peter Bauer possesses a rare ability: he can see the obvious. Several philosophers discussed in this issue-Rawls, Dworkin, and Cohen -rail on and on about equality. Capitalism must be condemned, they tell us, because of inequality. However...","https://mises.org/library/subsistence-exchange-and-other-essays-peter-bauer" "Robert William Fogel (July 1, 1926 – June 11, 2013)","Wire","Robert Higgs","","June 17, 2013","Robert Fogel died a few days ago. He was a prominent figure in the academic economic history profession for five decades, virtually from the time he burst onto the scene with the publication of a polished-up version of his Johns Hopkins Ph.D. dissertation, Railroads and American Economic Growth, in 1964. This book was the most impressive accomplishment to date of the type of research espoused by...","https://mises.org/wire/robert-william-fogel-july-1-1926-june-11-2013" "Make Rome Burn Faster","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","January 10, 2005","Britain's National Association of Pension Funds wants a Citizen’s Pension (the report is here). Every UK resident over State Pension Age should get £105 a week from the State. Linked to average earnings, it would provide ""adequacy, simplicity, inclusion, encouragement to save, efficiency, and certainty"". That’s really going some. Let's start with ""certainty"".How would a Citizen’s Pension provide...","https://mises.org/wire/make-rome-burn-faster" "PrudentBear.com on Price Controls and the Business-Cycle","Wire","David J. Heinrich","","January 20, 2005","PrudentBear.com has an essentially Austrian analysis of the business cycle by Jeff Ferguson: Is a Secular Bear Market Inevitable?What determines the extent of the damage caused by price controls? The answer depends in part on the size of the market in question. If, for example, a small market such as the market for hand turned fruit bowls was being controlled the damage would likely be immaterial...","https://mises.org/wire/prudentbearcom-price-controls-and-business-cycle" "Persecuted for Teaching Economics, and Teaching it Well","Wire"," Mises.org","","February 13, 2005","The following post was sent to EconLaw-L, Sunday, February 13, 2005, by Lloyd Cohen, law professor at George Mason University. It is Professor Cohen's response to a question asked by the reporter who prepared this story in the Chronicle of Higher Education. A reporter from the Chronicle of Higher Education asked me to answer a specific question about the Hoppe affair and to offer whatever views...","https://mises.org/wire/persecuted-teaching-economics-and-teaching-it-well" "Bright Idea: Attack Business","Wire","Ralph Reiland","","September 25, 2006","With all the trouble the Bush administration is in, both domestically and internationally, you'd think the Democrats could come up with something better as an election strategy than an anti-business crusade.Sen. Joseph R. Biden, a likely Democrat presidential candidate in 2008, launched the following salvo against Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer: ""My problem with Wal-Mart is that...","https://mises.org/wire/bright-idea-attack-business" "Last Knight Live Blog 21 - Kraus","Wire","Lorenz Kraus","","January 14, 2008","Chapter 14, titled Booms, is a detailed and excellent narrative of a relatively short period of Mises's life when he exercised strong intellectual influence and contributed significantly to the reemergence of free market ideas in Europe, particularly in Austria and Germany. At the London School of Economics, in persons of Professors Lionel Robbins and Friedrich von Hayek, Mises's ideas had been...","https://mises.org/wire/last-knight-live-blog-21-kraus" "The Many Ways the State Taxes the Poor","Library Item","Julian Adorney","Mises Daily Articles","October 24, 2014","Most defenders of the state assume that government services help the poor. And, sometimes, some poor people do benefit financially from government programs. But there’s a hidden cost: taxation and mandatory programs (Social Security, for instance) that hurt the needy by restricting their choices. Government taxes away income that low-income households could invest in improving their lives. At the...","https://mises.org/library/many-ways-state-taxes-poor" "North Korea: From Hermit Kingdom to Merchant Kingdom? ","Library Item","J. Wiltz","Mises Daily Articles","December 3, 2014","Toward the end of her remarkable speech at this year’s One Young World Summit in Dublin, North Korean defector and human rights activist Yeon-mi Park listed three ways in which ordinary people can help freedom-seekers in North Korea:One, educate yourself so you can raise awareness about the human crisis in North Korea. Two, help and support North Korean refugees who are trying to escape to...","https://mises.org/library/north-korea-hermit-kingdom-merchant-kingdom" "30. The Symptomatic Keynes ","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","As is customary with biographies, Professor R. F. Harrod's The Life of John Maynard Keynes (Harcourt, Brace, 195 1) provides an abundance of information about insignificant happenings and uninteresting people who crossed the path of his subject. The whole of page 171, for instance, is devoted to the description of a lady who happened to be the niece of an authentic duke. We are told how she...","https://mises.org/30-symptomatic-keynes" "3. The Malinvestment of Capital","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","The malinvestment of capital goods can have come about in several ways.The construction of the plant was economically justified at the time it was established. It is not so any longer because since then new methods of production have become known or because today other locations are more favorable.Though originally a sound investment, the plant has become uneconomic because of changes that have...","https://mises.org/3-malinvestment-capital" "Is the Keynesian Multiplier a Real Thing? ","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","May 12, 2015","It is accepted by most economists that initial increases in consumer spending or other outlays tend to set in motion a reinforcing process which supposedly strengthens the economic growth by a multiple of initial spending.The Multiplier ExplainedAn example will illustrate how initial spending raises the overall output by the multiple of this spending. Let us assume that out of an additional...","https://mises.org/library/keynesian-multiplier-real-thing" "Conserving conserves nothing","Wire","Jim Fedako","","December 22, 2009","Maybe it was the holiday spirit. Or maybe it was the impatient line of holiday shoppers anxiously waiting for me to finish paying the cashier. Regardless, I let an economic fallacy slide without comment.As the cashier was totaling my bill, she asked if she could pack some of my goods in the plastic bag I was holding; a plastic bag that previously held an item I had returned upon entering the...","https://mises.org/wire/conserving-conserves-nothing" "Connecticut On Its Latest Cash Grab: It’s Not Greed When We Do It","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Wire","August 3, 2015","Those possessing the anti-capitalist mentality — so ascendant in our culture today — often critique market actors as being solely motivated by “greed.” Surely economic systems based on nobler motivations, they say, would better promote the long-run interests of the planet.The Voluntary Marketplace Uses Greed as Motivation to Serve OthersThis is an issue I deal with in detail in my Principles of...","https://mises.org/library/connecticut-its-latest-cash-grab-its-not-greed-when-we-do-it" "The Failed Moral Argument for a ""Living Wage""","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Wire","September 4, 2015","With Labor Day upon us, newspapers across the US will be printing op-eds calling for a mandated “living wage” and higher wages in general. In many cases, advocates for a living wage argue for outright mandates on wages; that is, a minimum wage set as an arbitrary level determined by policymakers to be at a level that makes housing, food, and health care “affordable.”Behind this effort is a...","https://mises.org/library/failed-moral-argument-living-wage" "Employment Is Not the Key to Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 11, 2017","The US unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in July against 4.4% in the month before. The number of unemployed stood at 6.981 million – an increase of 4,000 from June. A relatively low unemployment rate is considered by most experts as an important factor for economic growth.This way of thinking based on the view that a reduction in the number of unemployed means that more people can now afford to...","https://mises.org/wire/employment-not-key-economic-growth" "Seattle Seahawks Flee America for Medical Treatment","Wire","Tho Bishop","","August 31, 2017","Baseball may still identify as America’s pastime, but every year consumers prove that football is the country’s true love. In fact, the intertwining of national identity and the NFL can often be troublesome, such as when the Pentagon pays the league to promote the military — or the large subsidies governments grant to help billionaires pay for new stadiums. Yet increasingly America’s best...","https://mises.org/wire/seattle-seahawks-flee-america-medical-treatment" "Is Money Creation Fueling the Stock Market Surge? ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 21, 2018","Is it true that changes in money supply are an important driving force behind changes in the stock price indexes?Intuitively it makes sense to argue that an increase in the growth rate of money supply should strengthen the growth rate in stock prices.Conversely, a fall in the growth rate of money supply should slow down the growth momentum of stock prices. Some economists who follow the footsteps...","https://mises.org/wire/money-creation-fueling-stock-market-surge" "Warren Buffett and The New York Times Are Still Wrong About Taxes","Wire","Daniel J. Mitchell","","April 14, 2018","Politicians routinely assert that they want more economic growth. That’s a laudable sentiment, although I doubt their sincerity for the simple reason that these are the same people who frequently impose policies that discourage productive economic activity.Growth occurs when there’s an increase in the quantity and/or quality of labor and capital. These so-called factors of production determine...","https://mises.org/wire/warren-buffett-and-new-york-times-are-still-wrong-about-taxes" "Thanks to Markets, Mobile Phones Have Been a Game-Changer for the World's Poor","Wire","Chris Calton","","March 12, 2019","In the United States, the newest model of any cell phone is usually going to be sold as faster and smaller. Even as large-screen phones have gained popularity, they depend on being thin and light to attract customers. Bulky phones don’t fit well in the back pocket of skinny jeans, and they aren’t as fun to hold while mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. So perhaps it isn’t a surprise that...","https://mises.org/wire/thanks-markets-mobile-phones-have-been-game-changer-worlds-poor" "The ECB's Renewed Attack on Free Markets","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","June 25, 2019","Since March 2016, the main refinancing interest rate of European Central Bank (EZB) is zero, and since June 2014 the ECB’s deposit interest rate is in negative territory; it currently stands at –0.40 percent. This means that euro area banks get zero funding from the ECB, and that they are charged a fee on excess reserves they hold with the central bank. The ECB’s unprecedented lowering of...","https://mises.org/wire/ecbs-renewed-attack-free-markets" "The Problem with Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth-Tax Plan","Wire","Germinal G. Van","","October 19, 2019","Elizabeth Warren is among the strongest contenders and Democratic hopefuls for the presidential election of 2020. During the fourth Democratic debate, on October 15, her “Wealth Tax Plan” received close attention as to how it could reduce income inequality in the United States. The central argument of Warren's the wealth-tax proposal is this: through a progressive wealth tax system — which means...","https://mises.org/wire/problem-elizabeth-warrens-wealth-tax-plan" "Coronavirus Panic: From Trillion-Dollar Paternalism to ""Cash for Bunkers""","Wire","Gregory Gordon","","March 21, 2020","Life in America has been reshaped dramatically in the last two weeks. The fear of the Chinese coronavirus has completely eclipsed all other news stories in the US and abroad. Among these stories is the Democratic primary race, which is apparently still going on—and where Joe Biden has managed to stumble into near presumptive-nominee status by outlasting an elderly democratic socialist from...","https://mises.org/wire/coronavirus-panic-trillion-dollar-paternalism-cash-bunkers" "The New Euro Stimulus Won't Save the Greek Economy","Wire","Antonis Giannakopoulos","","March 28, 2020","With fear of the coronavirus continuing to wreak havoc on every country in the West, almost all governments have taken radical measures for containment of the virus: mandatory quarantines for many, the closing of businesses, and the prohibition of many economic and social activities. I am not going to pretend that I am a medical expert and share my thoughts about how serious the virus really is....","https://mises.org/wire/new-euro-stimulus-wont-save-greek-economy" "Capital Accumulation: The Way to Increase Wages","Wire","Jacob Maichel","","April 3, 2020","It is clear that arbitrary minimum wage laws are not only ineffective, but actually detrimental to real wage growth. So what type of action results in increasing wages in the United States, or any country for that matter? The only way to raise real wages is to increase the per capita amount of capital invested by increasing capital accumulation. To accomplish this it is first important to...","https://mises.org/wire/capital-accumulation-way-increase-wages" "Fiscal Stimulus vs. Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 11, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. For most experts a key factor that policymakers should be watching is the ratio between actual real output and potential real output. The potential output is the maximum output that the economy could attain if all resources are used efficiently. In Q3 2020, the US real GDP–to–potential US real GDP ratio stood at 0.965 against 1.01 in Q3 2019...","https://mises.org/wire/fiscal-stimulus-vs-economic-growth" "The Economics of Working from Home","Power & Market","Harald Eustachius Tomintz","","January 22, 2021","Strict lockdowns imposed by governments to slow the spread of covid-19 continue to force more and more people around the planet into a “work from home” setup. This is problematic for a number of reasons as the citizens of countries around the world have to go about work and entrepreneurial activities under a number of restrictions: Tomas Forgac summarized major problems encountered by people who...","https://mises.org/power-market/economics-working-home" "Government ""Stimulus"" Keeps Having a Diminishing Effect","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","August 5, 2021","The United States economy recovered at a 6.5 percent annualized rate in the second quarter of 2021, and gross domestic product (GDP) is now above the prepandemic level. This should be viewed as good news until we put it in the context of the largest fiscal and monetary stimulus in recent history. With the Federal Reserve purchasing $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and $80 billion...","https://mises.org/wire/government-stimulus-keeps-having-diminishing-effect" "The Fed's Inflation Is behind the Supply Chain Mess","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 29, 2021","It seems supporters of the Biden administration finally settled on a narrative they like for explaining away supply chain shortages. Here’s the administration’s talking point: the US economy is rolling along so well that Americans are demanding huge amounts of goods. That’s overwhelming the supply chain and causing the backups roiling America’s ports and logistic infrastructure. For example,...","https://mises.org/wire/feds-inflation-behind-supply-chain-mess" "Meds: The Seen—and Unseen—of Intellectual Property Laws","Wire","Vincent de Van","","April 29, 2022","Perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned in economics is that public policies have seen and unseen effects. The mastery of such a lesson is what separates the good from the bad economist. “The bad economist,” writes Henry Hazlitt, “sees only what immediately strikes the eye; the good economist also looks beyond. The bad economist sees only the direct consequences of a proposed course; the good...","https://mises.org/wire/meds-seen-and-unseen-intellectual-property-laws" "France Is Catching Up to Japan, but Not in a Good Way","Wire","Karl-Friedrich Israel, Tim Sepp","","May 6, 2022","Inequality and social mobility are hotly debated issues. One important indicator of social mobility are wealth-to-income ratios. If a country’s wealth-to-income ratio is high, the country is not necessarily wealthy. It merely implies that the monetary value of all assets in that country is relatively high compared to the incomes earned. The higher the wealth-to-income ratio, the harder it gets to...","https://mises.org/wire/france-catching-japan-not-good-way" "Does Capitalism Itself Create Economic Instability or Is Central Banking the Culprit?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","September 20, 2022","Instability in financial markets has brought back the ideas of post-Keynesian school of economics (PK) economist Hyman Minsky. Minsky held that the capitalist economy inherently is unstable, culminating in severe economic crisis, accumulation of debt being the key mechanism pushing the economy toward a crisis. During “good” times, according to Minsky, businesses in profitable areas of the economy...","https://mises.org/wire/does-capitalism-itself-create-economic-instability-or-central-banking-culprit" "Against All Odds, Chinese Entrepreneurs Succeed around the World","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","January 23, 2023","The spectacular success of Chinese entrepreneurs in multiple regions across the globe has produced a litany of studies. Surprisingly, Chinese immigrants have done remarkably well despite enduring economic constraints and discrimination in foreign countries. Throughout the world, the Chinese are legendary for their prominence in the retail sector and acumen as restaurateurs. From Southeast Asia to...","https://mises.org/wire/against-all-odds-chinese-entrepreneurs-succeed-around-world" "Patents, Legal Monopolies, and the High Prices for Drugs","Wire","Benjamin Williams","","March 17, 2022","Currently, 63 percent of American adults are on prescription drugs, according to a 2021 survey. Of this 63 percent of Americans, 26 percent say they have difficulty affording their prescriptions. Despite the prices of prescription drugs falling in recent years, an increasing number of Americans are concerned about high drug costs and demanding action be taken, 88 percent saying they want it to be...","https://mises.org/wire/patents-legal-monopolies-and-high-prices-drugs" "Does Cost Cutting Undermine Economic Growth?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","March 27, 2023","Keynesian economists claim that cost cutting by companies in order to protect profits can lead to an economic slump. They believe that if everyone tries to cut costs, demand from retrenched workers for goods and services weakens, and as a result corporate revenues and profits come under pressure. This necessitates new layoffs, and the downward spiral accelerates. Popular thinking presents...","https://mises.org/wire/does-cost-cutting-undermine-economic-growth" "President Biden’s SAVE College Debt Repayment Plan Puts the Motivations in the Wrong Places","Wire","Dave Arnott","","August 23, 2023","Imagine fathers at the little league baseball fence. The first brags, “My son is batting 200!” You should be thinking, “That’s not very good.” The second intones, “Oh yea, well my son is batting 175!” “Hold it,” you’re thinking, “this is going backwards.” And your suspicions are confirmed when the third yells out, even louder, “Here comes my son, batting 150!” As all three dads high-five each...","https://mises.org/wire/president-bidens-save-college-debt-repayment-plan-puts-motivations-wrong-places" "Ethnic Prejudice and Wealth Gaps: Does the First Lead to the Second?","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","September 14, 2023","California's decision to grant reparations to black Americans has galvanized activists across the globe. Activists think that doing so will remedy the black-white wealth gap. Ensuring that blacks are on par with whites, however, is a strange goal, since East Asians outperform whites on several metrics, including education. Rather than contrasting blacks with whites, political activists should...","https://mises.org/wire/ethnic-prejudice-and-wealth-gaps-does-first-lead-second" "Fractional Reserves and Economic Instability","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","July 12, 2012","[Testimony before the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology of the Committee on Financial Services, US House of Representatives ""Fractional Reserve Banking and Central Banking as Sources of Economic Instability: The Sound Money Alternative,"" June 28, 2012]Fractional-reserve banking has historically been viewed by some economists and most monetary cranks as a panacea for the...","https://mises.org/library/fractional-reserves-and-economic-instability" "More Than Quibbles: Problems with the Theory and History of Fractional Reserve Free Banking","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","June 18, 2019","ABSTRACT: The extensive debate over fractional reserve free banking (FRFB) has spanned decades and includes volleys from many contributors. Consequently, relative newcomers to the controversy often wish to extend the conversation on several fronts. In this spirit, Bagus and Howden (2010) is a 27-page paper detailing numerous objections to FRFB, which they modestly entitled, “Fractional Reserve...","https://mises.org/library/more-quibbles-problems-theory-and-history-fractional-reserve-free-banking" "The Union Hunt for More Victims","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","July 5, 2005","The New York Times has proved once again that it is a reliable font of economic ignorance.This time, it’s through an op-ed piece titled “A More Perfect Union,” by a lady named Ruth Milkman, whose credentials in economics are that she is a “sociologist” and “director of U.C.L.A.'s Institute of Industrial Relations and a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation.”The purpose and substance of...","https://mises.org/library/union-hunt-more-victims" "Recessions: The Don't Do List","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","February 17, 2013","Listening to a new report on the just-released GDP numbers while reading Rothbard’s America’s Great Depression (AGD) made me realize how relevant and important this work is relative to today’s poorly performing economy. The book briefly summarizes Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT) and applies the theory to the period of the Great Depression from 1929–1933. The book is especially relevant in...","https://mises.org/library/recessions-dont-do-list" "A Misesian Century","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","February 5, 2013","[This talk was delivered on January 26, 2013, at the Jeremy S. Davis Mises Circle in Houston, Texas.]In December, it will be 100 years since Congress authorized the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Throughout that century the Fed has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. That’s another way of saying the Fed never appeared on the political radar until Ron Paul broke the rules by actually...","https://mises.org/library/misesian-century" "Bursting Eugene Fama's Bubble","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","February 15, 2010","In a recent interview in the New Yorker, Eugene Fama, Chicago School economist and father of the efficient-markets hypothesis (EMH), defended his theory in light of the housing boom and crash. Fama's views on asset bubbles and business cycles stand in sharp contrast to the standard Austrian position. Although Chicago and Austrian economists are on the same side on many policy questions —...","https://mises.org/library/bursting-eugene-famas-bubble" "4. Capital Accumulation and the Length of the Structure of Production","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","We have been demonstrating that investment lengthens the structure of production. Now we may consider some criticisms of this approach.Böhm-Bawerk is the great founder of production-structure analysis, but unfortunately he left room for misinterpretation by identifying capital accumulation with adopting “more roundabout” methods of production. Thus, consider his famous example of the Crusoe who...","https://mises.org/4-capital-accumulation-and-length-structure-production" "A Note on Block-Hoppe Debate on Indifference","Library Item","Igor Wysocki","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","April 3, 2018","[Full issue of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 20, no. 4 (2017)]ABSTRACT: This paper addresses the debate on indifference within the remit of praxeology, as unfolded between Hoppe and Block. It argues that the whole controversy between the two authors stem from the fact that they conceive of choice differently. Simultaneously, there is an attempt made to sharpen the authors’...","https://mises.org/library/note-block-hoppe-debate-indifference" "Después de años de «estímulos» llega la deuda creciente y los salarios decrecientes","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","November 22, 2022","A medida que los tipos de interés suben en todo, desde las hipotecas hasta los préstamos para automóviles y los bonos del Tesoro, también aumentan los intereses de la deuda de las tarjetas de crédito. Esto no es precisamente una gran noticia, ya que muchos indicadores apuntan a una recesión —y al empeoramiento de la situación laboral que conlleva— en el horizonte. Muchos americanos podrían...","https://mises.org/node/61105" "Recovery or Illusion?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","January 29, 2002","[Presented at Boom, Bust, and the Future: A Private Retreat with Austrian Economists, January 20, 2002.]Does the recent revival in various economic data raise the possibility that the Fed's aggressive loose monetary stance is starting to yield results?The GDP edged up slightly in the fourth quarter of last year (though even press reports credited government spending for that). The purchasing...","https://mises.org/library/recovery-or-illusion" "Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XVIII","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","December 27, 2007","[This Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XVIII is also available in PDF.]CHAPTER XVIII. ACTION IN THE PASSING OF TIMEChapter Summary1. Perspective in the Valuation of Time PeriodsAll action is directed toward an imagined improvement in future conditions, although some actions are intended to improve the very near future. People do not value fractions of time in the same way. Other things equal...","https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-chapter-xviii" "Natural and Neutral Rates of Interest in Theory and Policy Formulation","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","March 13, 2019","[This article originally appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.] Interest has a title role in many pre-Keynesian writings as it does in Keynes's own General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936). Eugen Boeöhm-Bawerk's Capital and Interest (1889), Knut Wicksell's Interest and Prices (1898), and Gustav Cassel's The Nature and Necessity of Interest (1903) readily come to...","https://mises.org/library/natural-and-neutral-rates-interest-theory-and-policy-formulation" "The Forgotten Depression of 1920","Library Item","Thomas E. Woods, Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","November 27, 2009","[This article was first published in the Fall 2009 issue of The Intercollegiate Review.] It is a cliché that if we do not study the past we are condemned to repeat it. Almost equally certain, however, is that if there are lessons to be learned from an historical episode, the political class will draw all the wrong ones — and often deliberately so.Far from viewing the past as a potential source of...","https://mises.org/library/forgotten-depression-1920" "Natural and Neutral Rates of Interest in Theory and Policy Formulation","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","December 8, 2021","Interest has a title role in many pre-Keynesian writings as it does in Keynes's own General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936). Eugen Böhm-Bawerk's Capital and Interest (1889), Knut Wicksell's Interest and Prices (1898), and Gustav Cassel's The Nature and Necessity of Interest (1903) readily come to mind. The essays in F.A. Hayek's Profits, Interest, and Investment (1939), which...","https://mises.org/library/natural-and-neutral-rates-interest-theory-and-policy-formulation-0" "A Truly Austrian Treatise","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","September 17, 2009","[Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics • By George Reisman • Jameson Books, 1998 • l + 1046 pages] Professor Reisman centers his enormous book on a key insight: it is capitalists themselves who run the capitalist system.1 As I will show, this insight enables him to bring out a vital aspect of Austrian economics, essential to a grasp of that system of thought.Yet, although Reisman was a student of...","https://mises.org/library/truly-austrian-treatise" "End This Nonsense Now!","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","June 14, 2012","[End This Depression Now! By Paul Krugman. Norton, 2012. Xii + 259 pages] Supporters of Keynesian economics sometimes claim it to be a crude caricature of the Master that he thought the government has only to spend more money to get us out of a depression and that getting us into debt doesn't matter because we owe it to ourselves. Keynes, it is alleged, was a vastly more sophisticated thinker...","https://mises.org/library/end-nonsense-now" "How to Think About Losses","Library Item","Fritz Machlup","Mises Daily Articles","March 19, 2002","The following is an excerpt from The Stock Market, Credit and Capital Formation, written in German in 1931, appearing in English in 1940, and out of print until last week, when it appeared on Mises.org with the permission of the Machlup estate. This excerpt is from pages 59-68.While it is perfectly clear that an individual capitalist or speculator may make losses on the stock exchange, it is very...","https://mises.org/library/how-think-about-losses" "Social Security Reform: A Free-Market Alternative","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","February 21, 2005","Considerable public discussion and debate now rages over Social Security and how to reform it. As the system currently stands, as early as 2018, it will be necessary to finance a growing portion of its outlays to retirees by means of outside sources of funds, since at that point the sums paid into the system in the form of payroll taxes will begin to fall short of the sums it is obligated to pay...","https://mises.org/library/social-security-reform-free-market-alternative" "Save or Else","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","December 8, 2004","The movement to privatize Social Security (fully or partially) may be the most ideologically duplicitous and fiscally irresponsible I've seen in my lifetime. It was proposed by Clinton and now by Bush. Whether it dies in the next few months or generates some monstrosity of a bill to be voted on, don't believe that there is anything in the works that is going to bring you more freedom.Those of us...","https://mises.org/library/save-or-else" "Why Capital Goods Are the Key to Economic Progress","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","July 27, 2021","[This article is excerpted from chapter 18 of Human Action] If one were to measure the length of the period of production spent in the fabrication of the various goods available now, one would have to trace back their history to the point at which the first expenditure of original factors of production took place. One would have to establish when natural resources and labor were first employed...","https://mises.org/library/why-capital-goods-are-key-economic-progress" "Correcting Quiggin on Austrian Business-Cycle Theory","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","May 25, 2009","Australian economist John QuigginThe Mises-Hayek theory of the business cycle — and of our recent housing bubble in particular — is gaining more and more adherents in the ""real world."" To give anecdotal evidence: Five years ago, when I'd write a Mises Daily article, the fan mail would pour in from college students. But now, I get questions from hedge-fund managers and others working in the...","https://mises.org/library/correcting-quiggin-austrian-business-cycle-theory" "Blind to the Flaws of Keynesianism","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","October 4, 2010","Recently the pundits and bloggers have been arguing about the empirical case for (and against) the Obama Administration's $800 billion stimulus package. I have already focused on Paul Krugman's humorous role in this debate, and today we'll get some chuckles courtesy of Princeton economist Alan Blinder.Blinder's Highbrow Case for StimulusIn a widely discussed paper, Blinder and Mark Zandi (the...","https://mises.org/library/blind-flaws-keynesianism" "When Stimulus Does Not Stimulate","Library Item","Shawn Ritenour","Mises Daily Articles","July 8, 2009","[An MP3 audio version of this article, read by Floy Lilley, is available as a free download.] A majority of Americans now give President Obama's handling of the economy a negative rating and many economists and city officials are concerned that Obama's gargantuan stimulus effort has not given the expected quick boost to the economy. Some argue this is because funds have been slow in coming due to...","https://mises.org/library/when-stimulus-does-not-stimulate" "Can Dollars Save the Economy?","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","June 5, 2001","The Keynesians are claiming that we have nothing to worry about because there can be no inflation within a recession. The monetarists, meanwhile, say we must fight deflation and flood the market with liquidity to avoid the mistakes of the 1930s. Greenspan is telling us to ""Pick a card, any card,"" or whatever hucksterism he is now employing to keep us believing that he actually knows what he is...","https://mises.org/library/can-dollars-save-economy" "How the Global Boom Might End","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","December 11, 2006","Currently, the wider world is undergoing an upswing of a kind perhaps unprecedented, but certainly not enjoyed since the golden age of hard money and classical liberal politics at the end of the nineteenth century.Not only are teeming millions heading for the expanding cities of Asia, but industrial renovation is taking place all across the vast, former wasteland that lies to the east of the...","https://mises.org/library/how-global-boom-might-end" "American Workers Deserve Better Than This","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","August 24, 2011","""On a basic level, a job is the result of the mixing of capital and labor.""Why can't everyone who wants a job, or a better job, just find one? In a perfect world, this would be the case. Sadly, the recently released employment figures for June indicate that the world in which we live is still far from perfect.Nationally, unemployment still lingers in the low nines, with job growth clocking in at...","https://mises.org/library/american-workers-deserve-better" "What Keynes Said, and Meant","Library Item","Robert Blumen","Mises Daily Articles","September 29, 2009","[Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts • by Hunter Lewis • Axios Press • 390 pages]""Lewis's book is accessible to anyone who has had a macroeconomics course, and to the general reader of the business media.""This important book fills a gap in the literature. It is an Austrian critique of Keynes that is concise and accessible to the general...","https://mises.org/library/what-keynes-said-and-meant" "Production, Sustainable and Unsustainable","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2011","IntroductionValue DerivationSavings and Capital GoodsThe Law of ReturnsIntroductionAccording to the Austrian business-cycle theory, monetary expansion leads to artificially low interest rates, which lead producers to act as if consumers wanted to save more than they really do. Thus, businesses overdedicate resources to longer chains of production and underdedicate resources to shorter chains. In...","https://mises.org/library/production-sustainable-and-unsustainable" "How Marshall Field Succeeded","Library Item","Orison Swett Marden","Mises Daily Articles","February 21, 2011","[Marshall Field (1834–1906) was a self-made businessman and founder of the highly successful department-store chain that bore his name. At the age of 18 he moved to Chicago — then only a fledgling city —and worked his way to the top of the commercial world there, weathering multiple recessions and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. This interview is taken from chapter 1 of How They Succeeded (1901...","https://mises.org/library/how-marshall-field-succeeded" "The Real Solution to the Debt Problem","Library Item","David S. D'Amato","Mises Daily Articles","September 16, 2011"," In his famously doleful, dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell described a world enthralled to what was functionally a ""permanent war economy,"" an ""economy existing by and for continuous warfare."" Today, on the heels of a debt ceiling increase calculated to forestall a federal-government default, we both are witnessing and are yoked to the many indispositions of what could be...","https://mises.org/library/real-solution-debt-problem" "Seventeen Years of Boom and Bust","Library Item","Clyde W. Richey","Mises Daily Articles","March 6, 2012","The Federal Reserve must bear responsibility for our current recession. The seeds for this recession were clearly planted in 1995 and led to unsustainable booms and busts, and later to high unemployment, increased consumer prices, failed companies, and increased debt. Appropriate at this time is an overview of the Federal Reserve's booms and busts and the shocking similarities with those of the...","https://mises.org/library/seventeen-years-boom-and-bust" "Response to Block on Abortion, Round Three","Library Item","Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski","Libertarian Papers, Journals, Other Journals","March 31, 2011"," Since I remain unconvinced by the arguments used by Walter Block (2010, 2011) to defend the compatibility of his theory of evictionism with libertarianism, I feel obliged to continue our debate. Without further ado, let me proceed to addressing the substantive points he raises in his latest rejoinder to my criticisms (Wisniewski 2010a, 2010b). First, Block contends that I am “lead into (...","https://mises.org/library/response-block-abortion-round-three" "Real Social Security Reform","Library Item","George Reisman","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","May 1, 2005","The Free Market 26, no. 5 (May 2005) Considerable public discussion and debate now rages over Social Security and how to reform it. As the system currently stands, as early as 2018, it will be necessary to finance a growing portion of its outlays to retirees by means of outside sources of funds, since at that point the sums paid into the system in the form of payroll taxes will begin to fall...","https://mises.org/library/real-social-security-reform" "Economic Growth and Its Causes: Comment on Holcombe","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 2, No. 2 (Summer 1999)In his article “Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth,” Professor Holcombe (1998) argues that Kirznerian entrepreneurial alertness enables market actors to spot previously unnoticed profit opportunities. Entrepreneurs then act upon these opportunities. As a result, the economy becomes more productive because now more consumer satisfaction can be produced at a lower...","https://mises.org/library/economic-growth-and-its-causes-comment-holcombe-0" "On Krugman's Introduction to Keynes's General Theory","Wire","D.W. MacKenzie","","March 9, 2006","Among current proponents of activist government, few have greater name recognition than Paul Krugman. While most economists focus on communicating their ideas to their students and peers, professor Krugman has targeted the educated public with his work. This work now includes an introduction to The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, by John Maynard Keynes. Brad Delong has posted...","https://mises.org/wire/krugmans-introduction-keyness-general-theory" "8. Inflation and the Business Trade Cycle","Online Text Chapter","Thomas C. Taylor","Books, Books","February 18, 2015"," Thus far all explanation of the market system has been predicated on the assumption that there is no inflation problem and no erratic business pattern of intermittent general expansion followed by general recession or depression. The market system has been shown to operate through the price mechanism, which induces adaptive and complementary actions on the part of the market participants in...","https://mises.org/8-inflation-and-business-trade-cycle" "Inflation, Central Banks, and Business Cycles","Library Item","Jonathan Newman","Mises Daily Articles","April 18, 2015","[Adapted from a lecture presented at the Mises Institute’s Sound Money Conference, April 10, 2014.]The word “inflation” means different things to different people. One popular conception of inflation focuses on prices — all prices, actually. For these people, including some economists, “inflation” means a rise in the general price level, i.e., the goods and services we buy have higher price...","https://mises.org/library/inflation-central-banks-and-business-cycles" "18. The Fallacy of the Acceleration Principle","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","The “acceleration principle” has been adopted by some Keynesians as their explanation of investment, then to be combined with the “multiplier” to yield various mathematical “models” of the business cycle. The acceleration principle antedates Keynesianism, however, and may be considered on its own merits. It is almost always used to explain the behavior of investment in the business cycle.The...","https://mises.org/18-fallacy-acceleration-principle" "The Keynesian Blessing: Americans Are Broke","Wire","William L. Anderson","","June 12, 2016","Writer Neal Gabler recently “confessed” his “secret shame” in an Atlantic Monthly article on how a huge percentage of middle-class Americans are living beyond their means, existing paycheck-to-paycheck, and are mired in personal debt. He writes:I never spoke about my financial travails, not even with my closest friends—that is, until I came to the realization that what was happening to me was...","https://mises.org/wire/keynesian-blessing-americans-are-broke" "The Week in Review: October 8, 2016","Wire","Mises Institute","","October 7, 2016","During our Boston Mises Circle last weekend we discussed the real state of the US economy, and the solutions that lie beyond politics. This week, America’s continued economic stagnation was further illustrated by another lack-luster jobs report — showing that the government can’t even rig its own statistics enough to project a strong economy. What the government is good at, however, is causing...","https://mises.org/wire/week-review-october-8-2016" "Week in Review: January 14, 2017","Wire","Mises Institute","","January 13, 2017","The Senate began working through President-elect Trump’s cabinet appointments this week, as Washington prepares for next week’s inauguration (which will cost taxpayers over $100 million.) One of the pressing concerns worrying libertarians is Senator Jeff Session’s view on the war on drugs, which has been one of the most successful areas for states’ rights in recent years. Obamacare has also been...","https://mises.org/wire/week-review-january-14-2017" "The Neoconservatives Have Declared War on the Realists","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","September 14, 2017","In recent years, I've increasingly suspected that when it comes to foreign policy, the realists offer some of the most sane observations. These suspicions were confirmed earlier this year when after the election of Donald Trump, John Mearsheimer, one of modern realism's current standard bearers, wrote in The National Interest that Trump should ""adopt a realist foreign policy"" and outlines a far...","https://mises.org/wire/neoconservatives-have-declared-war-realists" "The Subsistence Fund Is the Heart of Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 11, 2019","What characterizes the modern economy is its complex structure of production that seemingly generates an endless amount, and an endless variety, of goods. It seems that the production structure has, as it were, a self-generating mechanism. Careful examination, however, shows that without a key ingredient, the entire infrastructure could not have emerged. The ingredient that makes it all possible...","https://mises.org/wire/subsistence-fund-heart-economic-growth" "Hazlitt Predicted Economics in Two Lessons","Wire","Jorge Besada","","May 15, 2019","Mr. Quiggin’s recent book, Economics in Two Lessons, is the latest intellectual salvo fired by a member of the mainstream economics establishment towards the legendary unabashed defenders of capitalism like Ludwig von Mises, 1974 Nobel Laureate in Economics F.A. Hayek, and of course, Henry Hazlitt himself, who von Mises once referred to as “our leader…the economic conscience of our country and of...","https://mises.org/wire/hazlitt-predicted-economics-two-lessons" "The Real Meaning of Deflation","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 25, 2019","For most experts, deflation is bad news since it generates expectations for a decline in prices. Because of this, it is held, consumers postpone their buying of goods at present since they expect to buy these goods at lower prices in the future. Consequently, this weakens the overall flow of current spending and this in turn weakens the economy. In this way of thinking, economic activity is...","https://mises.org/wire/real-meaning-deflation" "As Democrats Push a ""Wealth Tax,"" Here's Why Other Countries Got Rid Of It","Power & Market","Daniel J. Mitchell","","June 26, 2019","I wrote five years ago about the growing threat of a wealth tax. Some friends at the time told me I was being paranoid. The crowd in Washington, they assured me, would never be foolish enough to impose such a levy, especially when other nations such as Sweden have repealed wealth taxes because of their harmful impact. But, to paraphrase H.L. Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the...","https://mises.org/power-market/democrats-push-wealth-tax-heres-why-other-countries-got-rid-it" "Capitalism Isn't the Reason We're Unhappy","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","July 26, 2019","Many critics of capitalism have given up trying to claim capitalism makes people poorer. Faced with so many obvious gains in the standard of living, and in reducing poverty worldwide, markets have won the economic debate over whether or not capitalism is the path to material riches. But the doctrinaire anti-capitalists have other strategies. They've now branched out into blaming capitalism for a...","https://mises.org/wire/capitalism-isnt-reason-were-unhappy" "The Coming Whiskey Bubble?","Wire","Matt Kubiak","","August 24, 2019","As Austrians we are always looking for evidence to lead us to the next bubble. I think most of us are on high alert after a decade of easy money, stock price inflation, and ever decreasing bond yields. However, identifying the specific bubble sector(s) ahead of time is extremely difficult (unless you are Mark Thornton). This notwithstanding, one industry seems to me to display all of the signs...","https://mises.org/wire/coming-whiskey-bubble" "James Champlin’s Lessons on Political Economy","Wire","Laurence M. Vance","","September 3, 2020","James Tift Champlin (1811–82) was born in Colchester, Connecticut. He enrolled at Brown University in 1830, where the president, Francis Wayland, greatly impressed him. Wayland was a staunch defender of private property, the free market, and classical liberalism. His book The Elements of Political Economy (1837) is based on sound and insightful economic principles with an emphasis on human action...","https://mises.org/wire/james-champlins-lessons-political-economy" "Why the Corporate Paradox of Thrift Isn't Really a Problem","Wire","Frank Shostak","","December 29, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. According to some commentators, cost cutting by companies in order to protect profits can in fact set in motion an economic slump. It is held that if everyone tries to cut costs and save more, demand for goods and services from retrenched workers weakens, and as a result corporate revenues and profits come under pressure. This, in turn, sets...","https://mises.org/wire/why-corporate-paradox-thrift-isnt-really-problem" "The Macroeconomic Models of the Austrian School: A History and Comparative Analysis","Library Item","Renaud Fillieule","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","March 30, 2020","Abstract: This paper offers a synthetic and comparative assessment of the most basic Austrian macroeconomic models, i.e. the models that analyze the static forces determining the equilibrium interest rate and structure of production (monetary disequilibria and business cycles are not part of this investigation). The three models presented here are those of Böhm-Bawerk ([1889] 1959), Hayek (1936,...","https://mises.org/library/macroeconomic-models-austrian-school-history-and-comparative-analysis" "A.R.J. Turgot","Person Profile","","","June 20, 2014","A. R. J. Turgot's career in economics was brief but brilliant, and in every way remarkable. In the first place, he died rather young, and second, the time and energy he devoted to economics was comparatively little. He was a busy man of affairs, born in Paris to a distinguished Norman family which had long served as important royal officials. Turgot's father, Michael-Etienne, was a Councillor of...","https://mises.org/profile/arj-turgot" "The Monetary Tsunami Is Coming","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 31, 2011","In his speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on August 26, 2011, the Fed chairman disappointed most pundits. He did not promise another massive infusion of fake money, i.e., QE3. I suspect that a strengthening in bank lending is an important factor behind the Fed's decision to postpone the pushing of more money into the economy.The yearly rate of growth of our measure for banks' inflationary credit...","https://mises.org/library/monetary-tsunami-coming" "Consolidation","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","January 14, 1999","Early last year, President Clinton, arguing that ""it will save hundreds of lives each year,"" came out with a noble-sounding proposal on drunk-driving laws.He said that come October 2001, any state with a blood-alcohol standard higher than 0.08% should be subject to losing 5% of its federal highway funds, a penalty he said should increase later.The president is once again pushing that proposal to...","https://mises.org/library/consolidation" """Less For Our Labor"" Day?","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","August 28, 2002","Every Labor Day, the U.S. is carpet-bombed with politicians' rhetoric extolling working Americans' very real and substantial contributions to our society, followed by words of devotion to their interests. From their speeches, you would think that the government was doing wonderful things to help workers. But, in fact, with the average American spending more to fund government than to buy food,...","https://mises.org/library/less-our-labor-day" "A Pretense of Regulatory Reform","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","July 7, 2011","After taking office, President Obama massively expanded regulation, from Obamacare to the proliferation of regulatory czars, and proposed still more. That contributed substantially to the Democrats' midterm shellacking.In response, the newly Republican House of Representatives planned an extensive re-examination of federal regulations. So to reposition himself away from his attacks on market...","https://mises.org/library/pretense-regulatory-reform" "Overproduction and Underconsumption Fallacies","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","January 11, 2007","[This article is Professor Reisman's introduction to an excerpt from James Mill's pamphlet Commerce Defended, available in the Study Guide.]James Mill (1773–1836) is perhaps best known as the father and educator of John Stuart Mill. He deserves to be remembered for much more, however. Not only was he an influential popularizer of the ideas of his friend, David Ricardo, but also, as appears from...","https://mises.org/library/overproduction-and-underconsumption-fallacies" "The Work of Human Hands","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","October 9, 2002","War is coming, we're still in recession, the public is still angry about 9-11 (hey, is all this connected?), so we must do something to rekindle a sense of joy in our own private lives. But what? What people on the home front have always done: throw themselves into the domestic arts, preferably something that is beyond the time and connects us with ancient truth. For my part, it is all about...","https://mises.org/library/work-human-hands" "Black Pigs and Free Enterprise","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","December 20, 2010","Recently, I've seen two sets of neighborhoods with ripped-up lawns.The neighborhood in West Texas had destroyed grass caused by the remarkable proliferation of this monstrous black pig. No one knows for sure where they came from. Some say they walked from Mexico. Some say they are indigenous but just recently out of control. No one doubts that they are a serious problem.One pig is the size of a...","https://mises.org/library/black-pigs-and-free-enterprise" "Genome Research","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","August 3, 1998","Can government do a better job than the market in any area of the economy? Consider: the tax-funded Human Genome Project, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. It held out the promise of mapping the entire structure of DNA, which in turn would lead to unparalleled medical breakthroughs.This program appeared ideally suited to government. It had undeniable scientific merit, much more than...","https://mises.org/library/genome-research" "Public and Private","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 1999","The Journal of CommerceJanuary 27, 1999It's no secret that government has lost its prestige status in recent years. Surveys of students show that very few have an interest in becoming employees of federal agencies.Being elected to public office no longer carries the cache it did during the Cold War. The Wise Men of our time aren't cabinet secretaries and presidential advisers, but people who...","https://mises.org/library/public-and-private" "The Gas-Tax Hustle","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","May 5, 2006","Congress toyed with the idea of a tax holiday on gasoline as a way to drive the price down to address constituent complaints. But, as you might guess, they rejected it.Why, oh why, did Congress decline to give us a bit more liberty, aside from the obvious fact that they like the revenue and power? Well, we can't go too much aside after all: they like the revenue and power. From their point of...","https://mises.org/library/gas-tax-hustle" "Money and Our Future","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 2009","[This talk was given at the 2009 Jeremy Davis Mises Circle in Houston. An MP3 audio file of this talk is available for download.] We are fortunate to be living in these times, for we are seeing the unfolding of events long explained and predicted by the Austrian tradition.Maybe that sounds implausible. What is fortunate about our times? The economy is tanking, stocks have been pummeled,...","https://mises.org/library/money-and-our-future" "Stimulation by Government","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","February 27, 2009","The great failing of the Obama administration is that it is packed with people who show no apparent knowledge of the essential truths of liberal theory. That theory — which is the core of the American political contribution to, and the driving force of, modernity itself — is that freedom is the foundation of and the reason for social and economic flourishing. All evidence suggests they know...","https://mises.org/library/stimulation-government" "The Source of Prices","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2006"," ""How does a world-class think tank end up in east Alabama? ...having such an outfit so far away from the country's usual hubs is in itself a rejection of the central planning and authority Mises spent his life fighting. He might never have visited Auburn, but something tells me he wouldn't have put this institute any other place."" Kyle Wingfield, Wall Street Journal Europe, August 4, 2006The...","https://mises.org/library/source-prices" "Wage Earners and Employers","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","July 29, 2019","[Bettina Bien-Greaves has given the Mises Institute a treasure trove of items from Mises's own personal belongings that had been handed on to her, among which was a long-playing record, recorded as a radio broadcast made during intermission of the US Steel Concert Hour, May 17, 1962. An MP3 of this recording is available in Mises Media.] Q: Are the interests of the American wage earners in...","https://mises.org/library/wage-earners-and-employers" "The Alleged Absence of Depressions under Totalitarianism","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","June 21, 2019","[This article is excerpted from chapter 20 of Human Action: The Scholar's Edition and is read by Jeff Riggenbach.] Many socialist authors emphasize that the recurrence of economic crises and business depressions is a phenomenon inherent in the capitalist mode of production. On the other hand, a socialist system is safe against this evil. As has already become obvious and will be shown later...","https://mises.org/library/alleged-absence-depressions-under-totalitarianism" "The Economic Consequences of Cheap Money","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","October 19, 2019","[From a memorandum, dated April 24, 1946, prepared in English by Professor Mises for a committee of businessmen for whom he served as a consultant, this article appears in The Causes of the Economic Crisis, and Other Essays Before and After the Great Depression (2006) as chapter 5, ""The Trade Cycle and Credit Expansion: The Economic Consequences of Cheap Money.""] The author of this paper is...","https://mises.org/library/economic-consequences-cheap-money" "Slash and Burn","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","November 18, 2008","There is more talk about another stimulus package to help save the economy. Word from Washington predicts that a package that includes extended unemployment benefits, food stamps, and another tax rebate check will pass in a forthcoming lame-duck session of Congress. All of these remedies actually make the patient sicker, but there is a way for Washington to really stimulate the economy.Paying...","https://mises.org/library/slash-and-burn" "Is War about Oil or Bad Ideas?","Library Item","Morgan O. Reynolds","Mises Daily Articles","January 1, 2004","Name a war and the alleged causes are numerous: man's innate aggression, vainglorious princes, stupid tyrants, imbalances of power, preserving the union, the military industrial complex, ties to al-Qaeda, WMDs, democracy, freedom, and a hundred other reasons. And what about access to natural resources like, say, black gold? Such issues are rarely mentioned.With regard to war, Hobbes asserted...","https://mises.org/library/war-about-oil-or-bad-ideas" "Orwell’s Big Brother: Merely Fiction?","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","July 4, 2013","[Rothbard’s review of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four (Harcourt, 1949) appeared in Analysis, September 1949, p. 4] In recent years, many writers have given us their vision of the coming collectivist future. At the turn of the century, neither Edward Bellamy nor H. G. Wells suspected that the collectivist societies of their dreams were so close at hand. As collectivism sprouted following World...","https://mises.org/library/orwells-big-brother-merely-fiction" "Education Meltdown","Library Item","Richard Vedder","Mises Daily Articles","August 31, 1998","Richard Vedder, professor of economics at Ohio State University, teaches at the annual Mises University, an instructional seminar in the Austrian School for undergraduates and graduate students, sponsored by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. In this piece, Professor Vedder identifies some structural problems in conventional university settings, and explains how alternative settings can restore...","https://mises.org/library/education-meltdown" "Six Fundamental Errors of the Current Orthodoxy","Library Item","Robert Higgs","Mises Daily Articles","May 2, 2011","[Excerpted from the Independent Review (Winter 2010). An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by Colin Hussey, is available for download.] As the recession has deepened and the financial debacle has passed from one flare-up to another during the past year and a half, commentary on the economy's troubles has swelled tremendously. Pundits have pontificated; journalists and editors have reported...","https://mises.org/library/six-fundamental-errors-current-orthodoxy" "Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XIX","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 1, 2008","[This Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XIX is also available in PDF.]CHAPTER XIX. THE RATE OF INTERESTCHAPTER SUMMARY1. The Phenomenon of InterestOriginary interest is the discount applied to future goods versus present goods, and is ultimately due to the universal phenomenon of time preference. As chapter XVIII demonstrated, people necessarily value present goods more than comparable future...","https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-chapter-xix" "Consumers Don't Cause Recessions","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","November 11, 2008","There's one saving grace about Paul Krugman's column at the New York Times: when an Austrian economist wants to explain how mainstream economics leads to ruin, he can always trust Krugman to set up the target in a clear, concise manner. This saves us a lot of work, because we don't have to first build up the position before knocking it down.Even the casual reader of the financial press knows that...","https://mises.org/library/consumers-dont-cause-recessions" "The Shameless, Blame-Shifting, Minneapolis Fed","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Daily Articles","July 21, 2009"," I recently received in the mail the 2008 Annual Report of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The title of the report is ""The Current Economic Crisis: What Should We Learn from the Great Depressions of the 20th Century?"" After reading the report, it is clear to me that either the Fed has learned almost nothing about 20th-century depressions or it is lying through its teeth in order to shift...","https://mises.org/library/shameless-blame-shifting-minneapolis-fed" "Obama's Antitrust Luddites","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Daily Articles","September 6, 2011"," The ""Luddites"" were early 19th-century British textile workers who protested the introduction of mechanized looms by destroying them and issuing proclamations denouncing the new technology in the name of the mythical ""King Ludd"" of Sherwood Forest. What the Luddites failed to understand — and what many neo-Luddites today fail to understand — is that ""labor-saving"" technology that reduces...","https://mises.org/library/obamas-antitrust-luddites" "Hard Green","Library Item","Tibor R. Machan","Mises Daily Articles","May 18, 2000","Bill McKibben, a virulent environmentalist, was given the job of reviewing Peter Huber's new, market friendly work on the environment, Hard Green:Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists (Basic Books, 1999), for The New York Review of Books. And he certainly has done his best to attempt to obliterate Huber's idea that perhaps environmentalists and their bureaucratic handmaiden aren't the...","https://mises.org/library/hard-green" "Something for Nothing — Courtesy of the Federal Reserve: Nevada's Been Betting on the Come","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","April 28, 2008","Las Vegas is a city built on the dream of getting something for nothing. But not only the tourists seek Lady Luck.Casinos, small businesses and governments have all planned and expanded, counting on the dream of easy money — namely, more money and expanded credit for everyone, courtesy of the Federal Reserve.During the past decade, ""Americans could reap without planting,"" financial author Bill...","https://mises.org/library/something-nothing-courtesy-federal-reserve-nevadas-been-betting-come" "Hot Commodities","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","January 18, 2005","Talk to any financial advisor or read a book about saving for retirement and the word diversification comes up time and time again. Diversify, diversify, and diversify. Like your mom told you: don't put all of your eggs in one basket.For too many people, diversification means putting a certain percentage of your money in stocks and the rest in bonds. But, what's a person to do when stocks are...","https://mises.org/library/hot-commodities" "Our Financial Reckoning","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","June 2, 2004","""The eternal sunshine of the spotless mind"" is where all bad things are forgotten. In this sanitized world all things will work out fine. For investors this means that just keep putting more money in mutual funds and you'll be rich.Bill Bonner told his audience at the Las Vegas Money Show last month that he had just titled his speech ""The eternal sunshine of the spotless mind"" five minutes before...","https://mises.org/library/our-financial-reckoning" "This Craziness Will End","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","June 2, 2009","[This talk was delivered at the Berry College Omicron Delta Epsilon installation dinner in Rome, Georgia, on April 2, 2009.] Studying economics over the last year or so is like an astronomer studying meteors during a dangerous meteor shower. You see dangers out there with some hits and many near misses, you understand them and see their seriousness, all the while the masses are either oblivious...","https://mises.org/library/craziness-will-end" "Pumped Up","Library Item","","Mises Daily Articles","September 17, 1998","Investor's Business DailySeptember 17, 1998Trouble In The U.S.?What goes up must come down. Asian economies have proved that old saying true. Some economists say the U.S. may soon show the same principle at work, too—for many of the same reasons. Are they right?""The great Asian boom of 1988-97 was doomed from the outset,"" wrote Jim Walker, head of the Credit Lyonnais Securities economic...","https://mises.org/library/pumped" "The Magnificence of Disposable Diapers","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","November 17, 2008","My son is almost three months old, so suffice it to say that my wife and I have spent a lot of time thinking about, purchasing, changing, and disposing of diapers. I was reassured when I read that, according to a British government study, the carbon footprint attributable to disposable diapers is markedly lower than the carbon footprint attributable to reusable diapers.This is not new information...","https://mises.org/library/magnificence-disposable-diapers" "Too Many or Too Few People?","Library Item","Dan McLaughlin","Mises Daily Articles","September 24, 2007","A news story I read recently is truly a keeper. A regional government in Russia has officially given couples time off from work to procreate. Not only that, they get a valuable prize if the baby is born on June 12. Dave Barry should have a field day with this one. It is a keeper, however, not only for its entertainment value, but also because it highlights the state of the world in less than...","https://mises.org/library/too-many-or-too-few-people" "Wooden Nickels and Steel Pennies","Library Item","Dan McLaughlin","Mises Daily Articles","June 18, 2008","""Don't take any wooden nickels"" was an admonition to be careful in your dealings because someone might try to pay you with worthless money. Wooden coins were actually used in trade in America in certain limited circumstances on a local level. A contemporary equivalent could be ""don't take any steel pennies."" The United States House Of Representatives has already passed a bill, HR 5512,...","https://mises.org/library/wooden-nickels-and-steel-pennies" "Make a Difference Day","Library Item","T. Norman Van Cott","Mises Daily Articles","December 21, 2004","""Make a Difference Day"" (also known as the ""National Day of Doing Good"") was on October 23. I confess to not knowing about the ""day"" until it was over. Nor did I know that it's been an annual event on the fourth Saturday in October since 1992. USA Weekend magazine, a Gannett Co., Inc. entity, and Points of Light Foundation co-sponsor the event.I learned about ""Make a Difference Day"" from an...","https://mises.org/library/make-difference-day" "Is Canada Dry?","Library Item","Harry Valentine","Mises Daily Articles","August 16, 2001","Canada has more fresh water than practically any other nation on the face of the earth. Yet Canada is in the midst of a summer drought. Parched brown fields are reported from coast to coast, and agricultural crops face devastation if the rains don't come soon. This is not the first summer, however, that Canadians have faced water shortages; it has been an ongoing event, occurring almost...","https://mises.org/library/canada-dry" "David Frum's Cognitive Dissonance","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","May 30, 2011"," David Frum recently accused modern Hayekians of not having a policy response to the recent economic crisis. According to Frum, Keynesians have the solutions that people want: namely, activist policies to restore demand and employment. Hayekians allegedly rail against the straw man of central planning. There are two problems with Frum's argument. First, J.M. Keynes did advocate central planning....","https://mises.org/library/david-frums-cognitive-dissonance" "Die Waiting","Library Item","Andy Barnett, William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","February 15, 1999","Former National Football League star Walter Payton has been stricken by a rare liver disease and needs a transplant in order to live. Unfortunately, the demand for available organs far outstrips the supply, and several thousand Americans this year will die waiting for those life-saving organs.When Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, authored by then Sen. Al Gore of...","https://mises.org/library/die-waiting" "What We Learn From a Play-Money Auction","Library Item","Bart Fuller","Mises Daily Articles","October 13, 2008"," If you want to get an idea of how this bailout bill is going to affect your family in the months and years to come, all you have to know is what took place at my nephew's party. My sister-in-law thought it would be fun to give away party prizes by having an auction with play money. I got to run the show. I had attended auctioneer school recently and needed the practice.A quick aside: The beauty...","https://mises.org/library/what-we-learn-play-money-auction" "Three Myths about Trash","Library Item","Floy Lilley","Mises Daily Articles","December 2, 2009","There are three things everybody knows when we talk trash:We know we're running out of landfill space;we know we're saving resources and protecting the environment by recycling; andwe know no one would recycle if they weren't forced to.Let's look at these three things we think we know. Are they real or are they rubbish?1. Are We Running Out of Landfill Space?Two events created the perfect garbage...","https://mises.org/library/three-myths-about-trash" "How the Free Market Works","Library Item","Daniel Krawisz","Mises Daily Articles","October 27, 2009","""Without the historical act of saving, which is now embodied in capital goods, there would be no economy at all.""In the great book Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard's vast compendium of economic wisdom, we read much that has not yet been properly popularized. Rothbard's production theory, for example, is quite different from the standard account. I have tried to distill this theory into the...","https://mises.org/library/how-free-market-works" "A Medical Proletariat","Library Item","Melchior Palyi","Mises Daily Articles","April 5, 2010","[Chapter 8, Compulsory Medical Care and the Welfare State (1950)]The doctors are, of course, the key figures of governmentalized medicine. The prime purpose is to procure their services and all that goes with them. Their honoraria alone, disregarding the dentists', constitute anywhere between nearly 50 percent (in Switzerland) and little more than 15 percent (in Britain) of the total cost. But...","https://mises.org/library/medical-proletariat" "Occupied by Government","Library Item","Rod Rojas","Mises Daily Articles","October 11, 2011","I have to say that I share most — if not all — the goals of the honest Left, which would be embodied in a constantly rising standard of living for the lowest economic classes. I often find myself watching Democracy Now for its antiwar, free-speech, and anti-death-penalty stances. But the big problem with the honest Left is their absolute and obstinate refusal to learn the most basic economic...","https://mises.org/library/occupied-government" "Capitalism at the Farm Stand","Library Item","Stefano R. Mugnaini","Mises Daily Articles","April 7, 2011","I laugh to myself every time I pull up to the little farm stand to pick up my weekly share from the Community Supported Agriculture program. I see a hilarious irony in the bumper stickers on the cars, proclaiming the social consciousness and leftist orientation of my fellow CSA members. I chuckle when I see the variety of reusable shopping bags, each proclaiming some message about how they're...","https://mises.org/library/capitalism-farm-stand" "The Right to National Bankruptcy","Library Item","Andrew Foy, MD","Mises Daily Articles","July 18, 2012","People like me who believe the government should play a less active role in subsidizing healthcare costs are often asked the question ""Do you believe healthcare is a basic human right?""While this is an important philosophical question to ponder, it often lends itself to unexamined answers and political demagoguery. The imprecise answer ""yes"" to this question by most governments around the world (...","https://mises.org/library/right-national-bankruptcy" "Privatize the Welfare State","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 1995","The Free Market 13, no. 1 (January 1995) The phrase ""End Welfare As We Know It"" is a classic Clinton evasion. It sounds bold and ""neoliberal"" at first, but on close examination it collapses into nothingness. Almost any change in a policy qualifies as ending it ""as we know it."" It could mean cuts. It could also mean more spending and redistribution. In either case, the bill-writing, policy-...","https://mises.org/library/privatize-welfare-state" "Burn Your House, Boost the Economy","Library Item","Lawrence Parks","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 1997","The Free Market 15, no. 10 (October 1997) As recently as 50 years ago, economists regarded the vitality of the economy as consonant with its ability to produce things people want (and would pay for). Today, the economy has been redefined into something called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. It measures all goods and services brought to market in a given year. But is it really an accurate...","https://mises.org/library/burn-your-house-boost-economy" "Mises on the Family","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Institute Publications","June 1, 1998","The Free Market 16, no. 6 (June 1998)G.K. Chesterton called the family an anarchistic institution. He meant that it requires no act of the state to bring it about. Its existence flows from fixed realities in the nature of man, with its form refined by the development of sexual norms and the advance of civilization.This observation is consistent with a brilliant discussion of the family in Ludwig...","https://mises.org/library/mises-family" "Privatization Boondoggle","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 1998","The Free Market 16, no. 7 (July 1998) When Clinton declared he would use budget surpluses to ""fix"" Social Security, the ruse was obvious. He was trying to forestall the only moral use of any surplus: cutting taxes. But a few days later, a very strange trend began to develop. Clintons words were endorsed and echoed by D.C. conservatives and libertarians.Beltway types began to say that, yes, all...","https://mises.org/library/privatization-boondoggle" "Government and the Genome","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 1, 1998","The Free Market 16, no. 9 (September 1998) Can government do a better job than private markets in any area of the economy? Consider: The tax-funded Human Genome Project, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, has been the toast of the scientific elite for nearly a decade. It held out the promise of mapping of the entire structure of DNA, which in turn would lead to unparalleled medical...","https://mises.org/library/government-and-genome" "Waiting for Transplants","Library Item","William L. Anderson, Andy Barnett","The Free Market, Institute Publications","April 1, 1999","The Free Market 17, no. 4 (April 1999) Former National Football League star Walter Payton has been stricken by a rare liver disease and needs a transplant in order to live. Unfortunately, the demand for available organs far outstrips the supply, and several thousand Americans this year will die waiting for those life-saving organs. When Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984,...","https://mises.org/library/waiting-transplants" "Bush's Education Plan","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","March 1, 2001","The Free Market 19, no. 3 (March 2001) A proper education reform would involve at least three steps. First, end all involvement in the issue by the federal government. Second, at the state level, end compulsory attendance laws that strike at the heart of individual and family freedom. Third, privatize the system so that users pay the going market price and nonusers are let off the hook. President...","https://mises.org/library/bushs-education-plan" "George Selgin Keeps Dancing Around the Facts","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","February 13, 2014","In his post a few days ago entitled “Don’t Ask George to Dance,” Bob Murphy referred to George Selgin’s “pugnacity” in denying that he is an Austrian. Now neither George’s pugnacity, nor his quintillionth public profession of his non-Austrianism, is sufficiently interesting to warrant comment. What does deserve comment, however, is George’s less than ingenuous explanation of why he is not an...","https://mises.org/wire/george-selgin-keeps-dancing-around-facts" " Why Lehman is Still a Mess","Wire","David Howden","","April 8, 2014","More than five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, economists are still searching to understand why it failed as badly as it did. By this I don’t mean why it went bankrupt – everyone is well aware that its exposure to the mortgage market coupled with a high degree of leverage (31:1 by 2007) meant that only a small loss on its vulnerable positions would eliminate all of its equity.The...","https://mises.org/wire/why-lehman-still-mess" "Thomas Piketty's Sensational New Book","Wire","Hunter Lewis","","April 23, 2014","This 42 year economist from French academe has written a hot new book: Capital in the Twenty-First Century. The US edition has been published by Harvard University Press and, remarkably, is leading the best seller list, the first time that a Harvard book has done so. A recent review describes Piketty as the man “who exposed capitalism’s fatal flaw.”So what is this flaw? Supposedly under...","https://mises.org/wire/thomas-pikettys-sensational-new-book" "Austrian Capital Theory and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes","Library Item","Mark Tovey","Mises Daily Articles","August 20, 2014","During an early scene of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, in which the hyper-intelligent apes were depicted hunting for deer in the forest surrounding their settlement, someone behind me interjected “if those apes are so smart, how come they’re hunter-gatherers?” While a decent question, he received nothing but a shush from his more etiquette-conscious companion for raising it. While there are...","https://mises.org/library/austrian-capital-theory-and-dawn-planet-apes" "Those Crafty Chinese","Wire","Robert Blumen","","September 11, 2003","Financial columnist Bill Bonner, a frequent critic of the world fiat money system, whacks recent efforts by the US government to get China to allow its currency to float. As Bonner has frequently opined, the dollar standard allows Americans to consume without producing and to spend without saving, by living at the expense of the rest of the world. Americans can do this because we pay with...","https://mises.org/wire/those-crafty-chinese" "Time Preference Confirmed","Wire","D.W. MacKenzie","","March 11, 2005","Among the critics of Austrian economics none is so close, yet so far, from being an Austrian as Bryan Caplan. In his latest effort to discredit Austrian Economics Bryan has taken on the idea of time preference. According to Bryan the idea that interest rates and intertemporal consumption decisions depend upon time preference is wrong. All one need to explain this is the notion of diminishing...","https://mises.org/wire/time-preference-confirmed" "Preface to the Polish Edition of Democracy - The God That Failed","Wire","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","","January 17, 2006","Here is my preface to the newly published Polish edition of Democracy--The God that Failed.In human history, for better or worse decisive turns in the course of events occur. The most recent of such turns was in 1989 with the implosion of communism all across central and eastern Europe. This had been predicted seventy years before by the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), a native...","https://mises.org/wire/preface-polish-edition-democracy-god-failed" "Betting California","Wire","George Reisman","","September 16, 2006","Earlier this month, the California Legislature and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to put up the economic future of their state's citizens as proof of what can perhaps best be called their personal ""good global citizenship."" In a move reminiscent of television's popular ""World Poker Tour,"" in which a player announces that he is ""all in,"" their new law mandates that by the year 2020,...","https://mises.org/wire/betting-california" "Cato's Pilon on the Ninth Amendment and Right to Lifesaving Drugs","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","August 10, 2007","In a recent WSJ op-ed, New Right to Life, Cato's Roger Pilon criticizes the recent decision of the Court of Appeals forthe D.C. Circuit, which ""reversed a 15-month-old decision by a panel of the court that had recognized a constitutional right of terminally ill patients to access potentially life-saving drugs not yet finally approved by the Food and Drug Administration."" The case is Abigail...","https://mises.org/wire/catos-pilon-ninth-amendment-and-right-lifesaving-drugs" "Last Knight Live Blog 17 Kraus","Wire","Lorenz Kraus","","January 4, 2008","Money and economic calculation in terms of money receipts and money outlays are indispensable elements in our daily economic lives. It is simply inconceivable to go about producing and consuming without using money and economic calculation in terms of money. The motivations of businessmen to invest in a new line or enlarge the existing line of production are determined by the difference between...","https://mises.org/wire/last-knight-live-blog-17-kraus" "Mises’s Contribution to Understanding Business Cycles","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","October 8, 2020","[From The Essential von Mises] Included in The Theory of Money and Credit were at least the rudiments of another magnificent accomplishment of Ludwig von Mises: the long-sought explanation for that mysterious and troubling economic phenomenon—the business cycle. Ever since the development of industry and the advanced market economy in the late eighteenth century, observers had noted that the...","https://mises.org/library/mises%E2%80%99s-contribution-understanding-business-cycles" "Austerity as Economic Liberation","Library Item","Peter St. Onge","Mises Daily Articles","October 30, 2014","George Soros is back in the news telling Germany who to bail out this week. Soros is especially sore at Germans for promoting austerity, so it’s a great time to ask: does austerity grow an economy?Why do we care? Investors want to know whether austerity is good or bad for an economy; whether it’s likely to boost growth or to hasten a recession. And for voters, it’s important to know whether it’s...","https://mises.org/library/austerity-economic-liberation" "Business Week Tries to Resurrect the Corpse of John Maynard Keynes","Wire","William L. Anderson","","October 31, 2014","Just when the current “discussion” on economics by public intellectuals like Paul Krugman hits bottom, Business Week decides to dig the hole even deeper by lionizing John Maynard Keynes. Keynes, according to BW, had the theories that can “fix” the currently moribund world economy.There is a doctor in the house, and his prescriptions are more relevant than ever. True, he’s been dead since 1946....","https://mises.org/wire/business-week-tries-resurrect-corpse-john-maynard-keynes" "5. The Fallacies of Positivism","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books, PDF Texts","February 18, 2015","Consistently aiming at an improvement of the conditions under which men have to live, the nations of Western and Central Europe and their scions settled in overseas territories have succeeded in developing what is called —and more often smeared as—Western bourgeois civilization. Its foundation is the economic system of capitalism, the political corollary of which is representative government and...","https://mises.org/5-fallacies-positivism" "Citi Economist: Time to Abolish Cash ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 16, 2015","We often focus on the fact that abolishing cash abolishes the last remnants of financial privacy. But of course, abolishing cash also increases the Fed's ability to manipulate the economy with negative interest rates. Bloomberg reports that Citi Economist Willem Buiter has called for the end of paper currency based on the benefits such action would bring to central banks. Specifically, the...","https://mises.org/wire/citi-economist-time-abolish-cash" "Letter opposing Fed policies","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","November 15, 2010","Concerning the letter from economists protesting the Fed’s QE2, perhaps the details of monetary policy have been the subject of this level of public debate before, but I don’t recall it personally. At the same time, I’ve never heard of a Fed governor who was so open about his plan to inflate the money supply. It was almost as if he wanted to generate inflation expectations and play off market...","https://mises.org/wire/letter-opposing-fed-policies" "What That Jobs Report Might Really Mean","Wire","Dan Sanchez","","December 5, 2009","This post is one in a series entitled Posthumous Refutations. Previously in this series: Cash for Cranks.Here is a statement release from Christina Roemer, quick to take today's employment report as......the most hopeful sign yet that the stabilization of financial markets and the recovery in economic growth may be leading to improvements in the labor market. (...)There are many bumps in the road...","https://mises.org/wire/what-jobs-report-might-really-mean" "Against Net Neutrality","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","December 20, 2010","As a recent column in the Wall Street Journal reminds us, online freedom is jeopardized in the name of “net neutrality” (The FCC’s Threat to Internet Freedom). This is just another case of the state re-labeling things to sound benign but that are really invasions of liberty and property rights–another good example being use of the term “intellectual property” to masque the true nature of state-...","https://mises.org/wire/against-net-neutrality" "Austrian Bailout Package Revised","Wire","Mark Thornton","","October 2, 2008","Austrian Bailout Package—Part A RevisedThe idea of my initial proposal was to ""throw something onto the table"" and see what the reaction would be. This revision throws out a couple of items, revises others, and tries to provide a brief explanation for the eight points of the plan. I would like to thank everyone for all their comments and suggestions, especially Jeff Scott. Keep your comments and...","https://mises.org/wire/austrian-bailout-package-revised" "9. Joint-Stock Companies and the Producers’ Loan Market","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","We are now ready to embark on an analysis of the effect of joint-stock companies on the producers’ loan market.Let us take the aforementioned firm with a total capital stock and capital value of 130 ounces and owned by six stockholders. The firm earns a net income of 5 percent per year for its owners, and this is the interest rate earned by all the firms in the economy.We have already seen how...","https://mises.org/9-joint-stock-companies-and-producers-loan-market" "Intellectual Monopoly is an Unnecessary Evil","Wire","Art Carden","","May 25, 2009","In a rush to stimulate the economy, the Obama administration is touting various “visionary” plans to make the American economy more progressive, more innovative, and more forward-looking by subsidizing politically-motivated projects like “green” technology. These hands-on policies will be ineffective. Recent research suggests that a much more effective way to accomplish the same goals would be to...","https://mises.org/wire/intellectual-monopoly-unnecessary-evil" "Mini-Review: Where Keynes Went Wrong","Wire","Robert Blumen","","September 12, 2009","I’ve just finished Hunter Lewis’ new book Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles and Busts link here (scroll down to bottom).The biggest surprise of the book is that it is thoroughly Austrian. The author draws upon Mises, Hayek, Rothbard, Resiman, Hutt, Rueff, and other thinkers in this tradition who have been most critical of Keynes. Lewis says that...","https://mises.org/wire/mini-review-where-keynes-went-wrong" "The Trinity is Complete","Wire","Dan Sanchez","","December 16, 2009","“We Need a Housing Bubble” Krugman got a Nobel in Economics. “Let’s Ramp Up a Murderous, Useless War” Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize. So what do we give Helicopter Ben Bernanke, who has squandered much of whatever capital we had left after the housing bubble burst by pushing interest rates down to zero, and guaranteed (just wait for it) the worst depression in American history? Make him Time...","https://mises.org/wire/trinity-complete" "Puerto Rico's Default and the Role of the Central Bank's War on Savers ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 5, 2015","The Puerto Rican government has defaulted on its debt. USNews reports: Puerto Rico failed to meet a $58 million debt repayment deadline Monday, triggering one of the most significant municipal bond defaults in U.S. history.The U.S. territory managed to round up about $628,000 to make a partial interest payment to bondholders, according to The Wall Street Journal, but Puerto Rico's government did...","https://mises.org/wire/puerto-ricos-default-and-role-central-banks-war-savers" "Uncle Sam empties the barn","Wire","Jim Fedako","","February 28, 2009","The nature of man being what it is, the desire for fun and leisure is limitless. After a hard week of working and saving, Friday night is enough reason to open the barn door for music and celebration.Farmer Bob woke Monday to face another week of reaping that which he had sown. He knows the routine: out to the fields in the morning for a long day of labor. Each evening, he returns to his barn and...","https://mises.org/wire/uncle-sam-empties-barn" "Jim Grant: 'We Have ... Artificial Prices Worldwide'","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 24, 2015","In this interview, Jim Grant nicely sums in a few minutes the basic problem of using asset price inflation in pursuit of economic enterprise. The problem is this strategy puts the cart before the horse.“[There is] one essential monetary idea [in this world]. That idea is that central banks can and should manipulate – override – the price mechanism… I think this idea is a worldwide idea, but it...","https://mises.org/wire/jim-grant-we-have-artificial-prices-worldwide" "College Towns Join the Mania: The Skyscraper Curse in Auburn","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Wire","September 2, 2015","The “Skyscraper Curse” describes the eerie connection between record-breaking skyscrapers and global economic crises. There are no true skyscrapers being built in Auburn, Alabama, home of Auburn University. But, there has been a great deal of building big and tall.Luxury student apartment building leads the way, followed by high-end restaurants, and retail space. Two student apartment buildings...","https://mises.org/library/college-towns-join-mania-skyscraper-curse-auburn" "Peronists Lose in Argentina after 12 Years of Populist Rule","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","November 23, 2015","The Peronists lost in Argentina after 12 years of populist rule, as voters, in a close election, opted for the economically liberal candidate who, according to USA Today, ""promised to reduce the state's role in the economy and embrace more pro-business policies."" ""Pro-business"" is most definitely not the same as being ""pro-market,"" but we'll see how Mauricio Macri, the new president, proposes to...","https://mises.org/wire/peronists-lose-argentina-after-12-years-populist-rule" "Technology and Government Shouldn't Mix","Library Item","Benjamin M. Wiegold","Mises Wire","December 17, 2015","We live in a time like never before in human history. Our scientific knowledge and technological capabilities are rapidly advancing, affecting nearly every aspect of human life. Examples are rife, from smart phones and robotics, to thought-controlled prosthetics, wireless power, even force fields. Countless others that sounded like science fiction a few years ago don’t even deserve mention today...","https://mises.org/library/technology-and-government-shouldnt-mix" "Chapter 21: Anatomy of a Bank Run","Online Text Chapter","Joseph T. Salerno, Matthew McCaffrey","Books","March 1, 2016","It was a scene familiar to any nostalgia buff: all-night lines waiting for the banks (first in Ohio, then in Maryland) to open; pompous but mendacious assurances by the bankers that all is well and that the people should go home; a stubborn insistence by depositors to get their money out; and the consequent closing of the banks by government, while at the same time the banks were permitted to...","https://mises.org/chapter-21-anatomy-bank-run" "Anatomy of a Bank Run","Wire","Murray N. Rothbard","","March 7, 2016","[Reprinted from The Free Market (September 1985). Included in The Rothbard Reader.]It was a scene familiar to any nostalgia buff: all-night lines waiting for the banks (first in Ohio, then in Maryland) to open; pompous but mendacious assurances by the bankers that all is well and that the people should go home; a stubborn insistence by depositors to get their money out; and the consequent closing...","https://mises.org/wire/anatomy-bank-run" "How to Cure Poverty","Wire","Henry Hazlitt","","December 28, 2017","[Published January 27, 1964 in Newsweek. Excerpted from Business Tides: The Newsweek Era of Henry Hazlitt]President Johnson has declared an “all-out war on human poverty.” It is a laudable aim. It has, in fact, been the aim of rulers, statesmen, economists, reformers, religious leaders — of every man of goodwill — from time immemorial. It is an aim shared by all free-enterprise economists since...","https://mises.org/wire/how-cure-poverty" "How the State Worsens Economic Inequality ","Wire","Philipp Bagus","","July 12, 2016","Thomas Piketty´s book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, on growing inequality in capitalism, has become a bestseller. Piketty offers much data claiming that inequality is rising and draws the conclusion that the state should fix that ‘problem’ with additional taxes on the rich.It is true that the distance between the ‘super rich’ and the rest of the population has been increasing in recent...","https://mises.org/wire/how-state-worsens-economic-inequality" "Can Technology Prevent a Recession?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 23, 2017","The world has come a long way since the heady days before the Great Depression of the 1930s. Technology, for one thing, has meant vast changes to our way of life and indeed to significant improvements in our economic productivity. Indeed, it is sometimes argued that these technological advances now make us depression-proof.Of course, the same line of reasoning — vast improvements in technology...","https://mises.org/wire/can-technology-prevent-recession" "Why Special Interests Sacrifice the Future for Short-Term Gain ","Wire","Gary Galles","","April 2, 2017","The special interests that dominate politics dominates to produce a form of economic warfare. The more some can manipulate the political machinery, the more they can feather their own nests. They even use similar propaganda techniques.In wartime, we are always defined as the good guys, ennobled by our moral cause. ""They"" are the bad guys, to be demeaned and dehumanized, so few will be bothered by...","https://mises.org/wire/why-special-interests-sacrifice-future-short-term-gain" "The Next Step in Europe's Negative-Interest-Rate Experiment","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","April 5, 2017","The European Central Bank (ECB) pushed its deposit rate to minus 0.4 percent in April 2016: Since then, euro area banks must pay 0.4 percent per annum on their excess reserves held at ECB accounts. This, in turn, has far-reaching consequences. To start with, banks seek to evade this ""penalty rate,"" especially by buying government bonds. That inevitably pushes bond prices up and lowers bond yields...","https://mises.org/wire/next-step-europes-negative-interest-rate-experiment" "Why Socialism Promotes ""Free Love"" Over Family","Wire","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","","May 12, 2017","G.K. Chesterton called the family an anarchistic institution. He meant that it requires no act of the state to bring it about. Its existence flows from fixed realities in the nature of man, with its form refined by the development of sexual norms and the advance of civilization.This observation is consistent with a brilliant discussion of the family in Ludwig von Mises's masterwork Socialism,...","https://mises.org/wire/why-socialism-promotes-free-love-over-family" "Republican Healthcare Plan Fails the ""Jimmy Kimmel Test""","Wire","Ron Paul","","June 26, 2017","This week the Senate Republican leadership unveiled its Obamacare replacement plan. Like its House counterpart, the misnamed Senate plan retains most of Obamacare's core features.Both the House and Senate plans allow states to obtain waivers providing relief from some Obamacare mandates, although the waivers in both bills are too restrictive to be of much value. For example, the Senate's bill...","https://mises.org/wire/republican-healthcare-plan-fails-jimmy-kimmel-test" "Crisis or Stagnation: Why China Cannot Deleverage","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","October 26, 2017","The latest figures of the Chinese economy show a third quarter GDP growth of 6.8%, suspiciously in line with the government mandate and consensus estimates. However, it is not the top line that worries me. It is the evidence of debt saturation and diminishing returns of the central-planned model.Chinese total debt has surpassed 300%. In the first nine months of the year, money supply has...","https://mises.org/wire/crisis-or-stagnation-why-china-cannot-deleverage" "Paul Volcker Looks Pretty Good Right about Now","Power & Market","Jeff Deist","","October 31, 2017","With Trump poised to announce his pick for Fed Chair on Thursday, former Fed boss Paul Volcker quietly announced the forthcoming publication of his memoirs. Hopefully we will be spared a shamelessly self-serving title like Bernanke's The Courage to Act. But in contrast to the fanfare surrounding post-retirement books by Alan Greenspan and Bernanke, Volcker's offering likely won't resonate with...","https://mises.org/power-market/paul-volcker-looks-pretty-good-right-about-now" "Profit and Charity Are Not Mutually Exclusive","Wire","Christopher Westley","","January 29, 2018","What does Larry Fink have against profit? Fink is the CEO of the mega investment firm BlackRock, and in an open letter to CEOs earlier this month he calls for a ramping up of social investing and social management of corporate America.That these firms might exist to earn profits is left unstated. Meanwhile, one reading Fink might conclude BlackRock believes businesses exist to (a) fight low wage...","https://mises.org/wire/profit-and-charity-are-not-mutually-exclusive" "The NFL and the Problem with Government Safety Mandates","Wire","Curtis Williams","","February 2, 2018","This Sunday the New England Patriots will look to defend their title against the Philadelphia Eagles in one of the world’s largest sporting events: the Superbowl. A large part of what fuels football’s incredible popularity is the excitement and brutality of the on-field contact. Yet this contact is not without cost. Widespread concern regarding player health has plagued the NFL for many years....","https://mises.org/wire/nfl-and-problem-government-safety-mandates" "Fake Women and Phony Interest Rates","Wire","Doug French","","February 15, 2018","While the world stresses about #metoo, Trump’s tweets, and other cultural nonsense, the latest Grant’s Interest Rate Observer is blunt about “the most consequential prices in capitalism — interest rates…” Rates are “stuck under the bureaucratic thumb.” There is no mystery or debate, “It’s as plain as meatloaf that something is wrong with credit.”Mario Draghi has pushed rates in Europe into the...","https://mises.org/wire/fake-women-and-phony-interest-rates" "Trump's Tariffs, Fannie's Funding: How High Can Rents Climb?","Wire","Doug French","","February 27, 2018","Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is recommending “a 24 percent tariff on all steel imports from all countries,” the NY Times reports. Ana Swanson writes that the tariffs, “are aimed at saving American steel and aluminum producers, who have struggled to compete with a flood of cheap metals from abroad, particularly from China.”Ironically, Diana Olick reports for CNBC, in a piece about multi-...","https://mises.org/wire/trumps-tariffs-fannies-funding-how-high-can-rents-climb" "Inflationary Double-Talk","Wire","Henry Hazlitt","","July 5, 2018","[Newsweek column from May 26, 1952, and reprinted in Business Tides: The Newsweek Era of Henry Hazlitt.] At his press conference on May 8, Mr. Truman, asked whether the chief danger was inflation or deflation, replied that the country had to guard against both: and that was why it was necessary to have control powers — to prevent either one. There is nothing new in this Scylla and Charybdis...","https://mises.org/wire/inflationary-double-talk" "Bring Back Interest Rates!","Power & Market","Jeff Deist","","April 17, 2018","Let interest rates rise. Better yet, let interest rates function in the marketplace, wholly independent of central bank attempts at rate-setting or targeting.How? Not through a laughably small and slow process of Fed tapering, but through a wholesale and aggressive selloff of assets still polluting the Fed's balance sheet since it began aggressively those assets from commercial bank in 2008. ...","https://mises.org/power-market/bring-back-interest-rates" "Napolitano: The Feds Violate their Own Laws (and the Constitution) with Border Separations","Wire","Matthew McCaffrey","","June 27, 2018","In the controversy surrounding Trump’s immigration policy—particularly the practice of separating the children of immigrants from their parents—one claim is made repeatedly by his supporters: immigrants have no right to complain about the treatment they or their children receive, because they’ve broken the law. Surprisingly, this assertion is made even by self-described libertarians. Yet setting...","https://mises.org/wire/napolitano-feds-violate-their-own-laws-and-constitution-border-separations" "Elderly Homeowner Calls 911: Police Then Kill Him","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","August 6, 2018","When a naked intruder broke into the Aurora, Colorado home of Richard Black in the middle of the night , the intruder began violently attacking Black's 11-year-old grandson. Black quickly armed himself with a gun, and shot the intruder dead, possibly saving the life of his grandson, who was hospitalized after the attack. And then the Aurora Police Department showed up and shot Black dead. The...","https://mises.org/power-market/elderly-homeowner-calls-911-police-then-kill-him" "Civility and Political Debate","Power & Market","Gary Galles","","September 5, 2018","The 2016 campaign set a new standard for interruptions and other crimes against civility by candidates. The primaries were full of such rudeness, particularly the Republican free-for-alls. The presidential debates provided additional examples. Even the vice-presidential debate was described by one pundit as an “interruptionfest.” One side would call such interruptions beyond-the-pale rudeness...","https://mises.org/power-market/civility-and-political-debate" "Can Renewable Energy Compete in a World of Rising Interest Rates? ","Power & Market","Tho Bishop","","December 19, 2018","The role of gas taxes in sparking the recent Yellow Vest protests in France pushed the political climate change agenda back into the spotlight. Less talked about is the growing global interest in coal power plants around the world, including by countries such as Japan, South Korea, China, Turkey, and Australia. This is in spite of repeated assertions from ""experts"" that coal was a dying industry ...","https://mises.org/power-market/can-renewable-energy-compete-world-rising-interest-rates" "Why Modern Economics' Fixation with ""Efficiency"" Is Dangerous","Wire","Per Bylund","","July 5, 2019","What does an economy do? Modern economics suggests it is about [production] efficiency, and develops models for assessing the degree to which it is achieved and predicting outcomes assuming it. This is a fundamental misunderstanding that, when scratching on the surface, clearly is as impossible as it is undesirable. Economy is about value creation: about getting more out of less. Efficiency is...","https://mises.org/wire/why-modern-economics-fixation-efficiency-dangerous" "Real Savings Are the Key for Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 22, 2019","As long as the pool of real wealth is expanding, easy monetary policy will appear to “work,” and loose monetary policy is likely to be incorrectly held as generating economic growth. Once, however, the pool becomes stagnant or starts declining, the “music stops” and no amount of central bank monetary pumping is going to “work.” On the contrary, the more aggressive the central bank’s stance in...","https://mises.org/wire/real-savings-are-key-economic-growth" "Argentina’s ""Emergency Law"" Just Means More of the Same","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","January 25, 2020","The so-called Economic Emergency Law announced by the new government in Argentina is simply another massive set of tariffs and burdens on the private sector to finance the bloated public expenditure in a country where confiscatory monetary and fiscal policy is the norm. What is the major problem with the recent Economic Emergency Law? That it does not address the country’s massive monetary and...","https://mises.org/wire/argentinas-emergency-law-just-means-more-same" "Danish State Plans to Pay the Salaries of Private Sector Workers","Wire","Aayush Priyank","","April 13, 2020","The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has halted economies across the globe. With various countries on lockdown and companies unable to continue production, an economic downturn is inevitable. In light of this, the government of Denmark has come up with a strategy to avoid recession—paying 75 percent of private employees’ salaries. As long as companies do not fire people, the government is offering...","https://mises.org/wire/danish-state-plans-pay-salaries-private-sector-workers" "What If the Lockdown Was All a Big Mistake?","Power & Market","Ron Paul","","April 20, 2020","From California to New Jersey, Americans are protesting in the streets. They are demanding an end to house arrest orders given by government officials over a virus outbreak that even according to the latest US government numbers will claim fewer lives than the seasonal flu outbreak of 2017–18. Across the US, millions of businesses have been shut down by “executive order” and the unemployment rate...","https://mises.org/power-market/what-if-lockdown-was-all-big-mistake" "Three Ways to Speed Recovery from the Economic Crisis","Wire","Victor Espinosa, Ignacio Bustamante, Esteban Viani, Andrés Bruzzone","","April 30, 2020","Fostering a speedy recovery from the current economic crisis in Chile depends on freeing up entrepreneurs and others to act freely and create wealth in the marketplace. This will depend on lessening regulatory burdens, controlling public spending, and lowering taxes. Understanding the Austrian school view of economic action and entrepreneurship holds the key to understanding the way out of the...","https://mises.org/wire/three-ways-speed-recovery-economic-crisis" "How Words Like ""Essential"" and ""Need"" Are Abused by Politicians","Wire","Gary Galles","","May 18, 2020","Over the years, one of the most common trump cards used to justify government treating people differently, rather than equally, has been the word need. And when used to override individuals’ ownership of themselves and what they produce, its usage has created confusion rather than clarity. In public discussion, “need” has increasingly morphed into one of its synonyms—essential, as in “essential...","https://mises.org/wire/how-words-essential-and-need-are-abused-politicians" "Don’t Forget about the TALF!","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","May 15, 2020","Does anyone remember, during the last financial crisis, the “evil bankers” who almost collapsed the entire financial system? Then, in order to save the world, the Fed provided loans and bailouts to those same bankers? Considering the relatively “small size” of the TALF (Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility) and how most living on main street are not in the business of granting loans, it...","https://mises.org/power-market/dont-forget-about-talf" """Pent-Up Demand"" Won't Save Us from Economic Destruction","Power & Market","Harley Dalton","","June 3, 2020","In responding to the coronavirus threat, governments around the world have committed themselves to a series of harmful and largely unnecessary policies which are likely to plunge the world into a prolonged economic depression. In the UK, the effect of our lockdown has been severe, with thousands of businesses, millions of jobs, and billions in GDP simply wiped out of existence. The consequences...","https://mises.org/power-market/pent-demand-wont-save-us-economic-destruction" "The Only Long-Term Solution to a Bust Is to Rebuild Savings","Wire","Frank Shostak","","July 25, 2020","Once an economy falls into a recession some commentators express concern that as a result there is now nonutilized capital and labor. Resources that can be used are now made unemployed. It is held that the key issue behind this is insufficient demand for goods and services. Once it is accepted that the key factor is insufficient demand, these commentators are of the view that what is required is...","https://mises.org/wire/only-long-term-solution-bust-rebuild-savings" "Bankruptcies Rise Despite Trillions in New Liquidity","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","September 7, 2020","Misguided lockdowns have destroyed the global economy and the impact is likely to last for years. The fallacy of the “lives or the economy” argument is evident now that we see that countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Austria, Sweden, and Holland have been able to preserve the business fabric and the economy while doing a much better job managing the pandemic than countries with severe lockdowns....","https://mises.org/wire/bankruptcies-rise-despite-trillions-new-liquidity" "Why ""Taxing the Rich"" Doesn't Make Us Better Off","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","September 28, 2020","The complete confiscation of all private property is tantamount to the introduction of socialism. Therefore we do not have to deal with it in an analysis of the problems of interventionism. We are concerned here only with the partial confiscation of property. Such confiscation is today attempted primarily by taxation. The ideological motivations of such action are immaterial. The only question of...","https://mises.org/wire/why-taxing-rich-doesnt-make-us-better" "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité…For Some","Wire","David Howden","","December 31, 2015","[Originally published September 2013, by Mises Canada.] The French revolution promised liberté, égalité, fraternité for its citizens. The present situation is somewhat different. Nowhere is this more apparent than in tax treatment. The Socialist government of François Hollande was elected over a year ago amidst an economic plan that would see public spending rise to fund social programs. The...","https://mises.org/wire/liberte-egalite-fraternitefor-some" "A Clash about Morality in Wartime","Wire","David Gordon","","December 11, 2020","Two of the leading British moral philosophers in the years after the end of World War II clashed about America’s dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and their clash has much to teach us about the principles that should govern a free society. The two thinkers are R.M. Hare and Elizabeth Anscombe. I’ll start with Hare because his way of looking at moral decisions is one many people...","https://mises.org/wire/clash-about-morality-wartime" "Rich Millennials Plot the End of Civilization","Wire","Doug French","","December 22, 2020","The New York Times managed to find some young people whose silver spoons provide a sour taste in their mouths. To hear them talk, their good fortune is making them sick. “I want to build a world where someone like me, a young person who controls tens of millions of dollars, is impossible,” Sam Jacobs, 25, told the Times. Jacobs went off to college a normal young man and came back a socialist....","https://mises.org/wire/rich-millennials-plot-end-civilization" "$900 Billion More Dollars: Coming Soon!","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","December 21, 2020","A Sunday night surprise came just in time for the holidays! Congress finally agreed to a $900 billion “COVID Stimulus Deal” as reported by news agencies across the country. Per CNBC, the bill will: send new federal assistance to households, small businesses and health-care providers for the first time in months and fund the government through Sept. 30. It’s worth noting how this is presented: $...","https://mises.org/power-market/900-billion-more-dollars-coming-soon-1" "A Clash about Morality in Wartime","Library Item","David Gordon","Friday Philosophy, Institute Publications","December 11, 2020","Two of the leading British moral philosophers in the years after the end of World War II clashed about America’s dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and their clash has much to teach us about the principles that should govern a free society. The two thinkers are R.M. Hare and Elizabeth Anscombe. I’ll start with Hare because his way of looking at moral decisions is one many people...","https://mises.org/library/clash-about-morality-wartime" "Fighting Totalitarianism: Rothbard versus Monasticism","Wire","Michael Rectenwald","","March 4, 2021","I have been quite explicit that what we are now dealing with under the covid response, woke ideology, cancel culture, Big Tech censorship, nonstop media propaganda and gaslighting, an armed and barricaded capitol, a Democratic-controlled government set on giving away money and allowing unfettered immigration, the abrogation of religious expression and association, the forcing of perverse values...","https://mises.org/wire/fighting-totalitarianism-rothbard-versus-monasticism" "The Fed’s Annual Audit Is a Long Way from Real Transparency","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","March 30, 2021","The notion of “Auditing the Fed'' has been around for awhile. Technically, the Federal Reserve is audited. On Tuesday, with little to no fanfare nor media coverage, there was a press release announcing the completion of the 2020 Audited Financial Statements. Digging deeper, each of the 12 Reserve Banks received their own independent audit. But the most important one is the “Combined Federal...","https://mises.org/power-market/feds-annual-audit-long-way-real-transparency" "Economic Cannibalism Will Not Save Mexico, or Any Other Country","Wire","Antón Chamberlin","","May 29, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. For many a sign of a modern economy—and for those who know better, a cause of grief—Mexico’s peso comes from the country’s central bank, el Banco de México (the Bank of Mexico). Banxico, as it is often abbreviated, will have a new governor by the end of the year. Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Mexico’s president, announced last Friday...","https://mises.org/wire/economic-cannibalism-will-not-save-mexico-or-any-other-country" "Is the Subjectivist Theory of Value Ideological?","Library Item","David Gordon","Friday Philosophy, Institute Publications","June 11, 2021","According to Marxists, the subjective theory of value is just bourgeois apologetics. By using the subjective theory, economists conceal the fact that the proletariat under capitalism is exploited. The labor theory of value shows that labor is the source of all surplus commodity value not accounted for by the cost of production of a commodity. The refutation of the labor theory of value isn’t our...","https://mises.org/library/subjectivist-theory-value-ideological" "In Defense of the Speculator","Wire","Walter Block","","September 18, 2021","Originally published by American Thinker. In the view of most economic illiterates, speculators do not bake bread; they do not supply medicines; they are AWOL when it comes to working on the shop floor; they don't teach math or the cello. They are thus parasites on others who do supply such needed everyday goods and services. Here's a real-life quote from someone who really ought to know better...","https://mises.org/wire/defense-speculator" "The Pandemic War Analogy: Turning Natural Disaster into Violent Civil Conflict","Power & Market","Michel Accad, MD","","September 15, 2021","The main reason we are seemingly so accepting of lockdowns and vaccine mandates is that we have been conditioned to view a pandemic or an epidemic as a war being waged on our society. In wartime we naturally expect civil liberties to be suspended. Likewise, the reasoning goes, during a pandemic we need to act in a unified way under some central command to fight this viral existential threat....","https://mises.org/power-market/pandemic-war-analogy-turning-natural-disaster-violent-civil-conflict" "A Central Banker Discusses Data Manipulation","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","October 25, 2021","It's not often that a member of the Federal Reserve’s inner circle ditches Fedspeak in favor of something more honest. Governor Christopher J. Waller did exactly that, in his speech titled: The Economic Outlook and a Cautionary Tale on “Idiosyncratic” Price Changes and Inflation, where the latest addition to the Fed’s Board talked about manipulation of (price) inflation data. He raises some...","https://mises.org/power-market/central-banker-discusses-data-manipulation" "The US Misery Index Shows How Weak This Recovery Is","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","November 29, 2021","United States consumer confidence has plummeted to a decade-low in November. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 66.8 in November, down sharply from the October figure of 71.7 and well below consensus forecasts of 72.4. Inflation is hurting consumers and the impact on daily purchases is more severe than what the Federal Reserve and consensus estimates may want to believe...","https://mises.org/wire/us-misery-index-shows-how-weak-recovery" "Will You Buy the Dip?","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","March 25, 2022","March 23, 2020 was one of the greatest stock market buying opportunities of all-time. CNBC gives an account of the event: The S&P 500 would not bottom until March 23, a week later. From the Feb. 19, 2020, high to the March 23 bottom, the S&P would decline about 34%. Five months later, as if moved by some Miraculous Monetary Technique: Then, almost as quickly, the market reversed. By...","https://mises.org/power-market/will-you-buy-dip" "Alabama Passes Sound Money Law, Expands Sales Tax Exemption Involving Gold and Silver","Power & Market","Jp Cortez","","April 16, 2022","With Governor Kay Ivey’s signature on sound money legislation today, Alabama has become the second state this year to expand its sales tax exemption involving gold and silver. Alabama Senate Bill 13, championed by Sen. Tim Melson and Rep. Jamie Kiel, passed with unanimous support out of the Alabama Senate and then passed unanimously through the Alabama House before making it to the governor’s...","https://mises.org/power-market/alabama-passes-sound-money-law-expands-sales-tax-exemption-involving-gold-and-silver" "Inflation Takings Require Just Compensation: Slash Governments!","Wire","James Anthony","","July 27, 2022","“If you don't expect too much from meYou might not be let down.” — Gin Blossoms, “Hey Jealousy” Inflation is a mechanism that government people use to fund wars, tyrannical governments, and favors to cronies. Inflation takes away significant fractions of the real value of savings. Savings are accumulated slowly. People add value, earn income, and defer purchases. Inflation depletes savings’ real...","https://mises.org/wire/inflation-takings-require-just-compensation-slash-governments" "Second Thoughts on the Circular Flow Diagram","Power & Market","John Foster","","October 17, 2022","The Circular Flow Diagram has dominated economic thought for over a century. Yet, all along we’ve known its shortcomings: over-aggregation, static capital, instantaneous production, and homogeneous factors. It places consumption before production and supports a fantasy macro world where saving is destructive, deficits don’t matter, and MMT makes sense. But the economy is just too complex to...","https://mises.org/power-market/second-thoughts-circular-flow-diagram" "Still Waiting for the Dip","Power & Market","Robert Aro","","October 31, 2022","Seven months ago I published the article: Will You Buy the Dip? I concluded: Whether it’s this year, the next, or some time beyond, there will be an event, such as the return of COVID, WW3, the next Lehman Brothers, anything really, to blame for the next stock market crash. Eventually, the Fed will find a reason to officially re-enter the market. Telling readers (free of charge): They will not...","https://mises.org/power-market/still-waiting-dip" "Tax Cuts Do Not Cause Inflation. Printing Does.","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","December 13, 2022","The narrative to attack any tax cut and defend any increase in government size is reaching feverish levels. However, we must continue to remind citizens that constantly bloating government spending and increasing the size of monetary interventions are some of the causes of the widespread impoverishment of the middle class. Constantly increasing taxes and diminishing the purchasing power of the...","https://mises.org/wire/tax-cuts-do-not-cause-inflation-printing-does" "Why Central Banks Will Choose Recession Over Inflation","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","December 17, 2022","While many market participants are concerned about rate increases, they appear to be ignoring the largest risk: the potential for a massive liquidity drain in 2023. Even though December is here, central banks’ balance sheets have hardly, if at all, decreased. Rather than real sales, a weaker currency and the price of the accumulated bonds account for the majority of the fall in the balance sheets...","https://mises.org/wire/why-central-banks-will-choose-recession-over-inflation" "Gold Is Money: Everything Else Is Credit","Power & Market","Claudio Grass","","December 14, 2022","Throughout the better part of 2022 there has been one question that has consistently, and predictably, popped up in conversations with my friends, clients and readers. Those who know me and are familiar with my ideas are well aware of my position on precious metals and the multiple roles they serve, so I can’t blame them for them for being curious whether I still “stick to my guns” in this era of...","https://mises.org/power-market/gold-money-everything-else-credit" "The Government Throws Money at Heart Disease, but Prevention Is Better than Cure","Wire","Antony Sammeroff","","January 14, 2023","You’re more likely to die of heart disease than anything else, partly because, well, if nothing else gets you, your heart will give out. And a heart attack could cost you upwards of $760,000 these days, when you consider hospital charges, prescription drugs, additional care for the rest of your life, and then indirect costs like loss of time at work. Up to 80 percent of premature heart disease...","https://mises.org/wire/government-throws-money-heart-disease-prevention-better-cure" "Fiat Money Inflation Not Only Raises Prices but Also Undermines Division of Labor","Wire","Doug French","","January 20, 2023","The line for the self-checkout registers at my neighborhood Albertsons stretched into the store’s produce section. Is this human progress? I wondered, scanning my groceries—this just after I had filled my car’s gas tank at a not-so-convenient convenience store near work. Not long ago, someone not only pumped your gas and cleaned your windshield but also checked your oil and tire pressure while...","https://mises.org/wire/fiat-money-inflation-not-only-raises-prices-also-undermines-division-labor" "Wyoming Senate Votes to Hold, Invest, and Receive Tax Payments in Gold and Silver","Power & Market","Jp Cortez","","February 2, 2023","The Wyoming State Senate today voted 16-15, on a bipartisan basis, to pass a bill prompting the Wyoming state treasurer to hold gold and silver “specie” to protect the state – as well as establish a process to receive certain tax payments in specie. Introduced by Senator Bob Ide (R-Casper), SF 101 amends and further implements the Wyoming Legal Tender Act, a popular 2018 law that had removed all...","https://mises.org/power-market/wyoming-senate-votes-hold-invest-and-receive-tax-payments-gold-and-silver" "Legislators Seek Repeal of Wisconsin’s Controversial Sales Tax on Gold and Silver","Power & Market","Jp Cortez","","February 6, 2023","A large bipartisan contingent of Wisconsin legislators seek to end Wisconsin’s controversial practice of levying sales tax on purchases of gold and silver. Senate Bill 33, primarily sponsored by Sen. Duey Strobel (R - Saukville) and Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R - Appleton), and cosponsored by Rep. Shae Sortwell, enjoys wide support – and would align Wisconsin with the policies of 42 other U.S....","https://mises.org/power-market/legislators-seek-repeal-wisconsins-controversial-sales-tax-gold-and-silver" "From the Editor May/June","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","The Austrian, Institute Publications","July 4, 2023","When I was an economics undergraduate back in the 1990s, central bankers at the Federal Reserve were more or less above criticism. Those were the days when Alan Greenspan was acclaimed as “the maestro” and it was simply assumed central bankers could skillfully plan the economy to ensure growing prosperity forever. This isn’t an exaggeration. In 1998, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by...","https://mises.org/library/editor-mayjune" "US Consumers Are Suffering in a Less than ""Robust"" Economy","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","July 18, 2023","Keynesian policies are damaging what they were intended to support. No example is more evident than the United States. A few years ago, in 2021, I had a conversation with Judy Shelton where she said that the recovery would be much stronger without the stimulus package, and she was right. Massive government spending and currency printing have left a much weaker labor market and poorer citizens. In...","https://mises.org/wire/us-consumers-are-suffering-less-robust-economy" "What Is the Right Inflation Target for Central Banks?","Wire","Jonathan Newman","","August 5, 2023","Why have central banks settled on a 2 percent price inflation target? Project Syndicate asked four economists about this target and whether it is still appropriate. I’ll summarize their answers and then consider Mises’s position on “stabilization policy.” Four Economists’ Answers to “Is 2 Percent Really the Right Inflation Target for Central Banks?” Michael Boskin, Stanford University professor,...","https://mises.org/wire/what-right-inflation-target-central-banks" "Hiroshima and Nagasaki Were Shameful War Crimes","Power & Market","Jacob G. Hornberger","","August 12, 2023","I have not yet seen Oppenheimer but from what I gather about the film, it does not dwell on the massive death and suffering that the U.S. government inflicted on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the nuclear bombs dropped on those two cities. What the film has done is revive the popular justification for the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is the following: That the...","https://mises.org/power-market/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-were-shameful-war-crimes" "What Mises Really Thought about Fascism","Wire","Connor Mortell","","August 18, 2023","It cannot be denied that Fascism and similar movements aiming at the establishment of dictatorships are full of the best intentions and that their intervention has, for the moment, saved European civilization. The merit that Fascism has thereby won for itself will live on eternally in history. —Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism: In the Classical Tradition Mises controversially stated this quote in his...","https://mises.org/wire/what-mises-really-thought-about-fascism" "Why Your Grandfather's Economics Was Better than Yours: On the Catastrophic Disappearance of Say's Law","Library Item","Steven Kates","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","February 25, 2019","I would like to thank Joe Salerno for his kind invitation to present the Ludwig von Mises lecture for 2010, in this way giving me the opportunity to present these views on the classical theory of the cycle and Say’s Law to a wider audience. I would also like to thank my good friend, Peter Smith, who provided excellent and sympathetic advice on an earlier draft of this paper. Ludwig von Mises...","https://mises.org/library/why-your-grandfathers-economics-was-better-yours-catastrophic-disappearance-says-law" "Are Free Market Fiduciary Media Possible? On the Nature of Money, Banking, and Money Production in the Free Market Order","Library Item","Kristoffer Mousten Hansen","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","August 24, 2021","Abstract: Recent debates in monetary theory have centered on so-called free banking and the role of banks in providing money in the form of fiduciary media in a pure market economy. This paper examines how and to what extent fiduciary media can emerge in a pure market economy. Based on the theory of value, it is argued that those economists are mistaken who claim that money substitutes must in...","https://mises.org/library/are-free-market-fiduciary-media-possible-nature-money-banking-and-money-production-free" "A Japanese Lesson","Library Item","Hans F. Sennholz","Mises Daily Articles","February 8, 2002","The Japanese economy, the world's second largest, apparently is unable to recover from a lingering recession that descended on the country in 1991. Industrial output has been erratic and lackluster ever since, meandering between expansion and contraction. Unemployment has been rising steadily and now exceeds 5 percent of workforce.All along, the Japanese yen has fluctuated wildly between 124 yen...","https://mises.org/library/japanese-lesson" "Are We a Self-Hating Commercial Society?","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","April 20, 2010","I'm on a Sunday walk and a nice boy tries to sell me lemonade. A budding entrepreneur! Still, I decline. So he strengthens his pitch:""I'm donating the profits to stop child abuse.""Still I decline, and more easily now that he has linked his praiseworthy commercial venture with a big social pathology that a 12-year-old boy can't possibly solve — unless he is saving money to run away from home?In...","https://mises.org/library/are-we-self-hating-commercial-society" "Book Review: Free Banking","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","January 3, 2011","Complete with an extensive new preface, the republication of Larry Sechrest's Free Banking is well-timed. The new preface is an important contribution to the ongoing debate within Austrian circles over banking freedom versus 100 percent–reserve banking. Easier access to the book will be an asset for those wishing to better understand and/or teach the fundamental importance of money and the...","https://mises.org/library/book-review-free-banking" "Speaking Truth to Monetary Power","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","May 23, 2014","Until Ron Paul raised the issue at the national level in 2007, the Federal Reserve System had been treated with the kind of lazy indifference or acquiescence with which the public gradually comes to accept any institution of long standing. To be sure, most of the public still treats it that way. They have not lost sufficient confidence in the so-called experts, despite the debacle of 2008, to...","https://mises.org/library/speaking-truth-monetary-power" "Putting the Economics Back in Christmas","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","December 25, 2006","I applaud the online magazine Slate for its recurring series on ""the dismal science,"" as they call it. Rather than boring discussions of the housing market or the NASDAQ index, economists such as Steven Landsburg and others tackle interesting issues. Don't get me wrong, I just about always disagree with the columns. I was never puzzled as to why people walk up stairs but not escalators, I don't...","https://mises.org/library/putting-economics-back-christmas" "Greenspan's Bogus Defense","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","April 6, 2009","In his March 11 Wall Street Journal op-ed, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan tried to exonerate himself from the housing boom and bust. Even though more and more analysts are realizing that Greenspan's low interest rates fueled the bubble, the ex-maestro himself uses statistics to defend his record. On these pages Frank Shostak has already taken on Greenspan's spurious arguments, but...","https://mises.org/library/greenspans-bogus-defense" "Gold: The Market's Global Currency","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","November 11, 2010","World Bank president Robert Zoellick has stirred up a hornet's nest with his recent call for a return to a gold anchor1 in the global financial system.The usual suspects immediately denounced him, with Keynesian Brad DeLong anointing Zoellick the ""Stupidest Man Alive.""In the present article I'll explain the resurging interest in the yellow metal.I'll also explain the dangers of Zoellick's...","https://mises.org/library/gold-markets-global-currency" "An Economist Goes to the Grocery Store","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","September 26, 2011","As most people know, economists are a strange lot. We view the world from an unusual perspective. This allows us to see things that others miss — such as the obvious fact that Superman needs an agent — but alas, it renders us oddballs.On a recent trip to the grocery store, it occurred to me that much of what I see during a typical outing differs from what carpenters, lawyers, and schoolteachers...","https://mises.org/library/economist-goes-grocery-store" "This Book is So Me","Library Item","Walter Block","Mises Daily Articles","November 25, 2008","Writing this introduction is a labor of love for me. You know how women sometimes say to each other ""This dress is you!""? Well, this book is me! This was the first book on economics that just jumped out and grabbed me. I had read a few before, but they were boring. Very boring. Did I mention boring? In sharp contrast, Economics in One Lesson grabbed me by the neck and never ever let me go. I...","https://mises.org/library/book-so-me" "Energy Bills and Central Planning","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","December 16, 2003","In the aftermath of the U.S. Senate's failure to pass an ""energy bill"" for the coming year, the usual punditry has befallen us. From the demands that the bill goes in the ""wrong direction"" because it does not emphasize ""alternative"" energy sources, as well as increase the subsidies for mass transit to the Washington Post's demands that Congress impose a tax in order to pay the ""true costs"" of...","https://mises.org/library/energy-bills-and-central-planning" "Is the US Still a Good Risk?","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","May 30, 2005","Imagine that, here in Switzerland, two sets of neighbors come to hold very different views about how they should live.In the first—Ouestville, we shall call it—the people start to live in a manner a little more grand than their incomes can support.They habitually trade with their neighbors in Ostdorf but they also display a far greater appetite for the goods produced there than the Easterners...","https://mises.org/library/us-still-good-risk" "Inflation as the Enemy of Investing","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","February 24, 2010","In this age of inflation, we are all forced to do many tasks that others could do better for us. The fact is that inflation impedes the process of civilization, which is brought about by the division of labor. While, without the central bank's continual monetary infusions, prices would gently fall as technology made all things and all people more efficient, we don't enjoy that luxury. Instead we'...","https://mises.org/library/inflation-enemy-investing" "Fiscal Follies","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","January 28, 2008","So it has come to this. Years of spending, inflating, taxing, and redistributing has left the US economy teetering on a recession that our best and brightest — meaning the ones who created this mess — claim requires a multibillion-dollar economic-relief package to quell fears, promote confidence, and spur recovery.And, one might add, to keep things calm past election time, which is the real...","https://mises.org/library/fiscal-follies" "My Encounter with Paul Krugman","Library Item","Murray Sabrin","Mises Daily Articles","October 12, 2010","Paul Krugman wears many hats — Princeton University professor, New York Times columnist, Nobel Laureate in Economics (2008), prolific author of scholarly books and journal articles, and now president of the Eastern Economic Association. The EEA is a regional scholarly group that publishes a journal and holds an annual academic conference in New York City every other year. The EEA is housed in the...","https://mises.org/library/my-encounter-paul-krugman" "Rethinking the Gold Bubble","Library Item","James E. Miller","Mises Daily Articles","October 20, 2011","There has been a lot of speculation recently on whether or not gold is in a bubble. With Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke announcing ""Operation Twist"" last month, gold and other commodity prices have fluctuated erratically. Immediately following the ""Twist"" announcement, prices of both plummeted. Gold then stabilized a few days later. To make sense of these phenomena, one must utilize...","https://mises.org/library/rethinking-gold-bubble" "What is the Free Market?","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 2006","The Free Market 24, no. 1 (January 2006)The free market is a summary term for an array of exchanges that take place in society. Each exchange is undertaken as a voluntary agreement between two people or between groups of people represented by agents. These two individuals (or agents) exchange two economic goods, either tangible commodities or nontangible services.Thus, when I buy a newspaper from...","https://mises.org/library/what-free-market-0" "This Book is So Me","Library Item","Walter Block","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","November 1, 2008","The Free Market 26, no. 10 (November 2008) Writing the introduction to Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt was a labor of love for me. You know how women sometimes say to each other “This dress is you!”? Well, this book is me! This was the first book on economics that just jumped out and grabbed me. I had read a few before, but they were boring. Very boring. Did I mention boring?In sharp...","https://mises.org/library/book-so-me-0" "Monetary Policy and Capital–Based Macroeconomics: An Empirical Examination for the United States (1963–2012)","Library Item","Eloy A. Fisher","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 16, No. 1 (Spring 2013)ABSTRACT: This paper provides an empirical investigation of the role of monetary policy in the determination of interest rates and consumption as developed by capital-based macroeconomics and Austrian business cycle theory, where monetary dislocations caused by central bank action are key to boom and bust business cycles. By way of a vector error correction model (...","https://mises.org/library/monetary-policy-and-capital-based-macroeconomics-empirical-examination-united-states-1963" "Must Free-Marketers Reject Global Warming?","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 29, 2014","You can't make this stuff up. Someone at the UK Guardian named David Grimes has declared that ""economic liberalism,"" by which he means the ideology of laissez-faire, ""clashes"" with ""scientific evidence."" Which scientific evidence, you might ask? Well, the unassailable scientific dogma of global warming is one:Climate change illustrates this well, because despite overwhelming evidence of...","https://mises.org/wire/must-free-marketers-reject-global-warming" "Why The Theory of Money and Credit Is More Important Than Ever","Library Item","Richard M. Ebeling","Mises Daily Articles","November 8, 2014","Eighty years ago, in the autumn of 1934, Ludwig von Mises’s The Theory of Money and Credit first appeared in English. It remains one of the most important books on money and inflation penned in the twentieth century, and even eight decades later, it still offers the clearest analysis and understanding of booms and busts, inflations, and depressions.Mises insisted that the economic rollercoaster...","https://mises.org/library/why-theory-money-and-credit-more-important-ever" "2. The Economic Effects of Inflation","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Books, Books","February 18, 2015","To gauge the economic effects of inflation, let us see what happens when a group of counterfeiters set about their work. Suppose the economy has a supply of 10,000 gold ounces, and counterfeiters, so cunning that they cannot be detected, pump in 2000 ""ounces"" more. What will be the consequences? First, there will be a clear gain to the counterfeiters. They take the newly-created money and use it...","https://mises.org/2-economic-effects-inflation" "Intellectual Property Rights as Negative Servitudes","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","June 23, 2011","It occurred to me the other day that the best way to classify the legal nature of intellectual property rights such as patent and copyright is the civil law doctrine of negative servitudes. Patent and copyright permit the holder of these rights to prohibit certain uses of their own property. For example, in the case of patents, NTP, by virtue of its patents, could prohibit RIM from making...","https://mises.org/wire/intellectual-property-rights-negative-servitudes" "What Can Be Done?","Online Text Chapter","Murray N. Rothbard","Books, Books","May 29, 2015","It should by now be all too clear that we cannot rely upon Alan Greenspan, or any Federal Reserve Chairman, to wage the good fight against the chronic inflation that has wrecked our savings, distorted our currency, levied hidden redistribution of income and wealth, and brought us devastating booms and busts. Despite the Establishment propaganda, Greenspan, the Fed, and the private commercial...","https://mises.org/what-can-be-done" "1. Government Subsidies: Transfer Payments","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","June 2, 2015","There are two and only two ways of acquiring wealth: the economic means (voluntary production and exchange) and the political means (confiscation by coercion). On the free market only the economic means can be used, and consequently everyone earns only what other individuals in society are willing to pay for his services. As long as this continues, there is no separate process called “...","https://mises.org/1-government-subsidies-transfer-payments" "Taking Seriously the Excess Money Demand Problem: A Reply to Robert Murphy","Wire","B.K. Marcus","","January 18, 2011","[David Beckworth offers this reply to Robert Murphy:]Robert Murphy recently questioned my claim made in a National Review article that there is a conservative case for QE2. He finds my premises and conclusion wanting. Unfortunately, in his analysis Mr. Murphy misses and mischaracterizes some important points I made about QE2. His article, therefore, does not truly represent to readers of Mises....","https://mises.org/wire/taking-seriously-excess-money-demand-problem-reply-robert-murphy" "It's Not Just a Supply Issue: Oil Price Falls to 35 Dollars per Barrel","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 11, 2015","According to the LA Times, the US crude slumped to $35 per barrel this week, ""the lowest price since early 2009.""Up through last week, the West Texas Intermediate Crude price had fallen to 40 dollars per barrel, putting it close to the sorts of prices we saw during the dark days of the last recession. If this week's trends keep up, we'll be headed back to ten-year lows in oil prices:Source: US...","https://mises.org/wire/its-not-just-supply-issue-oil-price-falls-35-dollars-barrel" "1. Government Subsidies: Transfer Payments","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","March 31, 2016","There are two and only two ways of acquiring wealth: the economic means (voluntary production and exchange) and the political means (confiscation by coercion). On the free market only the economic means can be used, and consequently everyone earns only what other individuals in society are willing to pay for his services. As long as this continues, there is no separate process called “...","https://mises.org/1-government-subsidies-transfer-payments-0" "The False Promises Behind Quantitative Easing","Wire","Claudio Grass","","September 7, 2016","It has been almost eight years since former U.S. President George W. Bush warned the world that “without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.” The government’s response to the crisis was a $700 billion rescue package that would prevent U.S. banks from collapsing and encourage them to resume lending, which was soon to be...","https://mises.org/wire/false-promises-behind-quantitative-easing" "Chapter 18 Economic Progress","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 20, 2016","Economic Policy: Thoughts for Tomorrow and Today1“Foreign Investment”Some people call the programs of economic freedom a negative program. They say: “What do you liberals really want? You are against socialism, government intervention, inflation, labor union violence, protective tariffs. ... You say ‘no’ to everything.”I would call this statement a one-sided and shallow formulation of the problem...","https://mises.org/chapter-18-economic-progress" "Chapter 17 Economic Progress","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 22, 2016","Economic Policy: Thoughts for Tomorrow and Today1“Foreign Investment”Some people call the programs of economic freedom a negative program. They say: “What do you liberals really want? You are against socialism, government intervention, inflation, labor union violence, protective tariffs. ... You say ‘no’ to everything.”I would call this statement a one-sided and shallow formulation of the problem...","https://mises.org/chapter-17-economic-progress" "Bill Gates's Robot Tax Is a Terrible Idea ","Wire","Jonathan Newman","","March 7, 2017","Bill Gates has called for a “robot tax” to help maintain government tax revenue when human laborers are let go because a “robot comes in to do the same thing.” He seems to be following the same line of argument that many make for a universal basic income: when a worker in a $50,000/year job is replaced by some automated process and then finds a $25,000/year job, the government will need the extra...","https://mises.org/wire/bill-gatess-robot-tax-terrible-idea" "3 Lessons Learned from Wisconsin's War on Foreign Butter ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 3, 2017","In February, a number of Irish citizens were surprised to find out that selling Kerrygold butter — a line of butter produced in Ireland — is a criminal offense in Wisconsin. Irish Central reports: Under a 1970 law all butter sold in the state must be subjected to scrutiny by a panel, which recently ruled Kerrygold was not compliant. Their problem with Kerrygold’s products was that the cattle who...","https://mises.org/wire/3-lessons-learned-wisconsins-war-foreign-butter" "Marriage Licenses: Alabama Legislature Moves Toward Less Government Meddling","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","January 29, 2018","According to a variety of sources, Alabama's state legislature may ""end marriage licenses"" if a bill now being heard in the legislature goes forward. On it's surface, this would certainly appear to be a step in the right direction. The idea that the state should be in a position to decide who can be married — and who cannot be — requires a high degree of trust in the state and its ability to...","https://mises.org/wire/marriage-licenses-alabama-legislature-moves-toward-less-government-meddling" "George Selgin Misunderstands Rothbard's Position on Fractional-Reserve Banking","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","September 10, 2018","George Selgin has a 3-part series (I, II, and III) at Alt-M taking people (like me) to task for claiming that fractional-reserve banking per se causes the boom-bust cycle as described by Mises/Hayek. To be clear, George is putting aside the issue of whether FRB is fraud, and is just focusing on the economics. (He thinks the people claiming it’s fraudulent are akin to flat-earthers and beyond hope...","https://mises.org/wire/george-selgin-misunderstands-rothbards-position-fractional-reserve-banking" "Why We Need Freedom in Retirement Savings Plans","Wire","James Ketler","","September 22, 2018","On August 31, President Donald J. Trump signed the Executive Order on Strengthening Retirement Security in America, a preliminary step in allowing seniors more economic freedom and security in retirement. At present, there are many constrictive regulations in place preventing Americans from saving as much money as they otherwise would. In fact, 33% of Americans have no money saved for...","https://mises.org/wire/why-we-need-freedom-retirement-savings-plans" "Climate Change Activist Admits: Being Green ""Requires the End of Capitalism""","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","March 22, 2019","Well, at least they're now being honest about it. A headline this week in The Guardian reads: ""Ending climate change requires the end of capitalism. Have we got the stomach for it?"" The article, by Phil McDuff, goes on the discuss the ""Green New Deal"" currently being peddled in the US Congress, and declares a radical turn toward socialism is really at the heart of saving the planet from climate...","https://mises.org/wire/climate-change-activist-admits-being-green-requires-end-capitalism" "El capital es un misterio para Alexandría Ocasio-Cortez","Wire","Mark Brandly","","April 4, 2019","Todos sabemos que Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez está dominando las noticias políticas con sus demandas para socializar la economía. Bob Murphy ha explicado que su New Deal Verde «no tiene sentido por razones económicas» e incluso para los keynesianos «sería absurdo implementar un programa de este tipo hoy en día». Dada la locura del New Deal Verde, me gustaría proponer un curso de estudio para Ocasio-...","https://mises.org/node/46093" "The Neo-Marxist Roots of Modern Monetary Theory","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","May 27, 2019","The influence of the economics of Michal Kalecki on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is hard to ignore. With its roots in the Neo-Marxist macroeconomic theory of Michal Kalecki, MMT carries with it the heritage of the labor theory of value and the Marxist state and class analysis. As a Marxist, Kalecki views the economy through the lens that capitalism is a class society. For him, two classes operate...","https://mises.org/wire/neo-marxist-roots-modern-monetary-theory" "Los economistas siguen enganchados al mito de que ahorrar es malo para la economía","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","November 8, 2019","Según los nuevos datos de la Oficina de Análisis Económico de los EE.UU., la tasa de ahorro personal en los EE.UU. en septiembre de 2019 era del 8,3 por ciento. Eso lo sitúa cerca de su nivel más alto de los últimos seis años, y es comparable a la tasa de ahorro que observamos a principios de los años noventa. De hecho, la tasa de ahorro personal ha aumentado constantemente durante los últimos...","https://mises.org/node/48461" "Keynes’s General Theory: A Solution in Search of a Problem","Library Item","Carlton M. Smith","The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Institute Publications","January 31, 2020","ABSTRACT: This article is an evaluation of the General Theory largely on its own terms. Extensive quotations from The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money are used in order to allow Keynes himself to expound the theory. The goal of this article is to show that even on its own terms the General Theory must be considered a failure, for the problem it purports to solve, involuntary...","https://mises.org/library/keyness-general-theory-solution-search-problem" "Viruses versus Lockdowns: It's Not about Tradeoffs ","Wire","Michel Accad, MD","","May 12, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. It is tempting to oppose the harmful effects of COVID-related lockdowns with arguments couched in terms of tradeoffs. We may contend that when public authorities promote the benefits of “flattening the curve,” they fail to properly take into account the actual costs of imposing business closures and of forced social distancing: the coming...","https://mises.org/wire/viruses-versus-lockdowns-its-not-about-tradeoffs" "Three Ways Lockdowns Are Costing Human Lives","Wire","Klajdi Bregu","","May 29, 2020","The conversation about the lockdowns when the COVID-19 crisis started was centered on saving lives at the cost of the economy. This makes sense, since many of those making decisions were epidemiologists and we cannot expect them to fully understand the lockdowns' impact on the economy and human lives. The problem is that even many economists argued the same thing and completely ignored the harm...","https://mises.org/wire/three-ways-lockdowns-are-costing-human-lives" "MMT's Very Odd Definition of ""Savings""","Wire","Robert Blumen","","July 30, 2020","Modern monetary theory, which is now experiencing its fifteen minutes of fame, contains a number of strange and counterintuitive propositions.1 Proponents claim that these propositions are not an economic theory, only an accounting identity. One of these is that the private sector can save only if the government runs a deficit. Within the self-consistent, tail-chasing world of MMT, these...","https://mises.org/wire/mmts-very-odd-definition-savings" "Monetary Policy Flapping in the Wind","Library Item","David Gordon","The Austrian, Institute Publications","September 15, 2020"," The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's EconomyBy Stephanie KeltonNew York, 2020325 pages Stephanie Kelton’s new book has attracted much attention, and Bob Murphy and Jeff Deist have already reviewed it, with devastating results. Why another review? The policies proposed in the book are so pernicious that further exposure of what she has in store for us is needed...","https://mises.org/library/monetary-policy-flapping-wind" "Central Banks Double Down on the Failed Policies of the Twentieth Century","Wire","","","October 1, 2020","In a macroeconomics-driven world, economic fallacies abound. They are periodically trashed when disproved, only to arise again as received wisdom for a new generation of macroeconomists determined to justify their statist beliefs. The most egregious of these is that inflation can only occur as the handmaiden of economic growth, while deflation is similarly linked to a recession spinning out of...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-double-down-failed-policies-twentieth-century" "Setting the Record Straight on Income Inequality","Wire","Eben Macdonald","","October 12, 2020","Much Progressive thought is based on the theory of power structures. It states that all disparities, inequalities and differences in economic and cultural power in society must inevitably be attributed to innate discriminatory forces within that system. This idea originates from Karl Marx’s theory of Surplus Value: it states that an employer making profit is inherently a form of worker...","https://mises.org/wire/setting-record-straight-income-inequality" "The Great Barrington Declaration: A Few Words of Caution","Wire","Michel Accad, MD","","October 14, 2020","With the recently issued Great Barrington Declaration, the antilockdown movement has received a shot in the arm. The proposal, introduced by three prominent epidemiologists and scientists at a summit sponsored by the American Institute for Economic Research, seems to offer a welcome alternative to current policies of blanket lockdowns. The authors of the declaration recommend policies of “focused...","https://mises.org/wire/great-barrington-declaration-few-words-caution" "Jesús Huerta de Soto’s Six Stages of the Austrian Business Cycle: Which Stage Are We in Now?","Wire","Bradley Thomas","","February 10, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. One reality that the unprecedented Reddit/GameStop short squeeze alerted more people to is the major disconnect between the ballooning stock market and the actual economy. A stock market bubble is a significant indicator of the boom phase of the boom-bust economic cycle that we have grown accustomed to over the past several decades. Many,...","https://mises.org/wire/jesus-huerta-de-sotos-six-stages-austrian-business-cycle-which-stage-are-we-now" "Two Percent Inflation Is a Lot Worse Than You Think","Wire","Sammy Cartagena ","","August 18, 2021","With June 2021 CPI growth being at a thirteen-year high, inflation has been on a lot of people’s minds lately. You can’t blame them, seeing as over 23 percent of all dollars in existence were created in 2020 alone. Although future inflation is certainly an important concern, in this article I instead focus on the chronic inflation this country has faced for over a century. Under normal...","https://mises.org/wire/two-percent-inflation-lot-worse-you-think" "Booms, Busts, and Statistics: What the Mainstream Gets Wrong ","Wire","Per Bylund, Ryan McMaken","","September 6, 2022","Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer is now available online, in the Mises Store, and at Amazon. It’s an excellent beginning text for anyone looking to gain a better grasp of sound economics and to better understand what makes the Austrian school method different (and better). I recently asked Professor Bylund about some of the ways economics has been used and abused to...","https://mises.org/wire/booms-busts-and-statistics-what-mainstream-gets-wrong" "Total Employed Workers Fell Again in November as Savings and Incomes Fall","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 3, 2022","Total employed workers fell for the second month in a row in November, dropping nearly 400,000 workers below the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020. According to new employment data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, the current population survey shows employed workers fell to 158,470,000 in November, down 138,000 from October's total of 158,608,000. This continues a nine-month...","https://mises.org/wire/total-employed-workers-fell-again-november-savings-and-incomes-fall" "Why Employment Is Not the Key to Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 8, 2022","In December 2021, the US unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent from 4.2 percent in the month before. The number of unemployed individuals fell by 500,000 to 6.3 million. Many commentators have expressed satisfaction with the decline in unemployment. According to commentators, the fall in unemployment is indicative of a strong economy. For most economists the key to economic growth is a...","https://mises.org/wire/why-employment-not-key-economic-growth" "Banks Are Lending Less Money, and That's a Formula for Recession ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","May 18, 2023","Banks have been tightening their lending standards, and they plan to keep doing it throughout the rest of the year. Last week, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve released a new report on how much banks plan to expand or tighten lending in coming months. The report, known as the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Lending Practices, found that bankers expect a deteriorating economic...","https://mises.org/wire/banks-are-lending-less-money-and-thats-formula-recession" "El plan de reembolso de la deuda universitaria SAVE del Presidente Biden pone las motivaciones en los lugares equivocados","Wire","Dave Arnott","","August 23, 2023","Imagina a unos padres en la valla de la liga infantil de béisbol. El primero presume: «¡Mi hijo batea 200!». Deberías pensar: «Eso no es muy bueno». El segundo dice: «Sí, mi hijo batea 175». «Espera», estarás pensando, «esto va para atrás». Y tus sospechas se confirman cuando el tercero grita, aún más fuerte: «¡Aquí viene mi hijo, bateando 150!». Mientras los tres padres se chocan los cinco,...","https://mises.org/node/64308" "The Noneconomic Objections to Capitalism","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","May 3, 2021","[Editor's note: this article is excerpted from part IV of The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality. In the nineteenth and twentieth century, socialists often argued that socialism was superior to capitalism because it would deliver a higher standard of living and more consumer goods. When it became clear socialism could not compete with capitalism in terms of material well-being, the socialists shifted...","https://mises.org/library/noneconomic-objections-capitalism" "Minimum-Wage Rates","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","February 6, 2012","The very essence of the interventionist politicians' wisdom is to raise the price of labor either by government decree or by violent action on the part of labor unions. To raise wage rates above the height at which the unhampered market would determine them is considered a postulate of the eternal laws of morality as well as indispensable from the economic point of view. Whoever dares to...","https://mises.org/library/minimum-wage-rates" "Coping in a Bear Market","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","January 23, 2002","[Presented at Boom, Bust, and the Future: A Private Retreat with Austrian Economists, January 20, 2002.]In attempting an outlook for the year ahead--and Austrians firmly believe all such endeavors are an exercise in futility, given the complexity of the economy and the unknowable subjective valuations at work in human minds!--we will set out a brief theoretical framework. Then we will work from...","https://mises.org/library/coping-bear-market" "The Greatest Economic Charity","Library Item","F.A. Harper","Mises Daily Articles","December 14, 2009","[From The Writings of F.A. Harper, Volume 2]A certain Talmudical philosopher once offered us this apothegm:The noblest charity is to prevent a man from accepting charity, and the best alms are to show and enable a man to dispense with alms.1A profound observation! It deserves to be kept in mind constantly as we fumble along in attempts to do good to others.The greatest charity of all, in the...","https://mises.org/library/greatest-economic-charity" "The Greatest Economic Charity","Library Item","F.A. Harper","Mises Daily Articles","January 6, 2012","[On Freedom and Free Enterprise (1956)]When asked to contribute an essay to Professor Mises's Festschrift, I was at first inclined to dip my pen in the well of humility and then lay it aside unused. On what economic theme has Professor Mises himself failed to write with a superiority to anything I could offer? Yet honor is due him. So I trust that friends of this great and patient teacher will...","https://mises.org/library/greatest-economic-charity-0" "Obama Says Short US Treasuries","Library Item","Michael Pollaro","Mises Daily Articles","March 18, 2009"," Bank bailouts, homeowner bailouts, auto-industry bailouts, and now massive stimulus packages; the federal government spending list goes on and on.Goldman Sachs projects the federal deficit for this fiscal year to be as high as $2.5 trillion. That's 5.5 times the fiscal 2007 federal deficit and 1.5 times gross US savings.A $2.5 trillion deficit will create quite a waterfall on this graph, don't...","https://mises.org/library/obama-says-short-us-treasuries" "Reisman on Capitalism","Library Item","George Reisman","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 1, No. 3 (Fall 1998)The Review of Austrian Economics (RAE) recently published a review of my book Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics that, while praising my book to some extent, seriously misrepresents or altogether ignores major portions of it.[1]Since a full analysis of the review would require twice as much space as the review itself, I will confine myself here to just a few instances...","https://mises.org/library/reisman-capitalism" "Chapter 7 Profit and Loss","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 22, 2016","Planning for Freedom and Other Essays and Addresses1“Profit and Loss”1. The Emergence of Profit and LossIn the capitalist system of society’s economic organization the entrepreneurs determine the course of production. In the performance of this function they are unconditionally and totally subject to the sovereignty of the buying public, the consumers. If they fail to produce in the cheapest and...","https://mises.org/chapter-7-profit-and-loss" "Yes, Paul Krugman, Booms Are Unsustainable","Wire","William L. Anderson","","May 15, 2021","That Austrians and Keynesians do not share many views on economics (or probably anything else) is obvious, so a difference of opinion between the two hardly should surprise anyone. However, it still is important to point out the differences between the two camps, especially at the current time when Keynesians are all the rage in Washington (When did they ever leave?) and especially in the Joe...","https://mises.org/wire/yes-paul-krugman-booms-are-unsustainable" "A Development of the Theory of the Ricardo Effect","Library Item","Philip Ruys","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","April 2, 2018","[Full Issue of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 20, no. 4 (2017)] ABSTRACT: According to Hayek’s “theory of the Ricardo Effect” there is a “decline of investment” on the part of the consumer goods industries that starts halfway through the cyclical upswing. This “decline of investment” then gradually leads to the “scarcity of capital” in the consumer goods industries, which is the...","https://mises.org/library/development-theory-ricardo-effect" "War and the Money Machine: Concealing the Costs of War beneath the Veil of Inflation","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Book Chapters, Books","August 21, 2021","In every great war monetary calculation was disrupted by inflation. … The economic behavior of the belligerents was thereby led astray; the true consequences of the war were removed from their view. One can say without exaggeration that inflation is an indispensable means of militarism. Without it, the repercussions of war on welfare become obvious much more quickly and penetratingly; war...","https://mises.org/library/war-and-money-machine-concealing-costs-war-beneath-veil-inflation" "How the Business Cycle Happens","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","August 15, 2023","Study of business cycles must be based upon a satisfactory cycle theory. Gazing at sheaves of statistics without ""pre-judgment"" is futile. A cycle takes place in the economic world, and therefore a usable cycle theory must be integrated with general economic theory. And yet, remarkably, such integration, even attempted integration, is the exception, not the rule. Economics, in the last two...","https://mises.org/library/how-business-cycle-happens" "An Analysis on the Relationship between Hoarding, Investment and Economic Growth","Online Text Chapter","Alexandru Pătruți","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","January 10, 2017","The Quarterly Journal of Austrian EconomicsVol. 19 | No. 3 | 248–266Fall 2016An Analysis on the Relationship between Hoarding, Investment and Economic GrowthAlexandru PătruțiAlexandru Pătruți (alexandru.patruti@rei.ase.ro) is assistant professor in the Department of International Business and Economics at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania.ABSTRACT: The relationship between...","https://mises.org/analysis-relationship-between-hoarding-investment-and-economic-growth" "The Subsistence Fund","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 25, 2004","What typifies the modern economy, writes Mises, is complex production that is a ""continuous, never-ending pursuit split up into an immense variety of partial processes."" This complex structure of production generates a seemingly endless amount and variety of goods which not only maintains our life, but also makes life more pleasant.It would appear that there is a mysterious navigator who...","https://mises.org/library/subsistence-fund" "13 Examples of the Benevolence of Capitalism","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","November 20, 2018","By the ""benevolent nature of capitalism,"" I mean the fact that it promotes human life and well-being and does so for everyone. There are many such insights, which have been developed over more than three centuries, by a series of great thinkers, ranging from John Locke to Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand. I present as many of them as I can in my book Capitalism. I'm going to briefly discuss about...","https://mises.org/library/13-examples-benevolence-capitalism" "Chapter 9 The Nature of Money","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 20, 2016","The Theory of Money and Credit11. The General Economic Conditions for the Use of MoneyWhere the free exchange of goods and services is unknown, money is not wanted. In a state of society in which the division of labor was a purely domestic matter and production and consumption were consummated within the single household it would be just as useless as it would be for an isolated man. But even in...","https://mises.org/chapter-9-nature-money" "The Japanization of the European Union","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","December 11, 2019","[Opening lecture at the Twelfth Conference on Austrian Economics organized by the Juan de Mariana Institute and the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, May 14–15, 2019.] Introduction The topic of my lecture today is the Japanization of the European Union. I would like to start with an observation Hayek makes in his Pure Theory of Capital. (Incidentally, through Union Editorial, we have just published an...","https://mises.org/wire/japanization-european-union" "The Misesian Case against Keynes","Library Item","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","Mises Daily Articles","December 31, 2021","I – Classical Economic Theory It is my goal to reconstruct some basic truths regarding the process of economic development and the role played in it by employment, money, and interest. These truths neither originated with the Austrian school of economics nor are an integral part of only this tradition of economic thinking. In fact, most of them were part and parcel of what is now called classical...","https://mises.org/library/misesian-case-against-keynes" "Food for Thought","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","June 7, 2007","The following thoughts on the current economic and financial environment formed part of a recent commentary sent to our firm's clients. Users of the blog may find them of general interest.In the Austrian description of the trade cycle, the lack of any generalized rise in the price of final consumption goods is never — repeat, never - to be taken as a sign of economic health or as a guide to the...","https://mises.org/wire/food-thought" "Why Do Americans Have Such High Incomes and So Little Savings? ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 26, 2016","Americans have more disposable income than nearly every other country on earth. The few exceptions include a handful of northern Western European states and some small city states like Monaco.Even when accounting for government benefits and taxes, Americans still have more income available to spend than almost anyone else.As this measure from the OECD shows, the US has a median disposable income...","https://mises.org/wire/why-do-americans-have-such-high-incomes-and-so-little-savings" "Keynesians on the Cause of, and Cure for, Depressions","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","June 16, 2020","[This article is part of the Understanding Money Mechanics series, by Robert P. Murphy. The series will be published as a book in 2021.] In chapter 9 we presented Ludwig von Mises’s explanation of how bank credit expansion causes the boom-bust cycle, what is now known as Austrian business cycle theory. However, the reigning view today in both academia and the popular media is the Keynesian...","https://mises.org/wire/keynesians-cause-and-cure-depressions" "Chapter IV. The Elasticity of the Wages Fund","Online Text Chapter","F.W. Taussig","Online Texts","May 20, 2016","The results reached in the preceding chapters, while different in important respects from those usually associated with the wages fund doctrine, have yet been largely conservative. It has appeared that all wages are paid from the products of past labor, and that the supply of products of past labor exists mainly in the form of real capital. It has appeared, too, that the class of hired laborers...","https://mises.org/chapter-iv-elasticity-wages-fund" "Wages, Unemployment, and Inflation","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","July 19, 2008","Wages Ultimately Paid By the ConsumersWhat Makes Wages RiseWhat Causes UnemploymentCredit Expansion No Substitute for CapitalInflation Cannot Go On EndlesslyThe Policy Of The UnionsThe Purchasing Power ArgumentWage Raises As Such Not InflationaryThe Dilemma of Present-Day PoliciesInsincerity In The Fight Against Inflation The Importance of Sound Monetary Policies[This essay originally appeared in...","https://mises.org/library/wages-unemployment-and-inflation" "The Economics and Politics of My Job","Library Item","Bettina Bien Greaves","Mises Daily Articles","April 30, 2012","[Originally published in the Freeman, May 1958, this article is included in Free Market Economics: A Basic Reader, edited by Bettina Bien Greaves.] It follows that an employer cannot pay more to an employee than the equivalent of the value the latter's work, according to the judgment of the buying public, adds to the merchandise. (This is the reason why the movie star gets much more than the...","https://mises.org/library/economics-and-politics-my-job" "Inflation: The Grand Illusion","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","December 23, 2003","Inflation tends not only to pressure, but to increase, the maldistribution of labour between industries, which must produce unemployment as soon as the inflation ceases. F.A. Hayek, Open or Repressed Inflation, 1969.The failings of the Macromancers who dominate contemporary economic reasoning can be encapsulated as follows: if you can't leave the house because the trousers Granny has bought for...","https://mises.org/library/inflation-grand-illusion" "If You Love Nature, Desocialize It","Library Item","Manuel Lora","Mises Daily Articles","May 10, 2007","Nature magazines are delightful to read. The photos that grace conservation publications are often magnificent. Yet it is hard to ignore the economic illiteracy or the socialist propaganda that is espoused in many of their thoughtless articles, and it is even harder to ignore the strength with which statists call for government expropriation of resources in order to achieve their goals. I will...","https://mises.org/library/if-you-love-nature-desocialize-it" "Meltdown's Monetary Heresy","Library Item","George Ford Smith","Mises Daily Articles","July 15, 2009"," [Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse • By Thomas E. Woods Jr. • Regnery 2009 • Xi + 194 pages] In these troubled times inflationists take comfort in knowing that the central bank can always add any amount of money it wishes to the nation's money supply. Such comfort is short-lived, though, because...","https://mises.org/library/meltdowns-monetary-heresy" "Biography of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914)","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Articles of Interest, Journals, Other Journals","August 1, 2007"," ""Labor cannot increase its share at the expense of capital."" Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (Born February 12, 1851; Died 1914) was in the right place at the right time to contribute importantly to the development of Austrian economics. Studying at the University of Vienna, he was twenty years old when Carl Menger's Principles of Economics appeared in print in 1871. His formal university training was in...","https://mises.org/library/biography-eugen-von-bohm-bawerk-1851-1914" "Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk","Person Profile","","","July 28, 2014","Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851 – 1914)Written by Roger W. GarrisonEugen von Böhm-Bawerk (Born February 12, 1851; Died 1914) was in the right place at the right time to contribute importantly to the development of Austrian economics. Studying at the University of Vienna, he was twenty years old when Carl Menger's Principles of Economics appeared in print in 1871. His formal university training was in...","https://mises.org/profile/eugen-von-bohm-bawerk" "Social Security Reform: True and False","Library Item","Dale Steinreich","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 1996","The Free Market 14, no. 10 (October 1996) In an episode of ""Married With Children,"" Jefferson Darcy tells Al Bundy that he can get fast cash by suing a mall for his stress-related injury. ""Malls set aside millions for this type of thing,"" says Darcy. ""If we don't get it, it'll go to Social Security and then no one will get it!""Everyone laughs, but the reality is no laughing matter. Every year $...","https://mises.org/library/social-security-reform-true-and-false" " The Stimulus Does Not Work","Library Item","Shawn Ritenour","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 7 (July 2009) A majority of Americans now give President Obama’s handling of the economy a negative rating, and many economists and city officials are concerned that Obama’s gargantuan stimulus effort has not given the expected quick boost to the economy. Some argue this is because funds have been slow in coming owing to bureaucratic red tape meant to ensure that the money...","https://mises.org/library/stimulus-does-not-work" "The Marginal Efficiency of Capital","Library Item","Edward W. Fuller","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","August 21, 2014","Volume 16, No. 4 (Winter 2013)ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to explain the marginal efficiency of capital.1 The net present value diagram is derived and used to illustrate how the interest rate regulates the intertemporal allocation of resources. The net present value diagram is then used to show that the marginal efficiency of capital contradicts the net present value method of ranking...","https://mises.org/library/marginal-efficiency-capital" "12. The Plight of the Underdeveloped Nations","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises, Richard M. Ebeling","Books","February 18, 2015","I.*Foreign investment was an achievement of laissez-faire capitalism. It developed step by step only in the nineteenth century. Writing in 1817, Ricardo could still assert that most men of property are “satisfied with a low rate of profits in their own country, rather that seek a more advantageous employment for their wealth in foreign nations.”1What impelled entrepreneurs and capitalists toward...","https://mises.org/12-plight-underdeveloped-nations" "3. Time Preference and Individual Value Scales","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","Before considering the component parts of the time market further, let us go to the very root of the matter: the value scale of the individual. As we have seen in the problem of pricing and demand, the individual's value scale provides the key to the determination of all events on the market. This is no less true in regard to the interest rate. Here the key is the schedule of time-preference...","https://mises.org/3-time-preference-and-individual-value-scales" "Mises in Four Easy Pieces","Library Item","Dan Sanchez","Mises Wire","January 22, 2016","One day in 1959, hundreds of students, educators, and grandees filled the enormous lecture hall of the University of Buenos Aires to capacity, overflowing into two neighboring rooms. Argentina was still reeling from the reign of populist president, Juan Perón, who had been ousted four years before. Perón’s economic policies were supposed to empower and uplift the people, but only created poverty...","https://mises.org/library/mises-four-easy-pieces" "Wages, Unemployment, and Inflation","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","September 14, 2022","Our economic system—the market economy or capitalism—is a system of consumers' supremacy. The customer is sovereign; he is, says a popular slogan, ""always right."" Businessmen are under the necessity of turning out what the consumers ask for and they must sell their wares at prices which the consumers can afford and are prepared to pay. A business operation is a manifest failure if the...","https://mises.org/wire/wages-unemployment-and-inflation" "Chapter 14: The ""New Economists"" and the Depression of the 1970s","Online Text Chapter","Mark Thornton","Books, Books","July 10, 2018","During the 1960s, when Keynesian economics came to completely dominate the economics profession, there was a large influx of the so-called new economists into government service. The disastrous results included the “Keynesianization” of the economy and what is best described as an economic depression that lasted throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s. The long economic expansion of the...","https://mises.org/chapter-14-new-economists-and-depression-1970s" "Learning the Right Lessons from D-Day","Wire","John L. Chapman","","June 6, 2019","The memorialization of D-Day has conferred upon this day a special place in American history and even pop culture , and has literally generated a cottage industry of hundreds of books, articles and films . Little wonder then that today, the chattering class hordes from big U.S. media outlets have descended upon France, joining the politicians to offer their fevered intonations of what the...","https://mises.org/wire/learning-right-lessons-d-day" "The Current Crisis Has Its Roots in the Central Bank","Wire","Paul F. Cwik","","April 27, 2020","We have been locked down for weeks. Classes have been canceled. Only essential activities are allowed. Although there is much to cover and analyze, I want to focus on the economics of the situation. To understate it, the situation today is simply not good. The COVID-19 crisis has caused the world to lock down the population, which essentially ceased most commerce. While all businesses are...","https://mises.org/wire/current-crisis-has-its-roots-central-bank" "Rebutting Paul Krugman on the ""Austrian"" Pandemic","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","September 7, 2021","In a recent column for the New York Times, the world’s most famous Keynesian, Paul Krugman, attacked Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT). In addition to repeating his decades-old claim that ABCT suffers from an internal contradiction, as well as his charge that the Austrians misdiagnosed the 2008 financial crisis, in his latest piece Krugman argued that the 2020 pandemic really was a “...","https://mises.org/wire/rebutting-paul-krugman-austrian-pandemic" "Paul Krugman’s Austrian Obsession","Wire","William L. Anderson","","September 9, 2021","Paul Krugman seems to have a very unhealthy obsession with Austrian economics and especially the school’s theory of the business cycle. More than two decades ago, he attacked it (wrongly calling it a “Hangover Theory” and trying to make a morality play out of it), claiming it had the credibility of the “phlogiston theory of fire.” Not surprisingly, he got the theory wrong then but has decided to...","https://mises.org/wire/paul-krugmans-austrian-obsession" "Joe Weisenthal piensa que degradar el dólar es algo moral","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","November 25, 2021","Joe Weisenthal es un redactor y presentador de Bloomberg que últimamente ha utilizado su gran plataforma de Twitter para lanzar piedras contra los halcones de la inflación. En un hilo reciente, Weisenthal se burló de las personas preocupadas por la caída del poder adquisitivo del dólar de EEUU, y afirmó de hecho que sería inmoral que la moneda mantuviera su valor en el tiempo. Como veremos,...","https://mises.org/node/57080" "The Fed's Latest Housing Bubble","Wire","Mark Thornton","","May 21, 2022","Is the current housing market in a bubble that is ready to pop? If so, what is the source and magnitude of the market distortion. The topic of a possible housing bubble has been a topic of discussion lately, especially before Fed officials went on the warpath against Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation. I have been asked about this issue and below is a truncated response to all those inquires. I...","https://mises.org/wire/feds-latest-housing-bubble" "Inflation: State-Sponsored Terrorism","Wire","Jeff Deist","","September 6, 2022","[This talk was delivered on Saturday, September 3, 2022, at the Ron Paul Institute conference in northern Virginia.] I. Introduction Remember the quaint old days of 2019? We were told the US economy was in great shape. Inflation was low, jobs were plentiful, GDP was growing. And frankly, if covid had not come along, there is a pretty good chance Donald Trump would have been reelected. At an event...","https://mises.org/wire/inflation-state-sponsored-terrorism" "Leave Money Production to the Market","Library Item","Jeffrey M. Herbener","Mises Daily Articles","May 14, 2012","[Written Testimony before the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Committee on Financial Services, US House of Representatives, May 8, 2012]In a seminal article published in 1920, Ludwig von Mises demonstrated that there is only one test of whether or not production of something conveys a benefit on society at large.[1] It must be shown that resources have greater value when...","https://mises.org/library/leave-money-production-market" "Twilight of the Gods","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","September 18, 2007","""Much has been written about panics and mania…. But one thing is certain; that at particular times a great deal of stupid people have a great deal of stupid money. At intervals… the money of these people — the blind capital, as we call it, of the country — is particularly large and craving: it seeks for someone to devour it and there is a 'plethora'; it finds someone and there is a 'speculation...","https://mises.org/library/twilight-gods" "Private Property and Collective Ownership","Library Item","James A. Sadowsky, S.J.","Mises Daily Articles","September 18, 2012","Philosophy has fathered a number of other sciences. It is, as we all know, the father of physics which used to be known as natural philosophy. And no one is ignorant of the fact that economics was launched by a moralist whose name was Adam Smith. Nor should this be really surprising when we reflect on the fact that the most general notions in all these sciences are basically philosophical and...","https://mises.org/library/private-property-and-collective-ownership" "Breaking Out of the Walrasian Box: The Cases of Schumpeter and Hansen","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Review of Austrian Economics, Volumes 1-10, Institute Publications","January 23, 2020"," Since World War II, mainstream neoclassical economics has followed the general equilibrium paradigm of Swiss economist Leon Walras (1834-1910).1 Economic analysis now consists of the exegesis and elaboration of the Walrasian concept of general equilibrium, in which the economy pursues an endless and unchanging round of activity—what the Walrasian Joseph Schumpeter aptly referred to as “the...","https://mises.org/library/breaking-out-walrasian-box-cases-schumpeter-and-hansen" "16. A Hundred Years of Marxian Socialism","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises, Richard M. Ebeling","Books","February 18, 2015","I.*In this year 1967, in which the University of Chicago celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary, the present-day world’s most powerful political movement, Marxism, commemorates the two most important dates of its history. A hundred years ago the literary foundation of Marxism was laid by the publication of the first volume of Das Kapital, the only volume published by Marx himself. And fifty...","https://mises.org/16-hundred-years-marxian-socialism" "4. The Time Market and the Production Structure","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","The time market, like other markets, consists of component individuals whose schedules are aggregated to form the market supply and demand schedules. The intricacy of the time market (and of the money market as well) consists in the fact that it is also divided and subdivided into various distinguishable sub-markets. These are aggregable into a total market, but the subsidiary components are...","https://mises.org/4-time-market-and-production-structure" "Mr. Bailout","Library Item","Antony P. Mueller","Mises Daily Articles","September 30, 2004","Alan Greenspan is about to retire. He has been the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System since August 11, 1987, and his final term will end on January 31, 2006. Until then, Greenspan will have served almost two decades at the helm of the US central bank during which he has left his mark like few before him. With only a little more than a year left as chairman, time now...","https://mises.org/library/mr-bailout" "Austrian Business Cycle Theory: A Brief Explanation","Library Item","Dan Mahoney","Mises Daily Articles","May 7, 2001","The media’s favorite phony solution to the economic downturn is for the Fed to drop interest rates lower and lower until the economy registers an upturn. What is wrong with this approach? Printing money—which is what reducing interest rates below the market rate amounts to—is an artificial means of recovering from the very real effects of an artificial boom. This point, however, is completely...","https://mises.org/library/austrian-business-cycle-theory-brief-explanation" "Is Deflation Really Bad for the Economy?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","August 11, 2010","On Friday, July 30, the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president, James Bullard, speaking on CNBC television, said that the Fed must weigh medium-term inflation risks against near-term deflation risks. For most economists and commentators, a general fall in prices, which they label deflation, is a terrible thing. They hold that a fall in prices generates expectations for a further decline in...","https://mises.org/library/deflation-really-bad-economy" "Boom and Bust","Library Item","Gene Callahan","Mises Daily Articles","August 9, 2000","[Part of an ongoing series on Austrian theory]Imagine that you are a bus driver at the edge of a desert, about to take a busload of passengers across it. You have left all gas stations behind, and are now faced with a decision. There are a number of towns on the other side of the wasteland before you, each a different distance away. The farthest away of these towns also happens to be the closest...","https://mises.org/library/boom-and-bust" "Assessing the Damage","Library Item","Gene Callahan","Mises Daily Articles","September 21, 2001","As documented by Robert Higgs in Crisis and Leviathan, the state uses any crisis, even those it brought about itself, to enhance its power. Economic crises are no different in that respect: The Great Depression ushered in a vast new array of government powers and programs, and the inflation of the early 1970s led to a brief flirtation with wage-and-price controls.So, it is no surprise that in our...","https://mises.org/library/assessing-damage" "For Society To Thrive, The Rich Must Be Left Alone","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","March 2, 2006","Paul Krugman is very upset. In his Monday New York Times Op-Ed column this week, he complains that while the real incomes of the great majority of Americans have essentially stagnated or declined over the last thirty-five years, ""income at the 99th percentile rose 87 percent; income at the 99.9th percentile rose 181 percent; and income at the 99.99th percentile rose 497 percent."" He describes the...","https://mises.org/library/society-thrive-rich-must-be-left-alone" "Economic Aspects of the Pension Problem","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","March 4, 2022","On Whom Does the Incidence Fall? Whenever a law or labor union pressure burdens the employers with an additional expenditure for the benefit of the employees, people talk of “social gains.” The idea implied is that such benefits confer on the employees a boon beyond the salaries or wages paid to them and that they are receiving a grant which they would have missed in the absence of such a law or...","https://mises.org/library/economic-aspects-pension-problem" "Ludwig von Mises's Suggested Research Topics, 1950-1968","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","June 30, 2006","Bettina-Bien Greaves took careful notes during Ludwig von Mises's New York seminars. Whenever he made a comment that suggested research paper or book, she jotted it down on a note card. She kept all these note cards and has generously agreed to share them with the public by sending them to us.The Mises Institute is pleased to make them public for the first time.Mises's students followed up on...","https://mises.org/library/ludwig-von-misess-suggested-research-topics-1950-1968" "Malinvestment, Not Overinvestment, Causes Booms","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","September 11, 2018","[This article is excerpted from chapter 20 of Human Action: The Scholar's Edition and is read by Jeff Riggenbach.] ""The boom is built on the sands of banknotes and deposits. It must collapse."" The erroneous belief that the essential feature of the boom is overinvestment and not malinvestment is due to the habit of judging conditions merely according to what is perceptible and tangible. The...","https://mises.org/library/malinvestment-not-overinvestment-causes-booms" "What Is the Free Market?","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","November 4, 2019","The Free Market is a summary term for an array of exchanges that take place in society. Each exchange is undertaken as a voluntary agreement between two people or between groups of people represented by agents. These two individuals (or agents) exchange two economic goods, either tangible commodities or nontangible services. Thus, when I buy a newspaper from a news dealer for fifty cents, the...","https://mises.org/library/what-free-market" "The Fantasy Behind Marx's Historical Materialism","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","July 17, 2018","[This article is excerpted from volume 2, chapter 12 of An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (1995). An MP3 audio file of this chapter, narrated by Jeff Riggenbach, is available for download.] There is no place in his system where Marx is fuzzier or shakier than at its base: the concept of historical materialism, the key to the inevitable dialectic of history. At the base...","https://mises.org/library/fantasy-behind-marxs-historical-materialism" "The Economics of Apocalypse: A Tale of Two C.D.C.’s","Library Item","Paul A. Cantor","Mises Daily Articles","October 9, 2013","This is the final part of a series. Read Part I and Part II.In comparing the comic book Zombie Pandemic with the TV series The Walking Dead, we have seen contrasting images of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In its own comic, the C.D.C. portrays itself as able to come up with a vaccine against a zombie plague within a few days, and only in a nightmare would its plan fail. In The...","https://mises.org/library/economics-apocalypse-tale-two-cdcs" "Money and Interest Are Different Things","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","March 2, 2009","There's an old joke where the first guy says, ""What's the difference between drapes and toilet paper?"" The second guy says, ""I don't know, what?"" Then the first guy responds, ""You are not allowed in my house!""After watching the ""expert"" economists debate our financial crisis during the past year, I realize that we can modify the joke. Today I would ask the econobloggers and op-ed writers, ""What's...","https://mises.org/library/money-and-interest-are-different-things" "Nonsense on the Deficit Question","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 2, 2010","In a recent piece I reported the shocking ignorance in a Huffington Post article on the alleged harmlessness of the federal deficit. Several readers wrote to tell me that as bad as the HuffPo article was, James Galbraith's interview with Ezra Klein was even worse.They were right. In today's piece I'll walk through some of Galbraith's biggest whoppers.What's the Danger of Deficits?Right out of the...","https://mises.org/library/nonsense-deficit-question" "Is Debt Necessary for Recovery?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","November 3, 2011","Since the crisis began, one of the dominant themes in arguments over proper government policy has been the Keynesian view that it is crucial to prop up total spending. The added twist during this particular recession is the crushing burden of private-sector debt, which allegedly makes it all the more urgent for governments to run fiscal deficits.In a previous article I dealt with so-called...","https://mises.org/library/debt-necessary-recovery" "Hayek on Industrial Fluctuations","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","May 1, 2003","As reported in Alan Ebenstein's recent biography (2001), ""Mr. Fluctooations"" emerged as Hayek's nickname at LSE in the 1930s—because he so often used that word, pronouncing it each time with a heavy Austrian accent. And his lectures on industrial fluctuations were accompanied by a full complement of graphics that depicted the economy's capital structure and the effects of credit creation on that...","https://mises.org/library/hayek-industrial-fluctuations" "Greenspan's Austrian Connection","Library Item","Samuel Bostaph","Mises Daily Articles","March 24, 2000","Alan Greenspan's recent words and Federal Reserve Board actions to raise nominal interest rates have left many economists and financial analysts wondering if they are on the same planet he inhabits. Especially puzzling was his appearance before the House Banking Committee on Thursday, February 17, 2000, and his March 6 Boston College speech—following which the Dow dropped almost two hundred...","https://mises.org/library/greenspans-austrian-connection" "Debtor Nation","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","July 25, 2011","[Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink • By Louis Hyman • Princeton University Press, 2011 • 392 pages]""The author doesn't make the distinction between accumulated real capital and cheap credit created through a banking system cartelized by the Federal Reserve.""The debate in Washington over the nation's debt and debt ceiling has President Obama announcing to the White House press corps...","https://mises.org/library/debtor-nation" "Free Money Against ""Inflation Bias""","Library Item","Thorsten Polleit","Mises Daily Articles","November 14, 2006","Today's mainstream economics maintains that inflation — defined as an ongoing rise of the economy's price level over time — is ""a prerequisite for a growing and thriving world.""[1] A great number of arguments in support of the ""inflationist view"" have been put forward. For instance, inflation would be needed to allow real wages and employment to adjust more smoothly to changing market conditions...","https://mises.org/library/free-money-against-inflation-bias" "The Budget Mess: Time to Get Serious","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","May 4, 2011"," ""Congress can raise its own official debt ceiling, but it cannot change the economic laws concerning the real effects of its policies on our lives."" The recent downgrading of federal credit by Standard & Poors and Egan-Jones reflects concern over mounting federal debts. While there are good reasons to doubt the long-term solvency of the federal government, politicians are now focused on a...","https://mises.org/library/budget-mess-time-get-serious" "Sustainability: An Assault on Economics","Library Item","Tyler A. Watts","Mises Daily Articles","December 4, 2009"," Ah, the greens. They're not just treehuggers anymore. They've been browbeating us to recycle, eat soy, save energy, drive less, ride the bus, and a thousand other ways to ""act local"" for many years now. Now they've even got a hip new huckster on the big screen: ""No Impact Man,"" your conductor on a first-class guilt trip to ecoland. Despite the massive popularity of their cause, I don't think...","https://mises.org/library/sustainability-assault-economics" "How an Economy Grows","Library Item","George Ford Smith","Mises Daily Articles","November 2, 2010","Since World War II, most economists have been apologists for government growth.1 Now the ""experts"" who never see a crisis coming tell us that we must once again abandon free-market principles to save the free-market system.But there's always the possibility that people not seated at the government's table will finally wise up. Who or what could help them understand what's going on? People need...","https://mises.org/library/how-economy-grows" "End This Depression Now!, by Paul Krugman","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 2012","Mises Review 18, No. 2 (Summer 2012)END THIS DEPRESSION NOW!Paul KrugmanNorton, 2012, xii + 259 pgs. Supporters of Keynesian economics sometimes claim it to be a crude caricature of the Master that he thought the government has only to spend more money to get us out of a depression and that getting us into debt doesn't matter because we owe it to ourselves. Keynes, it is alleged, was a vastly...","https://mises.org/library/end-depression-now-paul-krugman" "Federal Reserve Policies Cause Booms and Busts","Library Item","Richard M. Ebeling","Mises Daily Articles","September 25, 2014","Since the economic crisis of 2008-2009, the Federal Reserve — America’s central bank — has expanded the money supply in the banking system by over $4 trillion, and has manipulated key interest rates to keep them so artificially low that when adjusted for price inflation, several of them have been actually negative. We should not be surprised if this is setting the stage for another serious...","https://mises.org/library/federal-reserve-policies-cause-booms-and-busts" "14. Unemployment and the Height of Wage Rates","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","Public opinion, misguided by the fanatical propaganda on the part of the deadly foes of freedom and prosperity, looks upon the disputes concerning the height of wage rates as if they were only conflicts between wage earners and employers. It ascribes to the employers the power to determine wage rates ad libitum. It fails to realize the fact that the entrepreneur is not sovereign in the conduct of...","https://mises.org/14-unemployment-and-height-wage-rates" "19. Some Observations on Current Economic Methods and Policies","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises, Richard M. Ebeling","Books","February 18, 2015","I.*If no radical changes in the prevailing political trends and tendencies occur very soon, the system of full government control of human activities will within a few years triumph in all countries this side of the Iron Curtain.The doctrine today accepted by all those statesmen and politicians who do not openly embrace all the teachings of communism and totalitarianism maintains that it is the...","https://mises.org/19-some-observations-current-economic-methods-and-policies" "How Long Will Cheap Debt Bail Out Automakers? ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 21, 2018","This week, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending was heading upward, thanks in part to the strongest sales in six months for automobiles. For the automobile industry, that's reassuring, but the larger trend points to a period of stagnation. In recent years, there's been much speculation over whether or not Americans have gotten over their love affair with automobiles. We are...","https://mises.org/wire/how-long-will-cheap-debt-bail-out-automakers" "Credit Expansion Squanders Capital","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","September 15, 2018","The chief effect credit expansion exerts on the productive structure is ultimately that it discoordinates the behavior of the different economic agents. Indeed entrepreneurs rush to lengthen and widen the productive stages and make them more capital-intensive, while the remaining economic agents are unwilling to cooperate by sacrificing their consumption and raising their overall voluntary saving...","https://mises.org/wire/credit-expansion-squanders-capital" "The UN's Plans for More ""Charity"" Won't Solve the World's Problems","Wire","James Ketler","","October 19, 2018","At the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the European Council of the European Union, Donald Tusk, recently gave an address on the EU’s participation in global efforts, and the future directions in which he believes it should move. In recent decades, Europe has been increasingly involved in numerous international missions, often focusing on immigration,...","https://mises.org/wire/uns-plans-more-charity-wont-solve-worlds-problems" "Fed Report Says Millennials Are Poorer than Other Generations — But Fed Policies Made It Happen","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 10, 2018","One of the challenges in looking at income and wealth data is getting a sense of how different demographic groups are affected. It's relatively easy to find median income and wealth data over time for the entire population, for example. But then problems of interpretation immediately present themselves. For example, if the data is household data, what are we to make of things if the household...","https://mises.org/wire/fed-report-says-millennials-are-poorer-other-generations-fed-policies-made-it-happen" "Austrian Business Cycle Theory, Explained","Wire","Murray N. Rothbard","","July 9, 2019","[Excerpted from America's Great Depression, chapter 1 ""The Positive Theory of the Cycle,"" section ""The Explanation: Boom and Depression,"" pages 9–14 .] In the purely free and unhampered market, there will be no cluster of errors, since trained entrepreneurs will not all make errors at the same time.4 The “boom-bust” cycle is generated by monetary intervention in the market, specifically bank...","https://mises.org/wire/austrian-business-cycle-theory-explained" "European Central Bank Doubles Down on Ultra-Easy Money","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","September 13, 2019","Not that QE ever really went away, but the European Central Bank is taking it up a notch with today's rate cut. According to the Wall Street Journal today : The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate and launched a sweeping package of bond purchases Thursday that lays the ground work for a long period of ultraloose monetary policy, jolting European financial markets and triggering an...","https://mises.org/power-market/european-central-bank-doubles-down-ultra-easy-money" "The Conservative Attack on Market Freedom","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 10, 2019","I haven't run an empirical study on the number of articles published, but it sure seems like conservatives are writing more articles than usual condemning economic freedom, and the people who advocate for it. This would make some sense in the Age of Trump when the the president has pushed the right's policy agenda more in the direction of protectionism and runaway federal spending that makes the...","https://mises.org/wire/conservative-attack-market-freedom" "Unions and Protectionism, Not Free Trade, Doomed the Rust Belt","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","October 18, 2019","As the decline of the Rust Belt became increasingly obvious during the 1980s, protectionists attempted to blame the malaise on too little government protection from foreign competition. Campaigning for the presidency in 1984, Walter Mondale attacked Ronald Reagan for lifting quotas on steel imports, declaring "" Reagan’s policies are turning our industrial Midwest into a rust bowl.” The Rust Belt...","https://mises.org/wire/unions-and-protectionism-not-free-trade-doomed-rust-belt" "Japan’s Productivity Has Been Slashed By Government Meddling, Not Demographics","Wire","Mihai Macovei","","April 3, 2020","Mainstream economists have turned Japan’s adverse demographics into a scapegoat for its economic debacle. Be it the Financial Times or the IMF, the general narrative is that Japan’s shrinking and rapidly aging population has stifled both economic growth and productivity. Allegedly, in a fast-aging society such as Japan’s individuals increase savings for retirement and curtail consumption, while...","https://mises.org/wire/japans-productivity-has-been-slashed-government-meddling-not-demographics" "Yes, QE Creates Wealth Effects","Wire","Robert Blumen","","July 24, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. QE (quantitative easing) is the primary means that the Fed uses to cause asset price inflation. ""The Ben Bernank,"" Fed governor at the time, later chair, in an October 2003 speech endorsed the use of monetary policy to create wealth effects. easier monetary policy not only raises stock prices; as we have seen, it also lowers risk premiums,...","https://mises.org/wire/yes-qe-creates-wealth-effects" "Pandemic Follies: Tyranny Won’t Keep Us Safe","Wire","James Bovard","","October 13, 2020","Politicians have destroyed more than 13 million jobs this year in a deluge of edicts aimed to fight the covid-19 pandemic. More than two hundred thousand Americans still died from the coronavirus, but the anticovid government crackdowns probably did far more damage than the virus. The covid crisis has also shown how easy it is for politicians to fan fears to seize nearly absolute power. In March...","https://mises.org/wire/pandemic-follies-tyranny-wont-keep-us-safe" "Why Slave Economies Thwart Entrepreneurial Innovation","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","October 15, 2020","The new history of capitalism (NHC) offers libertarians an exciting opportunity to defend the vitality of capitalism. Scholars like Sven Beckert, Walter Johnson, and Edward Baptiste argue that slavery provides fascinating insights into the workings of early American capitalism and that it furnished the capital to fuel industrial development. Consequently, libertarians have responded to this...","https://mises.org/wire/why-slave-economies-thwart-entrepreneurial-innovation" "Capital and Labor Both Suffer under Minimum Wage Mandates","Wire","Mihai Macovei","","March 8, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. President Biden and the Democratic Party have pushed hard to more than double the national minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour over the next four years. This aggressive intervention in the functioning of labor markets has been heavily criticized, including in two recent Mises Wire articles. Resorting to both theoretical...","https://mises.org/wire/capital-and-labor-both-suffer-under-minimum-wage-mandates" "Outgrow Entitlements: Stop Losses, Cover Debts, and Help More","Power & Market","James Anthony","","April 22, 2022","Entitlement spending, which includes administrative spending, totals 19% of GDP: Healthcare spending for the elderly or indigent totals 8.6% of GDP.Retirement income spending totals 6.9% of GDP.Working-age income spending for the indigent totals 3.1% of GDP. In each category, the outcomes are far below optimal. The fatal flaw is that our earnings aren’t our governments’ money, they are our money...","https://mises.org/power-market/outgrow-entitlements-stop-losses-cover-debts-and-help-more" "Ludwig von Mises's Monetary Theory in Light of Modern Monetary Thought","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Review of Austrian Economics, Volumes 1-10, Institute Publications","February 22, 2023","Ludwig von Mises's contributions to the development of the technical methods and apparatus of monetary theory continue to be neglected today, despite the fact that Mises succeeded exactly eight decades ago, while barely out of his twenties, in a task that still admittedly defies the best efforts of the most eminent of modern monetary theorists, viz., integrating monetary and value theory. Such a...","https://mises.org/library/ludwig-von-misess-monetary-theory-light-modern-monetary-thought-0" "Clarence Darrow vs. the State","Wire","Doug French","","March 30, 2022","Describing attorney Clarence Darrow, the great H.L. Mencken wrote, “The marks of battle are all over his face. He has been through more wars than a whole regiment of Pershings. And most of them have been struggles to the death, without codes or quarter.” Darrow is mostly a forgotten libertarian, unknown to the new generation. The Mises Institute kept his name alive with Jeff Riggenbach’s podcast...","https://mises.org/wire/clarence-darrow-vs-state" "The Case Against the New ""Secular Stagnation Hypothesis""","Library Item","Mihai Macovei","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","September 4, 2021","Abstract: The new “secular stagnation hypothesis” developed by Lawrence H. Summers attempts to justify why the demand stimulus applied in the aftermath of the global financial crisis failed to revive growth in a satisfactory manner. Building on previous ideas of Keynes, Hansen, and Bernanke, Summers claims that excess savings together with feeble investment drove the natural rate of interest down...","https://mises.org/library/case-against-new-secular-stagnation-hypothesis" "Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle","Library Item","Friedrich A. Hayek","Mises Daily Articles","September 27, 2008","Preface by F.A. HayekLecture I: The Problem of the Trade CycleLecture II: Non-Monetary Theories of the Trade CycleLecture III: Monetary Theories of the Trade CycleLecture IV: The Fundamental Cause of Cyclical FluctuationsLecture V: Unsettled Problems of Trade Cycle Theory Notes[""Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle,"" published in 1933, was translated from the German by N. Kaldor and H.M. Croome....","https://mises.org/library/monetary-theory-and-trade-cycle" "Rothbard's Last Triumph, Part 1","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","September 21, 2009","Murray Rothbard tells us that his gigantic, two-volume work was first envisioned as a ""standard Smith-to-the-present moderately sized book, a sort of contra-[Robert] Heilbroner"" (p. xv). When we see what has emerged from that plan, a parallel at once springs to mind: Cervantes began Don Quixote as a short story, but he gradually expanded it into one of the great books of the world. Likewise, this...","https://mises.org/library/rothbards-last-triumph-part-1" "The Fight Over Fletc","Library Item","Don Mathews","Mises Daily Articles","May 15, 2000","The federal government is not just in Washington, D.C. Actually, the federal government is a gigantic tapeworm with its mouth and brain in Washington, and the rest of its innumerable segments curled through much of the land. Federal government departments, bureaus, and agencies have offices in thousands of communities across the country.One example is the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (...","https://mises.org/library/fight-over-fletc" "Asian Recovery?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","June 7, 1999","The Asian Wall Street JournalJune 15, 1999THE DANGER OF DRAINING ASIA'S POOL OF FUNDINGThe word recovery is on the lips of a lot of Asia experts these days. But if Asia's economic policy makers are to witness a long-term recovery, they will first need to reverse the interventionist policies that have distorted the real cost of capital in the region and depleted the wealth of Asian consumers and...","https://mises.org/library/asian-recovery" "Do We Need More of Keynes Now?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","October 31, 2008","Now that governments and central banks are subjecting their economies to aggressive monetary and fiscal-stimulus policies, many people say that the ideas of Keynes are back in fashion. We heard that Keynesian remedies can save world economies from plunging into a severe economic slump. In the United States, for instance, Republicans and Democrats are competing against each other to subject the...","https://mises.org/library/do-we-need-more-keynes-now" "Can Fiscal Stimulus Revive the US Economy?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","January 22, 2009","On Thursday, January 8, 2009, US President-elect Barack Obama said,I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years.Most economists and various commentators are in agreement. They hold that the US government must sharply increase its spending in order to arrest the...","https://mises.org/library/can-fiscal-stimulus-revive-us-economy" "Is a Reduction in Unemployment the Key to US Economic Recovery?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","September 21, 2010","Most experts are almost unanimous that the key to economic recovery is a reduction in the unemployment rate, which stood at 9.6% in August. The number of unemployed stood in August at almost 15 million. Also, the underemployment rate climbed to 16.7% in August from 16.5% in the month before.But does it make sense that the key to economic growth is the lowering of unemployment? If this is the case...","https://mises.org/library/reduction-unemployment-key-us-economic-recovery" "More for Me Does Not Mean Better for Us","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","March 8, 2011","In the Wisconsin labor dispute, now increasingly spreading nationwide, I have lost count of the times union defenders have justified their position based on little more than the assertion that some union benefitted them or some member of their family — followed by the conclusion that all Americans must therefore gain. Unfortunately, that ""logic"" is invalid. A policy that gives me more does not...","https://mises.org/library/more-me-does-not-mean-better-us" "Why the Cost of Government Is Higher Than You Think","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","May 28, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises Daily“Look what I did for you!” When our children were small, my wife and I got many gifts from them accompanied with those words (including most of our refrigerator art and many things that still adorn our Christmas trees), in search of approval and encouragement.While that process was an endearing part of parenting, I have been struck by a far...","https://mises.org/library/why-cost-government-higher-you-think" "In Praise of Bugs","Library Item","Gene Callahan","Mises Daily Articles","March 27, 2000","Few pundits are willing to question the overall efficiency of the market economy, but claims of market failure are still commonplace. One area where this complaint has been heard with some frequency is that of software reliability. Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walter Mossberg wrote a column last year entitled ""I'm Tired of the Way Windows Freezes!"" in which he indicts the reliability of his...","https://mises.org/library/praise-bugs" "A Free Market for Genes?","Library Item","Gene Callahan, Stu Morgenstern","Mises Daily Articles","May 25, 2000","Last week, as reported in The Washington Times, famed physicist Freeman Dyson warned that a genetic ""caste"" system could come about if we allow a free market in human genes.""Wealthy parents will be able to buy what they consider superior genes for their babies,"" said Dyson. ""This could cause a splitting of humanity into hereditary castes…. No matter how strongly we believe in the virtues of a...","https://mises.org/library/free-market-genes" "Basic Sowell","Library Item","Gene Callahan","Mises Daily Articles","March 5, 2001","Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economyby Thomas SowellBasic Books, 2000. xi + 366 pages.Review by Gene CallahanWhen I took on the review of this book, I did so with some trepidation. After all, I'm working on an economics book for laymen myself. If I disliked Sowell's work and trashed it, would it be seen as an underhanded attempt to sabotage a competitor? Or if I loved it, would I...","https://mises.org/library/basic-sowell" "When Will the Bubble Burst?","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","August 18, 1999","For several years the stock market has made major gains, adding up to what has probably been the greatest bull market in all of history. Setbacks that appeared threatening, such as those that occurred in April of 1997 and August/September of 1998, have proved temporary and have served merely as renewed buying opportunities. With each renewal of the upward trend, the conviction has grown that if...","https://mises.org/library/when-will-bubble-burst" "Sins of Businessmen, Crimes of Politicians","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","September 22, 2003","People who are ignorant of the writings of Ludwig von Mises are unaware of the role of credit expansion in creating recessions and depressions. Not knowing the actual cause of such calamities, they turn to false and often absurd explanations, such as the doctrine of a general overproduction, and end up blaming increased production and supply, which is the very essence of greater prosperity, as...","https://mises.org/library/sins-businessmen-crimes-politicians" "The Money Book for the Ages","Library Item","Hans F. Sennholz","Mises Daily Articles","December 8, 2009","Few books have contributed more to the advancement of monetary theory than Ludwig von Mises's Theory of Money and Credit.And yet, few serious books have had such little impact on contemporary thought and policy as this treatise. The world continues to ignore or reject it while it is clinging to antiquated notions and practices. Of course, it is more pleasing and popular for governments to follow...","https://mises.org/library/money-book-ages" "Keynes vs. Say","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","Mises Daily Articles","July 10, 2020","Keynes's ""greatest achievement,"" according to his admirers, was his famous ""refutation"" of Say's law of markets. All that it is necessary to say about this ""refutation"" has already been said by Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.,1 and Ludwig von Mises.2 Keynes himself takes the matter so cavalierly that all he requires to ""refute"" Say's law to his own satisfaction is less than four pages. Yet some of his...","https://mises.org/library/keynes-vs-say" "Protectionism and My Stuffy Nose","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","December 26, 2007","There I stood at the pharmacy counter, with a head cold, sniffing away, and begging for some product that contains pseudoephedrine, which works like a magic nose unclogger. The stuff you can get off the shelf now contains the similar-sounding drug called phenylephrine, but it might as well be a placebo. It just doesn't work, and most everyone knows this.You can still get the good old stuff from...","https://mises.org/library/protectionism-and-my-stuffy-nose" "Why Taxes Don't Matter Much Anymore","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","August 28, 2008","Barack Obama's tax advisers recently posted a piece in the Wall Street Journal about their candidate's tax plans. Their article was designed to triangulate, painting their candidate as a tax cutter and the Republican opposition as a secret tax raiser. It was well written and well argued — not that you can really trust anything you read about what candidates will or will not do once in office.In...","https://mises.org/library/why-taxes-dont-matter-much-anymore" "The End of the US Piano Industry","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","December 10, 2008","Today the highest-price good that people buy besides their houses is their car, and this reality leads people to believe that we can't possibly let the American car industry die. We couldn't possibly be a real country and a powerful nation without our beloved auto industry, which is so essential to our national well-being. In any case, this is what spokesmen for the big three say.What about the...","https://mises.org/library/end-us-piano-industry" "All Laws Have Teeth","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","October 12, 2010","It's been five years since the feds took aim at nasal decongestant. Under George Bush, a normal part of everyday civilized life became a criminal act, namely the over-the-counter purchase of Sudafed and many other products containing pseudoephedrine. You can get it now, but it is seriously rationed. You have to present your driver's license and no one without one may purchase it. The limits on...","https://mises.org/library/all-laws-have-teeth" "Pushing Buttons Like the Jetsons","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","March 28, 2011","In the classic and futuristic television series from 1962 to 1963 — I admit that I adore this show and could watch every episode 100 times — people work only a few hours a day, travel at 500 miles per hour in flying cars that go as fast as 2,500 miles per hour, and the main job is ""pushing buttons.""The galaxy is their home. Healthcare is a complete free market with extreme customer care....","https://mises.org/library/pushing-buttons-jetsons" "Did the Recession Ever Really Go Away?","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","June 3, 2011","Housing prices hitting 2002 levels, unemployment still at 9 percent, private-sector job growth flat, and retail sales still struggling: these are headlines that few expected three years ago. The prevailing theory in Washington was that the recession was somehow precipitated (and therefore vaguely caused) by the crash in housing prices, and many big and small tricks were used to goose the market....","https://mises.org/library/did-recession-ever-really-go-away" "Legitimacy","Library Item","Joseph R. Stromberg","Mises Daily Articles","November 22, 2000","The matter of legitimacy is much in the news these days. A Fox News report of November 13, for example, quotes political scientist Darrell West as saying that if the present electoral standoff continues much longer, ""the new president could have absolutely no public legitimacy. This is dangerous for our political system.""As a colleague noted today, so far at least we haven’t had to put up with...","https://mises.org/library/legitimacy" "Cyprus and the Unraveling of Fractional-Reserve Banking","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Mises Daily Articles","March 28, 2013","[Originally posted on Circle Bastiat, the faculty blog of the Mises Institute. Read Circle Bastiat for Austrian analysis of current economic events from today’s top Misesian and Rothbardian economists.] The “Cyprus deal” as it has been widely referred to in the media may mark the next to last act in the the slow motion collapse of fractional-reserve banking that began with the implosion of the...","https://mises.org/library/cyprus-and-unraveling-fractional-reserve-banking" "Pandemic: The Contagious Crisis","Library Item","Leland B. Yeager","Mises Daily Articles","July 8, 2010","If you think the free market should be blamed for our current economic woes, you are on the wrong track. Libertarians face charges these days that capitalism has failed or at least that deregulation has invited our current economic troubles. These charges are not persuasive. A more realistic view is that a housing boom and bust happened to strike a fragile financial system whose fragility was...","https://mises.org/library/pandemic-contagious-crisis" "Private Accounts?","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","December 1, 1998","When Clinton declared he would use budget surpluses to ""fix"" Social Security, the ruse was obvious. He was trying to forestall the only moral use of any surplus: cutting taxes. But a few days later, a very strange trend began to develop. Clinton's words were endorsed and echoed by D.C. conservatives and libertarians.Beltway types began to say that, yes, all budget surpluses should be used to save...","https://mises.org/library/private-accounts" "Hurricane Economics","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","September 22, 1999","You might have thought it was a bad thing that Hurricane Floyd caused loads of property damage, flooded whole towns, interrupted commutes, and generally mucked everything up. This is a fair assumption. But it is one to which economists are sometimes blind.It never fails: after some natural disaster an economist pops up to reassure folks that there is an upside. All the rebuilding that takes place...","https://mises.org/library/hurricane-economics" "Can the Market Deliver Letters?","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","December 17, 2002","Like all government operations (public schools, domestic security, tax collection), the Post Office has to continually reform itself to avoid a complete public-relations meltdown. Thus did the Post Office become the Postal Service some thirty years ago. The name change was supposed to indicate how its management was going to be less like government and more like business.But what institution...","https://mises.org/library/can-market-deliver-letters" "The Blessings of Deflation","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","May 30, 2003","Let's say you set out on a Saturday shopping trip, drive up to the mall, and see a sign that says ""50% off everything!"" That's great news, right?Or let's say you are in the market for a new car, and the sticker shock you experience is that cars are cheaper than they used to be. Amazing and wonderful!Or let's say you are paying for your daughter's college education and find that you have set aside...","https://mises.org/library/blessings-deflation" "Inflation and the Public Consciousness","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","April 10, 2008","True Money SupplySource: Ludwig von Mises InstituteWhen central bankers blast central banks for being reckless, you know the problem is serious. Indeed, it seems that everyone suddenly really cares about inflation. Everywhere you go, this is the talk, at the grocery, the gas station, among your neighbors. Price increases have been persistent in major sectors such as medicine and education for...","https://mises.org/library/inflation-and-public-consciousness" "How This Happened","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","January 12, 2009","For years, many of us puzzled about how something so stupid and destructive as the New Deal could have happened. The stock market crashed because it was overinflated. That's nothing new. History is filled with credit bubbles that pop. Resources are reallocated to reflect economic reality and we move on.The New Deal was different. It actually began under Hoover, who initiated new spending programs...","https://mises.org/library/how-happened" "Beating Back Obamanomics","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","March 6, 2009","It's raining, pouring, economic fallacies by the hour, followed by a flood of horrible policy that is driving us ever further into economic depression. The regime in charge has really gone nuts, revealing itself as both deeply ignorant and horribly evil.We find ourselves facing the horror of what has always been the Achilles heel of the left wing: its abysmal ignorance of economic science. The...","https://mises.org/library/beating-back-obamanomics" "Obama and the Economy","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","August 6, 2009","Travel with me back to yesteryear, the early days of the Reagan administration, when taxes were being cut and spending increases were being curbed (actual spending cuts were few), and when journalists were losing their heads about the supposedly catastrophic state of the economy.The prevailing ethos in those days in the White House was somewhat sensible. The idea was that the recession had to be...","https://mises.org/library/obama-and-economy" "Reality Economics","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","September 6, 2010","As a culture, we like our reality on television, but seem to oppose it in economics.For more than two years now, and even longer depending on your dating scheme, the federal government has waged war on the reality of the incredible Fed-fueled bubble that developed in housing, with spillover effects on the rest of economic life.That bubble had to explode to restore some sanity to the economic...","https://mises.org/library/reality-economics" "The Many Collapses of Keynesianism","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","July 12, 2012"," It should be obvious to everyone but the most dedicated adherent of Keynesianism that the stimulus did not accomplish its end. The combination of outright spending by Congress, the desperate schemes to reflate the housing market, the attempt to transfuse bleeding firms with other people's money, and the creation of trillions in artificial money, has not done a thing to lift the US economy....","https://mises.org/library/many-collapses-keynesianism" "Obama Blinks","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","September 7, 2011","President Obama has pulled back on imposing new ""air quality"" regulations. The regulations would have hobbled many industries and created many spillover effects. The Republicans have estimated costs as high as $90 billion, but they are just saying that to provide a sound bite. They supported such things under Nixon and Bush.There is no real way to know the costs of such egregious legislation,...","https://mises.org/library/obama-blinks" "Capital Supply and American Prosperity","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","April 27, 2022","I One of the amazing phenomena of the present election campaign is the way in which speakers and writers refer to the state of business and to the economic condition of the nation. They praise the administration for the prosperity and for the high standard of living of the average citizen ""You never had it so good,"" they say, and, ""Don't let them take it away."" It is implied that the increase in...","https://mises.org/library/capital-supply-and-american-prosperity" "Foreign Capital Investment: The Antidote to Global Inequality","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","October 3, 2017","[Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow (1979), Lecture 5 (1958)]Some people call the programs of economic freedom a negative program. They say, ""What do you liberals really want? You are against socialism, government intervention, inflation, labor union violence, protective tariffs.… You say no to everything.""I would call this statement a one-sided and shallow formulation of the...","https://mises.org/library/foreign-capital-investment-antidote-global-inequality" "The Lehman Brothers Plan","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","May 25, 2011","People often ask me, ""What do you think the government should do instead of QE inflation?"" My stock answer is that the government should not try to fight the depression with government spending and cheap credit. Trying to stop the market from correcting the errors of the past only delays the consequences and makes them much worse.Government should balance its budget. There should be no new credit...","https://mises.org/library/lehman-brothers-plan" "US Gone to Pot, but Not Completely","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","November 12, 2012","The only good thing about the 2012 campaign — other than its being over — is that much progress was made on marijuana policy. Marijuana was legalized in two states, Colorado and Washington. Medical-marijuana legislation passed in Massachusetts. Marijuana was decriminalized is several major cities in Michigan and Burlington, Vermont, passed a resolution that marijuana should be legalized. The only...","https://mises.org/library/us-gone-pot-not-completely" "The New Skyscraper Curse","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","May 29, 2014","An Interview with Mark ThorntonFrom CNN to Barron’s to Le Monde, Mark Thornton has been featured as an authority on how record-setting skyscrapers signal impending economic downturns. Last month, Dr. Thornton spoke with us about the Skyscraper Index and the Skyscraper Curse.Mises Institute: The Skyscraper Index, which shows a correlation between the construction of the world’s tallest buildings...","https://mises.org/library/new-skyscraper-curse" "In Defense of Demagogues","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","April 23, 2002","This short manuscript is dated 1954. It has never before been published.For many years now, demagogues have been in great disfavor. They are not sober, they are not respectable, they are not ""gentlemen."" And yet there is a great and growing need for their services. What, exactly, have been the charges leveled against the demagogues? They are roughly three in number.In the first place, they are...","https://mises.org/library/defense-demagogues" "Ownership of the Product by Capitalists","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","November 25, 2017","[From Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market]Up to this point we have discussed the case in which the owners of land and labor, i.e., of the original factors, restrict their possible consumption and invest their factors in a production process, which, after a certain time, produces a consumers' good to be sold to consumers for money. Now let us consider a situation in which the owners of...","https://mises.org/library/ownership-product-capitalists" "Did Small Government Cause Our Current Problems?","Library Item","Robert Higgs","Mises Daily Articles","September 9, 2009","As soon as I saw the headline of an August 10 article by financial columnist Peter Cohan, I knew that something was terribly wrong. It reads: ""How did the politics of small government lead to big government bailouts?"" This is akin to asking, How did the extinction of the elephants lead to Barack Obama's election as president? If you make a claim of the form ""A caused B,"" but A never happened,...","https://mises.org/library/did-small-government-cause-our-current-problems" "Bush's Impossible Social Security Plan","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","May 12, 2005","Now that the Bush Administration has wrapped up its sixty-stop, sixty-day campaign to bolster support for its Social Security proposal, the machinery is cranking in that great deliberative body, the U.S. Congress. The latest development is Bush's suggestion to index benefits for wealthy retirees to prices (rather than wages), which is effectively a cut in promised benefits.The proposal has...","https://mises.org/library/bushs-impossible-social-security-plan" "Kudlow's Cuckoo for Clunkers","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 12, 2009","Here at Mises Daily, we often poke fun at left-liberal Democrats for their Keynesian ways. To prove that this is about ideas, not parties, today we'll focus on a recent blog post in which Republican economist Larry Kudlow came out in favor of extending the ""cash-for-clunkers"" program.As we'll see, Kudlow's arguments are pure Keynesian nonsense. Sadly, many of today's ostensibly radical, ""free-...","https://mises.org/library/kudlows-cuckoo-clunkers" "Production Theory and the Market Process","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","July 7, 2011","I am pleased to announce that, starting July 20, I (and guest lecturer Peter Klein) will offer a Mises Academy class, Production and the Market Process. The course will focus on chapters 5–9 of Murray Rothbard's masterpiece, Man, Economy, and State.The Scope of the CourseThe course runs for eight weeks, from July 20 through September 13. As usual, we are keeping it very reasonably priced at $145...","https://mises.org/library/production-theory-and-market-process" "The Economics of Coupons and Other Price Cuts","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 1, 2011","My local grocery store has an affiliated gas station that offers ten cents off per gallon for every $100 spent on groceries. I provoked a discussion on Facebook by asking whether I should use my accumulated points every time I fill up the tank, or whether it makes more sense to only use the option periodically in order to get a bigger discount.We quickly agreed that so long as I only fill up when...","https://mises.org/library/economics-coupons-and-other-price-cuts" "To Understand Public Policy, First Understand Markets","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 1, 2014","In the final section of Human Action, Ludwig von Mises stressed the importance of all citizens to acquaint themselves with the findings of economic science. Unlike physics or engineering — where the scientists could safely continue with their advancements, whether or not the average person understood how they worked — economic policies as enacted by governments will ultimately rest with public...","https://mises.org/library/understand-public-policy-first-understand-markets" "Government Shutdowns, the Debt Ceiling, and Our Mountain of Debt","Library Item","Shawn Ritenour","Mises Daily Articles","October 17, 2013","Once again there is panic running through the halls of Congress, the Oval Office, and in the chattering classes that make up mainstream media over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. Most of the panic is a result of the inability of politicians to reach an agreement on government spending. If we hope to begin to recover true prosperity, then making real, significant cuts in government...","https://mises.org/library/government-shutdowns-debt-ceiling-and-our-mountain-debt" "Value and the Environment","Library Item","Stephen P. Halbrook","Mises Daily Articles","March 27, 2002","The riddle goes, ""If a tree fell in the woods and no one was around to hear it, would it make a sound?"" But perhaps a more appropriate question is, ""Would anyone care?""In answering the latter question, we can determine whether the falling tree is of any concern at all. After all, if no one is bothered by an event, and moreover, no one acts on the basis of an event, the event is completely...","https://mises.org/library/value-and-environment" "The Errors of Keynes's Critics","Library Item","Steven Kates","Mises Daily Articles","March 6, 2013","I was intrigued by the review that Philipp Bagus wrote of The Errors of Keynes (Los Errores de la Vieja Economía), a book written in Spanish by Juan Ramón Rallo, part of which deals with Say’s Law.An important understanding is taking hold, that the road to unwind Keynesian economics travels through Say’s Law. Keynes himself could not have been clearer about the significance of Say’s Law to the...","https://mises.org/library/errors-keyness-critics" "The Watermelon Summit","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Daily Articles","July 2, 2012"," [Day 11 of Robert Wenzel's 30-day reading list that will lead you to become a knowledgeable libertarian, this article was originally published on LewRockwell.com, June 9, 2012.] An environmentalist is a totalitarian socialist whose real objective is to revive socialism and economic central planning under the subterfuge of ""saving the planet"" from capitalism. He is ""green"" on the outside, but...","https://mises.org/library/watermelon-summit" "In Defense of Cheap Labor","Library Item","Tibor R. Machan","Mises Daily Articles","December 3, 1999","One of the complaints raised at the WTO meetings in Seattle, Washington, echoes the accusations that have for years been leveled at Nike, Kathy Lee Gifford, WalMart and others, all of whom have employed workers abroad who charge far less for their labor than do workers in most Western countries, especially in the US.It is that it is evil to pay so little for the work being provided in the...","https://mises.org/library/defense-cheap-labor" "Mercy Mission?","Library Item","Nicholas von Hoffman","Mises Daily Articles","May 20, 1999","It's two months since Secretary of State Madeleine Halfbright's remark that a couple of cruise missiles aimed at Slobodan and it'll all be over Over There. We're heading toward Day 60 of bombardment and the buggers in Belgrade still refuse to surrender.In what may come to be called the Coward's War, civilian casualties mount as diplomacy languishes. The most recent accidental atrocity killed...","https://mises.org/library/mercy-mission" "Defending the Speculator","Library Item","Walter Block","Mises Daily Articles","June 9, 2010","[Excerpted from Defending the Undefendable. An MP3 audio file of this article, read by Jeff Riggenbach, is available for download.] ""Excellent idea, Winslow. The rich too must eat in a famine. Along with staples we’ll store up ten thousand tons of gourmet foods.""""Kill the speculators!"" is a cry made during every famine that has ever existed. Uttered by demagogues, who think that the speculator...","https://mises.org/library/defending-speculator" "Gore's Energy Plan","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","July 6, 2000","In the summer of 1979, his presidency in tatters and his poll numbers falling, President Jimmy Carter announced what he termed a ""bold, new"" energy plan. As gasoline prices were rising and Americans were seething while sitting in those infamous gas lines, Carter declared that he would come up with new ways to produce ""alternative energy"" using tax dollars, thus allowing Americans to ""invest"" in...","https://mises.org/library/gores-energy-plan" "Fallacies of the Oil Tax","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","November 21, 2000","Hal Varian, whose mathematical textbook has been the bane of economics graduate students for many years, has now weighed in on a solution to our oil problems: increase the federal tax on gasoline. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Varian says that a stiff, new tax on gas will discourage motorists from driving, which would mean we would use less gasoline and, ostensibly, conserve precious fuel....","https://mises.org/library/fallacies-oil-tax" "What Happened to Japan?","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","March 12, 2001","While Congress and the media debate the merits of President George W. Bush’s tax cut proposal, a much more interesting economic event is occurring across the Pacific Ocean. Japan, it seems (formerly known as ""Japan, Inc."") has been a decade-long experiment in Keynesian Economic Theory, and if the results do not bury Lord Keynes even deeper in his grave, then most likely nothing ever will.Before...","https://mises.org/library/what-happened-japan" "Predatory Legislature","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","May 15, 2001","One of the many lies told by politicians is that they are ""looking out for the consumer."" Of course, that means that they are looking hard to find consumers from whom they can extract even more money than ever. Thus, we find the latest government outrage; this one comes from my home state of Tennessee, but it is also being pushed in other states. It seems that Tennessee legislators—both...","https://mises.org/library/predatory-legislature" "Is the Recession Over?","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","March 14, 2002","Bush supporters (and especially the editorial writers of the Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal) seem relieved now that Alan Greenspan has officially proclaimed that the recession that began a year ago is now over. Even as people in New York City observed a brief period of silence to mark six months since the September 11 attacks, the New York Times was pointing out that if the...","https://mises.org/library/recession-over" "The Death of Disinflation","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","May 22, 2002","The following extract neatly sums up why monetarists and Keynesians are both wrong in their prescriptions about the need to use easy money and Big Government to boost ""effective"" demand.From The National Federation of Independent Business April Survey:""The economy is splitting with the services sector improving and the goods sector suffering,"" said NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg. ""If you...","https://mises.org/library/death-disinflation" "We Shoulda Seen it Coming!","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","February 17, 2005","These days, there is an increasing awareness of how artificially lowered interest misleads whole legions of entrepreneurs—a core point in the Austrian business cycle. But, still, the question always nags at people who think they grasp the basic idea: why do businessmen continue to fall for this scam?The gist of their query is this: surely, Scott McNealy or Andy Grove could afford to hire a guy...","https://mises.org/library/we-shoulda-seen-it-coming" "Artifacts of Financial Engineering","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","June 29, 2006","Suppose that company HN has been used to selling cars for cash at $10,000 apiece, but that business has been a little slow lately.Faced with the imperative to re-energize the dealership, inspiration strikes some genius in the marketing department. Shortly afterward, he emerges smiling from a lunch with one of his buddies up in finance and makes straightaway to the CEO's office suite.The gist of...","https://mises.org/library/artifacts-financial-engineering" "American Madness","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","December 14, 2009","Some analysts see the outlook for America's banks to be bright for the coming year; just earlier this year the financial sector looked to be toast. Those who follow the industry at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods believe all will be well for at least the banking behemoths. As a sign that things are looking up, Charlotte banking giant Bank of America (BofA) just managed to issue $20 billion in stock...","https://mises.org/library/american-madness" "Gold and Guns","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","January 1, 2010","[An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by Keith Hocker, is available for download.] In his extraordinary book Democracy: The God that Failed, Hans-Hermann Hoppe points out that the process of civilization is stopped when government continually violates property rights.The natural process of civilization comes through delaying consumption, saving, and building capital. Undoing it leads to...","https://mises.org/library/gold-and-guns" "The ""Frenchie"" Memorial Scholarship","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","April 26, 2010","Every year in the springtime the best and brightest high school seniors around the country fill out applications for scholarships funded by individuals or foundations in their local communities. These scholarships more than likely won't pay for the entire college experience, but every little bit helps.These scholarships serve to help people remember those in their community who have passed on and...","https://mises.org/library/frenchie-memorial-scholarship" "Decivilization and What To Do About It","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","July 29, 2004","Howard Ruff is one of the icons of the investment newsletter business. The Ruff Times is one of the most successful newsletters of all time and his book How to Prosper during the Coming Bad Years sold almost three million copies. He is most famous for recommending the purchase of gold at $120/oz in 1975 and more importantly recommending that people sell the yellow metal near its peak of $850/oz...","https://mises.org/library/decivilization-and-what-do-about-it" "Requiem for an Entrepreneur","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","February 16, 2004","The public's image of entrepreneurs and businessmen as mean, conniving, miserly, greedy crooks has been shaped from the time of Charles Dickens's Ebenezer Scrooge to the modern day Michael Douglas character, Gordon Gekko, in the movie Wall Street.This image essentially puts a face to the Marxist class struggle theory. According to the theory, ""the primary form of exploitation is economic,""...","https://mises.org/library/requiem-entrepreneur" "The Great Myth of the Inflation Cure","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","May 6, 2011","Parents probably dream of sending their kid to the University of Chicago. Next to the Ivy League or Stanford, the Chicago school is near the top of the heap. Only 27 percent of applicants are admitted. To be among the roughly 15,000 means prestige and an education to build a lifetime on. The cost for tuition and fees: $39,381. Room and board is another $12,000 or so. Add books and other stuff,...","https://mises.org/library/great-myth-inflation-cure" "Hubris Leads to Depression","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","September 13, 2011","Grasping for reasons why his multiple QEs and Fed balance-sheet-bursting policies haven't spurred economic activity, Dr. Bernanke posited a new diagnosis last week in Minneapolis. ""Consumers are depressed beyond reason or expectation,"" the New York Times paraphrased the Fed chief as saying.Even though unemployment is high, price inflation is up, home values are down, and many people are deep in...","https://mises.org/library/hubris-leads-depression" "A Hit Man Confesses","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","December 12, 2006","There seems to be two popular paths to wealth in the private sector today. The first is tried and true method: you try to anticipate consumers' needs, and then risk your capital trying to satisfy them. Successful entrepreneurs anticipate and satisfy correctly, while the unsuccessful ones don't.The second is more nefarious. With this method, you work in an industry that stands to make billions of...","https://mises.org/library/hit-man-confesses" "Habemus Economistem: Some Economics of Papal Deaths and Successions","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","September 2, 2010","Picture a group of friends sitting around a table at a barbecue restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. It is small-talk time, with light-hearted joking and friendly inquisitions. So, where do you live? Where do you work? Do you like your job?One man mentions that he works at EWTN, and he says it with an air suggesting that most of the people at the table will not be familiar with his employer. EWTN....","https://mises.org/library/habemus-economistem-some-economics-papal-deaths-and-successions" "Op-ed Warriors Defend the Bailout","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","October 8, 2010","Confession time: I still read newspapers the old-fashioned way, meaning the way my father and grandfather did, on paper, frequently at the kitchen table, and to the smell of a hot, Honduran coffee.I have various reasons for not yet giving in completely to the digital delivery of news. The paper I read, the Birmingham News, is a good though not great paper, and although my cost of delivery has...","https://mises.org/library/op-ed-warriors-defend-bailout" "100 Years Ago: Why Bankers Created the Fed","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","December 23, 2013","The Democratic Party gained prominence in the first half of the nineteenth century as being the party that opposed the Second Bank of the United States. In the process, it tapped into an anti-state sentiment that proved so strong that we wouldn't see another like it until the next century.Its adversaries were Whig politicians who defended the bank and its ability to grow the government and their...","https://mises.org/library/100-years-ago-why-bankers-created-fed" "How Consumers Rule In a Free Economy","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","May 12, 2014","One of my favorite economists in the history of economic thought is the great Austrian, Carl Menger (1840–1921). While the mainstream of the economics profession acknowledges Menger’s place due to his contribution to the Marginalist Revolution in the 1870s, it otherwise ignores him because his theoretical framework does not lend itself to policy prescriptions. In an era in which the economics...","https://mises.org/library/how-consumers-rule-free-economy" "You Treat Me Like Property","Library Item","Vedran Vuk","Mises Daily Articles","February 14, 2006","An ex-girlfriend once told me, ""You treat me like a piece of property."" As an economics major, my first reaction was: How great that the center of my affection truly understands the way I feel! Butterflies in my stomach, rainbows, unicorns, big red hearts shot through my enamored mind. When someone truly understands you, what can you feel but joy?If I treated her as if she were my property, after...","https://mises.org/library/you-treat-me-property" "School Welfare","Library Item","","Mises Daily Articles","July 23, 1998","Investor's Business Daily, July 23, 1998, runs an outstanding article on school vouchers, explaining with stunning clarity that vouchers constitute not choice but welfare:School Choice or Bigger Government?""Milwaukee's Reform Came Wrapped In Red Tape""by Michael ChapmanSchool vouchers have been sold as a winning way to give parents a choice of how to educate their kids. But vouchers may come with...","https://mises.org/library/school-welfare" "Security","Library Item","","Mises Daily Articles","February 11, 1999","Two Recent editorials from the Investors Business DailyIt looks like Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ''four freedoms'' will have to make room for a fifth. Republicans have virtually joined their Democratic brethren in adding one more to the list FDR proclaimed - freedom from responsibility.FDR said there were four essential human freedoms: of speech, of worship, from fear and from want. FDR got it...","https://mises.org/library/security" "Should Coke Be Banned in India?","Library Item","Jayant Bhandari","Mises Daily Articles","August 23, 2006","Several provinces in India have recently banned sale of Coca Cola and Pepsi. The reason: they are claimed to contain a higher level of pesticides than is acceptable in Europe. It is as if the cola companies have been adding pesticides to poison Indians. Here is the story.The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a top non-governmental organization, has been in the forefront of the...","https://mises.org/library/should-coke-be-banned-india" "Economics in One Lesson Is Still Relevant","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","October 6, 2008","I continue to be struck by the relevance of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson even though it was published over sixty years ago. The Mises Institute's new edition, with an introduction by Walter Block, will make Hazlitt's insights accessible to a new generation of students and readers. We have made much progress during the decades since Hazlitt first put pen to paper and applied Frederic...","https://mises.org/library/economics-one-lesson-still-relevant" "Leaving Holes Undug, Paper Unprinted","Library Item","Jim Fedako","Mises Daily Articles","January 20, 2009"," I had a busy weekend. I dug a hole, filled it in, and dug it out once again. I shoveled my driveway and then threw the snow back so that I could shovel it a second time. I vacuumed the carpet in our family room, shook out a bag of Cheerio dust, and vacuumed the same as before. Based on the prevailing view of political economy, I worked and therefore eased our economic crisis.Of course, I haven't...","https://mises.org/library/leaving-holes-undug-paper-unprinted" "Socialists at War","Library Item","Lawrence W. Reed","Mises Daily Articles","April 6, 2001","In August 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed a secret deal to invade and divide Poland between them. Proving there’s no honor among thieves, Nazi tanks bulldozed their way into the Soviet Union in June 1941. In no time at all, the rest of the world forgot about the alliance that started the war and ""Uncle Joe"" Stalin had become one of those Reds that Franklin Roosevelt may have had in mind when he...","https://mises.org/library/socialists-war" "Repatriation","Library Item","Charles Oliver","Mises Daily Articles","November 23, 1998","Here is a news piece from Investor's Business Daily (Nov. 23, 1998) dealing squarely with one of the most interesting monetary issues of the day. The author quotes some well-known Austrian economists to help sort it all out. Are the vast amounts of U.S. currency held overseas a threat to the U.S. economy?Whether for spending or saving, most Russians prefer the dollar to their own rocky currency....","https://mises.org/library/repatriation" "The Chodorov Principle","Library Item","William Stepp","Mises Daily Articles","February 17, 2001","During the 1950s, at the height of the McCarthy scare, conservative Republicans complained about the fact that alleged communists were ensconced in government jobs. The libertarian journalist Frank Chodorov (1887-1966) made the sensible reply that there was no need to go after these politically unpopular toilers. Instead, the way to get the communists out of the government was to get rid of the...","https://mises.org/library/chodorov-principle" "The Deficit Reduction Myth","Library Item","Bert McLachlan","Mises Daily Articles","December 6, 2005"," Congress is treating the deficit as a big joke, but surely most people aren't so stupid as to think that ""deficit reduction"" is really that.Congress has outspent its own income in 45 of the last 50 years, thereby running up deficits by over $5 trillion. But $4 trillion of those deficits were in just the last 20 years. And then President Bush's budget submission this last February projected $3...","https://mises.org/library/deficit-reduction-myth" "Value and Stock Market Declines","Library Item","Mark A. Pribonic","Mises Daily Articles","October 22, 2008","Headlines blare about the relentless selling pressure and historic declines in value that have hit stock exchanges around the globe. The free fall has financial pundits and politicians wailing about the trillions of dollars lost in the US markets. Ironically, these were the same people who warned us that failure to legislate a financial bailout plan would result in catastrophic stock declines.All...","https://mises.org/library/value-and-stock-market-declines" "Stimulus, Savings, and Stocks","Library Item","Mark A. Pribonic","Mises Daily Articles","February 23, 2009","[An MP3 audio file of this article, read by Floy Lilley, is available for download.] As the president signs the trillion-dollar stimulus package into law, financial networks are abuzz with investment pundits speculating on what companies will benefit, and thus what stocks should be purchased. Such analysis makes an error of causality commonly found in equities research. It assumes a direct...","https://mises.org/library/stimulus-savings-and-stocks" "Shortages, Bloody Shortages","Library Item","Mihai Sarbu","Mises Daily Articles","October 31, 2006","It seems that here in Romania — the home of Vlad Dracula — our hospitals are running out of blood. The number of people volunteering to donate blood has declined steadily in recent years. Health-care professionals fear that joining the European Union will bring crisis-level blood shortages. Why? European regulations forbid any kind of remuneration for this service.In Romania, people who want to...","https://mises.org/library/shortages-bloody-shortages" "Demand-Side Dogma","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","January 14, 2003","Media elites have been debating the merits of President Bush's proposed economic stimulus program actively, but not sensibly. That is, the debate itself is seriously misguided. The title of this program reveals the flawed nature of this debate. Since we are supposedly in the thralls of an economic slowdown, we need to stimulate the economy so as to affect its recovery. The notion that economies,...","https://mises.org/library/demand-side-dogma" "Why Government Can't Make Decisions Rationally","Library Item","Ben O'Neill","Mises Daily Articles","July 26, 2007","On the rare occasions when governments consider curbing their expenditure on some service — or, more likely, consider curbing the rate of increase in spending — they are invariably called upon to undertake discussions with relevant ""stakeholders"" and members of the community. This process is ostensibly undertaken to determine the views of those who are to be affected by the proposed decision, to...","https://mises.org/library/why-government-cant-make-decisions-rationally" "Myth of the Price Level","Library Item","Christopher Mayer","Mises Daily Articles","November 15, 2002","A popular view advocates that the Fed should manage the economy so as to keep inflation in check, while also being on guard against deflation. In this view, prices must not rise too much or fall too much, but rather stay within some happy median. To borrow an oft-used expression, the ideal is seen as sort of a 'Goldilocks economy'—not too hot and not too cold but just right.In this camp, for...","https://mises.org/library/myth-price-level" "Health Care for All!","Library Item","Christopher Mayer","Mises Daily Articles","June 10, 2003","The specter of universal health care coverage has emerged again, as Democratic presidential candidates grope around for vote-getting ideas. Each of the candidates has put forth a plan and they are similar in at least one respect. As The Washington Post reports, ""all are big and ambitious, and are far costlier than anything that has been proposed since Clinton."" The political opportunism behind...","https://mises.org/library/health-care-all" "The Innocent Are Dead or Bankrupt","Library Item","Ted Roberts","Mises Daily Articles","February 18, 2005","The concept of taxation well deserves its partnership with death. Death and taxes, you know. Two vultures. Both, to say the least, deadly. Why do we let them shear us like sheep every Spring? I'm talking about taxes and their incremental, inexorable growth. The analogy of the farmer's son who hefts the newborn calf comes to mind. So easy that first day. And every morning thereafter he walks to...","https://mises.org/library/innocent-are-dead-or-bankrupt" "Uncle Sam Wants Me ... And My Children","Library Item","Joe Spoor","Mises Daily Articles","September 4, 2007","On August 5th, I awoke at 6:30 a.m. to find my 7-month pregnant wife at my bed side sobbing, telling me she thought her water had broken, but she wasn't certain. After a phone call to the doctor, we packed up our suitcases and left the Hilton in Cincinnati where we had gone for her birthday. It was to be a marathon run to our hospital in Toledo, hoping that if it was labor we had time to make it....","https://mises.org/library/uncle-sam-wants-me-and-my-children" "Looting the Responsible","Library Item","Kevin Duffy","Mises Daily Articles","October 8, 2008","I hope the titans of finance who expect us little people to save them are ashamed of themselves. But at the same time, in painting Main Street solely as a victim of a rapacious Wall Street, we are being hypocritical. We are all to blame."" — Bethany McLean, ""The Borrowers,"" The New York Times, October 2, 2008In a sense, the former Fortune investigative reporter of Enron whistleblower fame has a...","https://mises.org/library/looting-responsible" "Jobarama: Obama's ""Investment""","Library Item","Chris Brown","Mises Daily Articles","November 20, 2008","With all of the talk of how charismatic Barack Obama is, or of his oratory ability—and especially given his recent presidential victory—it is time to engage in a deeper economic critique of Obama's actual policies. Once we see the true effects of his policies and the incentives they create, we will see that his leadership skills and abilities make him more of a threat to freedom than if he were...","https://mises.org/library/jobarama-obamas-investment" "Margit's Years with Ludwig von Mises","Library Item","John Chamberlain","Mises Daily Articles","April 27, 2010","[My Years with Ludwig von Mises • By Margit von Mises • Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007) • 191 pages. This review originally appeared in the Freeman, 1977.]Margit von Mises's book about her husband, is, first of all, a deeply tender memoir of the human side of a genius. Though Mises was ""Lu"" to his devoted friends such as Henry Hazlitt and Larry Fertig, he was not a man to court intimacy. He...","https://mises.org/library/margits-years-ludwig-von-mises" "Some Social Aspects of Medical Socialism","Library Item","Melchior Palyi","Mises Daily Articles","May 3, 2010","[Excerpted from Compulsory Medical Care and the Welfare State]""Utopias are realizable. Life marches toward the Utopias. And perhaps a new century begins, a century in which the intellectuals and the cultured class will dream of means to escape the Utopias and to return to a non-Utopian society less 'perfect' and freer."" — Nicolas Berdjaev.The 18th century proudly called itself the century of...","https://mises.org/library/some-social-aspects-medical-socialism-0" "Money Makes the World Go Around","Library Item","Eugen-Maria Schulak, Herbert Unterköfler","Mises Daily Articles","January 19, 2012","[The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions (2011)] In his debut work, the Principles of Economics, Menger considered whether money developed ""without any agreement, without legislative compulsion, and even without regard to the public interest"" (Menger 1950/2007, p. 260; emphasis in the original). Accordingly, money had a ""natural"" origin and is not...","https://mises.org/library/money-makes-world-go-around" "The New State Cookshops","Library Item","Eugen Richter","Mises Daily Articles","June 21, 2010","It was, indeed, a wonderful achievement that today, in Berlin, 1,000 state cookshops, each one capable of accommodating 1,000 persons, should have been opened at one stroke. True, those persons who had imagined that it would be like the table d'hôte of the great hotels of the past days, where a pampered upper class continually reveled in every refinement of culinary art — such persons, I say,...","https://mises.org/library/new-state-cookshops" "Bad Advice for the Greeks","Library Item","Patrick Barron","Mises Daily Articles","October 15, 2012"," This summer Roger Bootle won Lord Wolfson's £250,000 prize for the best advice for a country leaving the European Monetary Union (one may assume that this advice is aimed at Greece). A more statist, anti-liberal policy than his could hardly be envisioned, which is a sad commentary on the mindset of the judges chosen by Lord Wolfson. His advice contrasted sharply with that of Dr. Philipp...","https://mises.org/library/bad-advice-greeks" "We Will Be Told Hyperinflation is Necessary, Proper, Patriotic, and Ethical","Library Item","Patrick Barron","Mises Daily Articles","January 13, 2014","Hyperinflation leads to the complete breakdown in the demand for a currency, which means simply that no one wishes to hold it. Everyone wants to get rid of that kind of money as fast as possible. Prices, denominated in the hyper-inflated currency, suddenly and dramatically go through the roof. The most famous examples, although there are many others, are Germany in the early 1920s and Zimbabwe...","https://mises.org/library/we-will-be-told-hyperinflation-necessary-proper-patriotic-and-ethical" "Thomas Piketty on Inequality and Capital","Library Item","Hunter Lewis, Peter G. Klein","Mises Daily Articles","April 26, 2014","Thomas Piketty's Sensational New BookThomas Piketty, a 42-year-old economist from French academe has written a hot new book: Capital in the Twenty-First Century. The U.S. edition has been published by Harvard University Press and, remarkably, is leading the best seller list; the first time that a Harvard book has done so. A recent review describes Piketty as the man “who exposed capitalism’s...","https://mises.org/library/thomas-piketty-inequality-and-capital" "The Austrians Were Right","Library Item","Harry C. Veryser","Mises Daily Articles","February 5, 2013","Editor's Note: Professor Harry C. Veryser has written a much-needed look at the Austrian School of economics and why its lessons must be heeded at last. Ron Paul calls the book “an excellent introduction to the Austrian School of economics and an excellent account of the economic history of the 20th century,” while Thomas E. Woods Jr. writes, “I am blown away by how much ground Harry Veryser...","https://mises.org/library/austrians-were-right" "Operation Twisted Logic","Library Item","Detlev Schlichter","Mises Daily Articles","September 26, 2011","Last week the US Federal Reserve delivered no real surprises. Its new policy was expected by the market and those members of the public who still follow the central bank's every move with interest and, I can only assume, in the misguided belief that it has the answer to our problems. As part of ""Operation Twist"" the Fed will purchase $400 billion of long-dated government bonds and sell an...","https://mises.org/library/operation-twisted-logic" "From Loose Money to Fettered People","Library Item","Carmen Alexe","Mises Daily Articles","February 6, 2012"," A governmental easy-money policy has many repercussions. Currency debasement, the enabling of unnecessary wars, and increases in the size of federal power are among them. And political interference into monetary affairs always leads to economic distortions. These distortions in turn lead to government imposition of rules, regulations, taxation, and tariffs, all of which favor a handful of...","https://mises.org/library/loose-money-fettered-people" "Europe and Deflation Paranoia","Library Item","Frank Hollenbeck","Mises Daily Articles","April 29, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises DailyThere is a current incessant flow of articles warning us of the certain economic calamity if deflation is allowed to show its nose for even the briefest period of time. This ogre of deflation, we are told, must be defeated with the printing presses at all costs. Of course, the real objective of this fear mongering is to enable continued...","https://mises.org/library/europe-and-deflation-paranoia" "The Big, Bad Market: A French Psychosis?","Library Item","Louis Rouanet","Mises Daily Articles","April 25, 2014","There is a cliché according to which the French are genetically against classical liberalism and free-market economics. However, that wasn’t always the case. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, most French politicians and bureaucrats admitted that the State is globally inefficient and should be as small as possible. Even a large number of leftists, inspired by...","https://mises.org/library/big-bad-market-french-psychosis" "The Interest Rate Question","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","The Free Market, Institute Publications","November 13, 2021","The Free Market 6, no. 2 (February 1988) The Marxists call it ""impressionism"": taking social or economic trends of the last few weeks or months and assuming that they will last forever. The problem is not realizing that there are underlying economic laws at work. Impressionism has always been rampant; and never more so than in public discussion of interest rates. For most of 1987, interest rates...","https://mises.org/library/interest-rate-question" "Teenage Mutant Ninja Leftists","Library Item","Alexander Tabarrok","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","June 1, 1991","The Free Market 9, no. 6 (June 1991) Ludwig von Mises disliked hardboiled detective novels because he always knew who the murderer would be: not the butler, but a prosperous and respected gentleman of high social standing who pretends to virtue, but is actually a hidden criminal and sanctimonious hypocrite. Mises saw egalitarian envy in such tales.It's no different on television. From the A-Team...","https://mises.org/library/teenage-mutant-ninja-leftists" "Rockwell's Next Thirty Days","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 1992","The Free Market 10, no. 1 (January 1992) Last March, I laid out my ""Thirty Day Plan"" for de-socializing America. But I didn't scrap all of big government; now it's time for more:DAY ONE: Foreign junkets are outlawed. If anyone on the federal payroll wants to fly overseas, he has to buy his own ticket. The State Department, Congress, and White House go into hyperventilation.DAY TWO: Medicare and...","https://mises.org/library/rockwells-next-thirty-days" "Are Cigarettes Doomed?","Library Item","Mark Thornton","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 1995","The Free Market 13, no. 10 (October 1995) Some Americans are no doubt touched by Bill Clinton's concern for the health of children. His press secretary even declared that it was now the President's personal responsibility to prevent American youth from smoking. But Clinton's ten-point program to prevent teenage smoking, designed by FDA Czar-for-Life David Kessler, will fail like all previous...","https://mises.org/library/are-cigarettes-doomed" "Define It Away","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","February 1, 1996","The Free Market 14, no. 2 (February 1996) People made fun of Gerald Ford's buttons that said ""WIN,"" meaning ""Whip Inflation Now."" The buttons and the accompanying propaganda campaign implied that consumers' bad vibes were the cause of inflation. Ha, Ha.Now, the White House, members of both parties, and their court economists have done Gerry one better. Lacking any strategy for getting rid of...","https://mises.org/library/define-it-away" "Taxes and Distortion","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","March 1, 1996","The Free Market 14, no. 3 (March 1995) The government always wants more of our money, and too many economists are ready to make the case for surrendering our last dime. During the budget hysteria of 1990, for example, many economists claimed that the government needed to raise taxes to balance the budget. Anyone who disagreed was supposedly unwilling to confront the hard fiscal reality that the...","https://mises.org/library/taxes-and-distortion" "Return of Supply Side, The","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 1996","The Free Market 14, no. 10 (October 1996) The good news is that supply-siders want to cut taxes. The bad news is...well, let's accentuate the positive for the moment. The supply-siders reject Washington's tendency to think in static terms. To most politicians and bureaucrats, the economy is a pie for the tax collectors and special interests to slice up and gorge themselves on. Then they are...","https://mises.org/library/return-supply-side" "Dangers of Government Safety, The","Library Item","Eric Peters","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","February 1, 1997","The Free Market 15, no. 2 (February 1997) Among the many excuses for government planning is that it makes life safer for one and all. The automobile bears the brunt of this central planning. Like most all interventions in the free market, the effect of mandates to make the car safer is nearly the opposite. Witness the recent air bag fiasco.Joan Claybrook, a heroine to government boosters for...","https://mises.org/library/dangers-government-safety" "Hot Air","Library Item","Patrick Weinert","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 1, 1998","The Free Market 16, no. 9 (September 1998) When Carol Browner, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, proposed new air quality standards last year, she claimed that thousands of Americans are being killed every year by tiny particles in the air with diameters of less than 2.5 microns. The EPA currently regulates airborne pollutants 10 microns in diameter, so Browner asked to have the agency...","https://mises.org/library/hot-air" "Sell the Subways","Library Item","Gregory Bresiger","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","August 1, 1999","The Free Market 17, no. 9 (August 1999) No New York City public institution better illustrates the rise and decline of the city than the subways. The subways were primarily built by private-sector entrepreneurs at the turn of the century.On Oct. 27, 1904, the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), the first subway line in the city, began operating from lower Manhattan. It was an immediate success. A...","https://mises.org/library/sell-subways" "Government Attacks the Family","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 1, 1999","The Free Market 17, no. 9 (September 1999) Making splashy headlines, the National Marriage Project of Rutgers University reported this summer that marriage rates are at an historic low. Americans are waiting longer to get married and are choosing alternative arrangements to marriage. Data showing that divorce is on the decline turn out to be more complicated: people are taking fewer risks with...","https://mises.org/library/government-attacks-family" "Anticapitalism at Business School","Library Item","James Sheehan","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","August 1, 2000","The Free Market 18, no. 8 (August 2000) After attending a leading business school for the last year, I have been witness to capitalist bashing that rivals that of high schools and colleges. The chilling part is that these schools are training future business managers working in a free-enterprise system.In fact, the business schools that produce an annual crop of MBAs for industry are becoming as...","https://mises.org/library/anticapitalism-business-school" "The Mortgage Boom","Library Item","Christopher Mayer","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","May 1, 2001","The Free Market 19, no. 5 (May 2001) In the parlance of finance, liquidity refers to the readiness that an asset can be converted to cash without a significant loss in value. Examples of liquid assets include money market shares, US Treasury bills, and bank deposits. Throughout most of American history, the most liquid financial instruments have been those markets dealing in federal government...","https://mises.org/library/mortgage-boom" "Is Terror Good for the Economy?","Library Item","Benjamin Powell","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 2001","The Free Market 19, no. 12 (December 2001) Paul Krugman's September 14 column in the New York Times contained more economic fallacies and hypocrisy than usual. It is a shame that a paper, where Henry Hazlitt applied Bastiat's wisdom so well now carries a column by Krugman, who, week after week, preaches that breaking windows will bring us greater wealth. In this particular column Krugman...","https://mises.org/library/terror-good-economy" "What Tells the Truth?","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","May 1, 2002","The Free Market 20, no. 5 (May 2002) We are inundated by the forces of malevolence and deceit: terrorists, lying CEOs, stock hustlers, power-mad politicians, conniving regulators, conspiring pressure groups, and paid-off pundits. They seem to be everywhere. Revelations about Enron and its political connections remind us that even the business world is horribly tainted by graft, special favors,...","https://mises.org/library/what-tells-truth" "The Mystery of Production","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 2003","The Free Market 23, no. 12 (December 2003) The Economist magazine asked in a recent issue: ""Why on earth can’t the world’s richest country ensure that Baghdad has water and electricity?"" One might think that a publication dedicated to covering the world of markets would already know the answer. The US government is trying to solve economic problems in Iraq, including the provision of essentials...","https://mises.org/library/mystery-production" "Taxes and Criminality","Library Item","Ted Roberts","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2005","The Free Market 26, no. 4 (April 2005) The concept of taxation well deserves its partnership with death. Death and taxes, you know. Two vultures. Both, to say the least, deadly.Why do we let them shear us like sheep every spring? I’m talking about taxes and their incremental, inexorable growth. The analogy of the farmer’s son who hefts the newborn calf comes to mind. It’s so easy that first day....","https://mises.org/library/taxes-and-criminality" "The Ordeal of Hoppe","Library Item","Stephan Kinsella","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2005","The Free Market 26, no. 4 (April 2005) Has academia become so politicized that teaching good economics, and using politically sensitive illustrations, can lead to threats, fines, penalties, demotion and worse? It certainly seemed so in early February when Hans-Hermann Hoppe, a leading student of Murray Rothbard and senior fellow of the Mises Institute, received an egregious letter from the...","https://mises.org/library/ordeal-hoppe" "Save the Piano Industry","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 1 (January 2009) Today the highest-price good that people buy besides their houses is their car, and this reality leads people to believe that we can’t possibly let the American car industry die. We couldn’t possibly be a real country and a powerful nation without our beloved auto industry, which is so essential to our national well-being. In any case, this is what...","https://mises.org/library/save-piano-industry" "The Case for Hoarding","Library Item","George Ford Smith","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","November 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 11 (November 2009) Most people would admit to hoarding money only with a tinge of guilt, because to be a hoarder carries with it the suggestion of being a miser—a Scrooge. And yet, every participant in an economy based on indirect exchange holds some amount of money and can be said to be hoarding it; that is, declining to spend it. Hoarding is a strategy for achieving...","https://mises.org/library/case-hoarding" "Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos, by Robert D. Kaplan","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2002","Let God Sort Them OutMises Review 8, No. 1 (Spring 2002)WARRIOR POLITICS: WHY LEADERSHIP DEMANDS A PAGAN ETHOSRobert D. KaplanRandom House, 2002, xxii + 198 pgs. The dust jacket of Mr. Kaplan's book made me suspicious. Henry Kissinger, that vest-pocket Bismarck,1 calls the book “one of the most thought-provoking and profound . . . that I have ever read.” John Gray, whom I have reviewed several...","https://mises.org/library/warrior-politics-why-leadership-demands-pagan-ethos-robert-d-kaplan" "Austrian Business Cycle Theory and the Global Financial Crisis: Confessions of a Mainstream Economist","Library Item","Jerry H. Tempelman","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 13, No. 1 (Spring 2010)ABSTRACT: Austrian business cycle theory has a legitimate claim to being the most authoritative explanation of the recent global financial and economic crisis. Indeed, many mainstream economists have begun to analyze the crisis, perhaps unwittingly so, in terms that sound as if they were derived directly from the Mises-Hayek-Garrison theory of macroeconomic...","https://mises.org/library/austrian-business-cycle-theory-and-global-financial-crisis-confessions-mainstream-economist" "How Labor Unions Hurt Workers","Library Item","George Reisman","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 7, 2014","The Free Market 32, no. 6 (June 2014)Many Americans, perhaps a substantial majority, still believe that, irrespective of any problems they may have caused, labor unions are fundamentally an institution that exists in the vital self-interest of wage earners. Indeed, many believe that it is labor unions that stand between the average wage earner and a life of subsistence wages, exhausting hours of...","https://mises.org/library/how-labor-unions-hurt-workers" "Investors and Austrian Economics","Library Item","Robert Blumen","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 7, 2014","The Free Market 32, no. 5 (May 2014)Mises Institute: In recent years, we’ve seen more and more Austrian-tinged economic analysis coming from investors like Mark Spitznagel and Jim Rogers, to just name two. As someone personally involved in the investment world, have you yourself seen growth in Austrian ideas among investors and similar professionals?Robert Blumen: There has been tremendous growth...","https://mises.org/library/investors-and-austrian-economics" "The New Skyscraper Curse","Library Item","Mark Thornton","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 7, 2014","The Free Market 32, no. 4 (April 2014)From CNN to Barron’s to Le Monde, Mark Thornton has been featured as an authority on how record-setting skyscrapers signal impending economic downturns. Last month, Dr. Thornton spoke with us about the Skyscraper Index and the Skyscraper Curse. Mises Institute: The Skyscraper Index, which shows a correlation between the construction of the world’s tallest...","https://mises.org/library/new-skyscraper-curse-0" "How Carl Menger Put Consumers at the Center of Economic Science","Library Item","Christopher Westley","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 7, 2014","The Free Market 32, no. 4 (April 2014)One of my favorite economists in the history of economic thought is the great Austrian, Carl Menger (1840–1921). While the mainstream of the economics profession acknowledges Menger’s place due to his contribution to the Marginalist Revolution in the 1870s, it otherwise ignores him because his theoretical framework does not lend itself to policy prescriptions...","https://mises.org/library/how-carl-menger-put-consumers-center-economic-science" "Krugman on Friedman: An Austrian Approach","Wire","John P. Cochran","","March 16, 2012","Paul Krugman, in a most recent post, argues “Backward moves the macroeconomic debate” with “the result that our economic discourse is significantly more primitive now that it was 70 years ago.” Per Krugman, this backward movement is apparent in the use by some opponents of active demand management policy, such as Amity Shlaes, and of the “supposed legacy of Milton Friedman.”He further argues, “...","https://mises.org/wire/krugman-friedman-austrian-approach" "The Cyprus Deal and the Unraveling of Fractional-Reserve Banking","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","March 27, 2013","The “Cyprus deal” as it has been widely referred to in the media may mark the next to last act in the the slow motion collapse of fractional-reserve banking that began with the implosion of the savings-and-loan industry in the U.S. in the late 1980s. This trend continued with the currency crises in Russia, Mexico, East Asia and Argentina in the 1990s in which fractional-reserve banking played a...","https://mises.org/wire/cyprus-deal-and-unraveling-fractional-reserve-banking" "Political Economy of Finance","Wire","Jörg Guido Hülsmann","","May 24, 2013","Yours truly is happy to announce a new book publication : Krise der Inflationskultur (Munich: Finanzbuch-Verlag, 2013), 320 pp.The strongest criticisms of fiat money and central banking have been based on monetary considerations and on the theory of capital. By contrast, the repercussions of an inflationary monetary system on financial markets and on the use of wealth has been somewhat neglected...","https://mises.org/wire/political-economy-finance" " Mt. Gox Problems Mount","Wire","David Howden","","March 13, 2014","In the aftermath of the demise of bitcoin bank Mt. Gox comes a few startling revelations. A newly released “Crisis Strategy Draft” confirms some unfortunate truths long suspected of its handling of clients’ bitcoin deposits. (The document might be a fake, but I’ll accept it as legitimate until proof otherwise surfaces.)The first unfortunate truth is Mt. Gox’s admission that it is a fractional-...","https://mises.org/wire/mt-gox-problems-mount" "Ten Reasons to Condemn Inflation ","Library Item","Andreas Marquart","Mises Daily Articles","September 8, 2014","Inflation, defined as an expansion of the supply of unbacked money, is an elementary evil, always and everywhere that it occurs.1 It is the ignored and core cause of numerous problems in the economy and in society, including:1. Inflation Causes Booms and BustsIncreasing the money supply that involves the granting of more credit means that new money is created by credit that is not covered by...","https://mises.org/library/ten-reasons-condemn-inflation" "Austrians, Fractional Reserves, and the Money Multiplier","Library Item","Robert Batemarco","Mises Daily Articles","September 2, 2014","John Tamny recently wrote a piece at Forbes titled, “The Closing of the Austrian School’s Economic Mind” in which he critiqued certain claims made in Frank Hollenbeck’s Mises Daily article, “Confusing Capitalism with Fractional Reserve Banking.”Tamny goes far beyond taking Hollenbeck to task, asserting that many modern Austrian economists have certain views of monetary policy that are at odds...","https://mises.org/library/austrians-fractional-reserves-and-money-multiplier" "Blaming That Cold Weather Culprit","Library Item","Devin Leary-Hanebrink","Mises Daily Articles","August 27, 2014","In February, the Federal Reserve made a cursory observation that the unusually severe winter was partly to blame for the stagnant pace of the US economy. The news media, ranging from liberal to conservative, all highlighted the Fed’s report and provided their respective “spin” on how the weather damages the economy. But soon enough, focus turned back to the brutally cold temperatures and not...","https://mises.org/library/blaming-cold-weather-culprit" "Labor Unions Are Anti-Labor","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","July 28, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises DailyMany Americans, perhaps a substantial majority, still believe that, irrespective of any problems they may have caused, labor unions are fundamentally an institution that exists in the vital self-interest of wage earners. Indeed, many believe that it is labor unions that stand between the average wage earner and a life of subsistence wages,...","https://mises.org/library/labor-unions-are-anti-labor" "Why Faster Is Often Better, But Not Always","Library Item","Jonathan Newman","Mises Daily Articles","July 21, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises DailyApparently all it takes to get recognition these days from the National Bureau of Economic Research is to time yourself doing math problems.In this new paper from the NBER, S. Boragan Aruoba and Jesús Fernández-Villaverde solve the familiar stochastic neoclassical growth model using various software, programming languages, and operating...","https://mises.org/library/why-faster-often-better-not-always" "Investors and Austrian Economics","Library Item","Robert Blumen","Mises Daily Articles","July 4, 2014","Robert Blumen, a software engineer with a background in financial applications, recently spoke with the Mises Institute about the Austrian School’s growing influence among investors.Mises Institute: In recent years, we’ve seen more and more Austrian-tinged economic analysis coming from investors like Mark Spitznagel and Jim Rogers, to just name two. As someone personally involved in the...","https://mises.org/library/investors-and-austrian-economics-0" "Why Central Bank Stimulus Cannot Bring Economic Recovery","Library Item","Patrick Barron","Mises Daily Articles","June 4, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises DailyToday every central bank on the planet is printing money by the bucket loads in an attempt to stimulate their economies to escape velocity and a sustainable recovery. They are following Keynesian dogma that increasing aggregate demand will spur an increase in employment and production. So far all that these central banks have managed to do is...","https://mises.org/library/why-central-bank-stimulus-cannot-bring-economic-recovery" "Does deflation have a life of its own?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","September 2, 2003","In an interesting article ""The Anatomy of Deflation"" professor Reisman makes a valid criticism of all those commentators who view deflation as a fall in prices. According to Reisman deflation is not a fall in prices but rather a decline in money supply. Consequently, he argues that all the bad things that are attributed to declining prices, which is misleadingly labelled as deflation, should be...","https://mises.org/wire/does-deflation-have-life-its-own" "Stephen Roach and others on financial threats","Wire","Robert Blumen","","August 7, 2004","Stephen Roach is without a doubt the most iconoclastic of Wall Street Economists. He has been alone among major investment house economists in calling attention to the stock bubble, the bond bubble, the housing bubble, and in questioning the sustainability of the recovery. He has arrived at some of the same conclusions as many Austrians without an explicit formulation of the Austrian Theory of...","https://mises.org/wire/stephen-roach-and-others-financial-threats" "Keynes, Capital, and Commonsense","Wire"," Mises.org","","August 23, 2004","The other day I was talking to an open-minded economist who didn’t appear wedded to Keynesianism. I said I believed that all Keynes’ major nostrums were false and that included the citadel or sine qua non of Keynesianism, his theory of the Marginal Efficiency of Capital, (MEC) on which his postulate that capitalism ends up in mass unemployment depends.My colleague’s response was that whilst one...","https://mises.org/wire/keynes-capital-and-commonsense" "Locke's Birthday on Sunday","Wire","Gary Galles","","August 27, 2004","Each July 4th, Americans celebrate the ""birthday"" of the Declaration of Independence. But little is ever said on August 29th about another birthday--that of John Locke, in 1632, without whom the Declaration of Independence as we know it would not exist. Locke's 1689 Second Treatise on Government was the origin of so much of the reasoning and language in our founding document that Thomas Jefferson...","https://mises.org/wire/lockes-birthday-sunday" "News Flash: A Creative Economist","Wire","Mark Thornton","","October 17, 2005","Freakonomics (William Morrow, 2005) by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner has been reviewed several times on Mises.org (1, 2, 3), but there are some points to add.Levitt's coauthor Stephen Dubar has written an interesting and informative book and the title is all too accurate. Readers will be exposed to precious little economics, only the statistical unraveling of a few freaky puzzles. This...","https://mises.org/wire/news-flash-creative-economist" "RatesRise, Lines Lengthen at the ol' PO","Wire","Ted Roberts","","May 14, 2006","I don't mean to pick on the US Postal Service, but I must admit to a strong (but not yet clinical) obsession with monopolies — especially those that deliver mail. Consequently, the planet's largest governmental monopoly draws my attention like cow patties attract flies.Maybe its existence is necessary just to provide a real-world experiment in monopolistic inefficiency. What could provide a...","https://mises.org/wire/ratesrise-lines-lengthen-ol-po" "Hoppe and Intellectual Property: On Standing on the Shoulders of Giants","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","July 31, 2006","It is often the case that the great intellects advance ideas so rich and prescient that they anticipate, in however embryonic form, ideas that are more fully developed later on. One of my favorite examples is Hans Hoppe's monumental argumentation ethics defense of libertarian rights, where Hoppe gives credit to Rothbard for recognizing, in a brief passage, the insights that Hoppe builds on more...","https://mises.org/wire/hoppe-and-intellectual-property-standing-shoulders-giants" "The Green Business Racket: Con Customers, Cut Corners, Boost Profits","Wire","George Reisman","","October 25, 2006"," At the most fundamental level, environmentalism and the Green movement that represents it are hostile to business. The ethics of environmentalism and the Greens is one of human deprivation and individual self-sacrifice. Business in contrast rests on a foundation of the pursuit of happiness and the profit motive. The one represents a joyless existence devoted to selfless service to the ""...","https://mises.org/wire/green-business-racket-con-customers-cut-corners-boost-profits" "Last Knight Live Blog 22 Kraus","Wire","Lorenz Kraus","","January 17, 2008","One reviewer of the second edition of Socialism commented: “In some circles Mises is called the last representative of a liberal economic order. He is certainly not the last, but after many years the first who has dared to think through all the consequences of such an order [liberal economic order], and to erect and demonstrate a doctrine with unshakable logic.”In chapter 15, Crisis, we learn...","https://mises.org/wire/last-knight-live-blog-22-kraus" "China's Sovereign Wealth Gets Burned","Wire","Robert Blumen","","January 18, 2008","James Fallows, writing in the Atlantic, has produced a fascinating piece on China's fund. I have covered the emerging sovereign wealth funds several times already (1 2 3 4 5 6 7), however, Fallows' piece is one of the more economically literate I have seen on the subject. Most writers presume that the so-called ""export-lead growth strategy"" has something to do with economic growth because...","https://mises.org/wire/chinas-sovereign-wealth-gets-burned" "Leading Keynesian Economist Uses The ""D"" Word","Wire","Hunter Lewis","","August 31, 2014","Most Keynesian economists do not want to admit that we are in another depression. They find the word painful.They find it painful because it contradicts the idea that Keynesian economic ideas have ended depressions forever. It also contradicts the idea that the massive and continuing Keynesian stimulus applied by world governments since 2008 has worked. For this and other reasons, euphemisms such...","https://mises.org/wire/leading-keynesian-economist-uses-d-word" "More on Fractional Reserves and Austrian Economics ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","September 4, 2014","Robert Batemarco addresses the more flamboyantly wrong portions of John Tamny's recent anti-Austrian Forbes article in Tuesday's Mises Daily. Now, even Mike Shedlock of Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis avers that ""Tamny proves he does not understand AE or fractional reserve lending."" Mish makes what should be some obvious points right off the bat (but which aren't obvious to Tamny):Point by...","https://mises.org/wire/more-fractional-reserves-and-austrian-economics" "Manufacturing Consent, Then and Now ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","September 25, 2014","[When it comes to drumming up support for foreign wars in the US, little has fundamentally changed over the past century. Justin Raimondo on ""Progressivism and the rise of the welfare-warfare state"":]Ticking at the heart of American society all through the 1920s was the mechanism of false prosperity, which was blowing great quantities of air into a bubble of gigantic proportions. The Federal...","https://mises.org/wire/manufacturing-consent-then-and-now" "The True Cost of the Homeownership Obsession ","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Daily Articles","January 16, 2015","In 2014, the US homeownership rate fell below 65 percent, which means it’s back to where it was during the 1970s and much of the 1990s. Various federal agencies have long made homeownership a priority, and have introduced a bevy of government and quasi-government programs including the GSEs like Fannie Mae, FHA-insured loans, VA-insured loans, the Bush administration’s “American Dream Downpayment...","https://mises.org/library/true-cost-homeownership-obsession" "You Can’t Create More Savings by Printing More Money ","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","February 12, 2015","Savings has nothing to do with money. For instance, if a baker produces ten loaves of bread and consumes one loaf, his savings is nine loaves of bread. In other words, the “savings” in this case is the baker’s real income (his production of bread) minus the amount of bread that the baker consumed. The baker’s savings now permits him to secure other goods and services.For instance, the baker can...","https://mises.org/library/you-cant-create-more-savings-printing-more-money" "13. Wage Interference by Government","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","When in the 19th century the question was asked: What can be done in order to raise wage rates and thereby to improve the average standard of living of the most numerous class of the population, the economists answered: One has to accelerate the increase of capital as compared with population. This answer infuriated the reformers and socialists. Historian Thomas Carlyle called economics the...","https://mises.org/13-wage-interference-government" "29. Capital and Interest: Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk and the Discriminating Reader","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","The publication of a new English-language translation of Böhm-Bawerk's monumental work on Capital and Interest1 raises an important question.There is no doubt that Böhm-Bawerk's book is the most eminent contribution to modern economic theory. For every economist it is a must to study it most carefully and to scrutinize its content with the utmost care. A man not perfectly familiar with all the...","https://mises.org/29-capital-and-interest-eugen-von-bohm-bawerk-and-discriminating-reader" "5th Lecture: Foreign Investment","Online Text Chapter","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books","February 18, 2015","Some people call the programs of economic freedom a negative program. They say: “What do you liberals really want? You are against socialism, government intervention, inflation, labor union violence, protective tariffs. . . . You say ‘no’ to everything.”I would call this statement a one-sided and shallow formulation of the problem. For it is possible to formulate a liberal program in a positive...","https://mises.org/5th-lecture-foreign-investment" "Government Intervention Does Not Justify More Government Intervention","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 2, 2015","For many years, advocates of mandatory “life and safety” regulation (i.e., legislated smoking bans, helmet laws, seat belt laws, bans on sugary drinks, etc) have claimed that they are justified on the grounds that, since so many health-care services are taxpayer-funded, then it is both necessary and legitimate that the government therefor mandate more safe and healthy behavior. In other words,...","https://mises.org/wire/government-intervention-does-not-justify-more-government-intervention" "Will the Fed Let Innovation Work Its Magic? ","Library Item","Edin Mujagic","Mises Daily Articles","April 20, 2015","Sometimes one finds true gems in one’s archives. Recently I came across a speech by then-chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, from May 18, 2013. It was the commencement speech at Bard College at Simon´s Rock, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In it, Bernanke chose to forget for a while the dire straits the Western economy is in and focused on prospects for economic growth in the long run, which...","https://mises.org/library/will-fed-let-innovation-work-its-magic" "Seven Changes Needed in Baltimore and Ferguson Right Now ","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","May 8, 2015","I am regularly asked what can be done to solve the problem of “urban blight” in places like Detroit. The question is usually asked with exhausted desperation and a shrug, as if there are no possible answers. The cause of this “blight” is the root of the problem, and when ignited by police brutality, sets off riots in cities like Ferguson and Baltimore. There are a whole range of answers that we...","https://mises.org/library/seven-changes-needed-baltimore-and-ferguson-right-now" "The ECB and the Negative-Interest-Rate Game","Library Item","Frank Hollenbeck","Mises Daily Articles","May 28, 2015","The ECB is now two months into its bond buying binge but the European Central Bank (ECB) never clearly explained the goal and purpose of its own version of quantitative easing. The deflation bogeyman was never a serious threat, nor was it based on any solid theoretical foundation.A possible justification may have been to make the 1 percent much wealthier so that their extravagant lifestyles...","https://mises.org/library/ecb-and-negative-interest-rate-game" "1. Price Control","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","June 2, 2015","The intervener may set either a minimum price below which a product cannot be sold, or a maximum price above which it cannot be sold. He can also compel a sale at a certain fixed price. In any event, the price control will either be ineffective or effective. It will be ineffective if the regulation has no current influence on the market price. Thus, suppose that automobiles are all selling at...","https://mises.org/1-price-control" "8. Charity and Poverty","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","June 2, 2015","A common complaint is that the free market would not insure the elimination of poverty, that it would “leave people free to starve,” and that it is far better to be “kindhearted” and give “charity” free rein by taxing the rest of the populace in order to subsidize the poor and the substandard.In the first place, the “freedom-to-starve” argument confuses the “war against nature,” which we all...","https://mises.org/8-charity-and-poverty" "Blog Action Day: Poverty","Wire","Art Carden","","October 15, 2008","Today is “Blog Action Day;” here’s an apparent mission statement from the official website:“Today thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue–poverty. We aim to raise awareness, initiate action and to shake the web!”I’ve been telling people for weeks that economists are the wet blankets of the world, so keeping this in mind I thought I would offer a few ideas about what we can do...","https://mises.org/wire/blog-action-day-poverty" "Do Patents Save Our Lives?","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","February 5, 2009","[Chapter 9]How essential are drugs patents as a piece of the machinery of the modern pharmaceutical industry? Incredibly so. Repealing them with no other changes would likely lead to a dismantling of a massive and lucrative industry that saves lives every day.To elaborate, without patents, compensation for the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary for jumping through FDA hoops would not be...","https://mises.org/wire/do-patents-save-our-lives" "6. Ownership of the Product by Capitalists: Amalgamated Stages","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","Up to this point we have discussed the case in which the owners of land and labor, i.e., of the original factors, restrict their possible consumption and invest their factors in a production process, which, after a certain time, produces a consumers’ good to be sold to consumers for money. Now let us consider a situation in which the owners of the factors do not own the final product. How could...","https://mises.org/6-ownership-product-capitalists-amalgamated-stages" "15. Business Fluctuations","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","In the real world, there will be continual changes in the pattern of economic activity, changes resulting from shifts in the tastes and demands of consumers, in resources available, technological knowledge, etc. That prices and outputs fluctuate, therefore, is to be expected, and absence of fluctuation would be unusual. Particular prices and outputs will change under the impact of shifts in...","https://mises.org/15-business-fluctuations" "First Alleged “Copyright” Dispute: 560 AD, Celtic Ireland; Battle Ensues; 3000 people die","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","May 10, 2011","I just came across some interesting information about what is sometimes referred to as “the first copyright” dispute (h/t Kevin Glick). It concerns one of Ireland’s three patron saints, St. Colum Cille (521-597 AD) (the others being St. Patrick and St. Brigid). Colum Cille was given this name when he became a monk–the name meaning “Dove of the Church”. He is sometimes he is referred to as...","https://mises.org/wire/first-alleged-copyright-dispute-560-ad-celtic-ireland-battle-ensues-3000-people-die" "Barack Obama and Sarah Palin on Taxing Oil Companies and Giving the Money to Others","Wire","George Reisman","","August 30, 2008","From the website of Barack Obama:• Immediately Provide Emergency Energy Rebate. Barack Obama will require oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record‐breaking windfall profits and use it to provide direct relief worth $500 for an individual and $1,000 for a married couple. The relief would be delivered as quickly as possible to help families cope with the rising price of gasoline,...","https://mises.org/wire/barack-obama-and-sarah-palin-taxing-oil-companies-and-giving-money-others" "Reliving the Crash of '29","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Wire","August 25, 2015","[First published in Inquiry, November 12, 1979.]A half-century ago, America — and then the world — was rocked by a mighty stock-market crash that soon turned into the steepest and longest-lasting depression of all time.It was not only the sharpness and depth of the depression that stunned the world and changed the face of modern history: it was the length, the chronic economic morass persisting...","https://mises.org/library/reliving-crash-29-0" "Trust Us, We're Superheroes ","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","The Austrian, Institute Publications","September 25, 2015","Since 2008, Marvel Studios, now owned by Disney, has been cranking out at least one big-budget new movie each year, with much success. The movies of the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe — which includes the post-2007 Marvel movies about the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and the Avengers — have combined to gross more than 8.5 billion dollars.The studio has been careful to...","https://mises.org/library/trust-us-were-superheroes" "Borders Closing Across Europe: Norway Joins In ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","November 30, 2015","Even though it isn't a member of the European Union, Norway is a part of the Schengen Area in Europe which is the ""borderless"" zone of Europe where, until recently, people and goods could pass from country to country without border checks. Recently, Schengen has begun to break down. As I noted in last Friday's Mises Daily article, the idea of a politically unified Europe is facing one of its...","https://mises.org/wire/borders-closing-across-europe-norway-joins" "The Fed Can Do Real Damage Without Even Trying","Wire","Jonathan Newman","","December 17, 2015","The last financial crisis and recession drove many to the writings of Austrian economists and the Mises Institute. In fact, I’m in that cohort. And every time the Fed makes headlines, I see this crowd getting larger.Sub-Groups Within the Anti-Fed PartyEven with this December 2015 episode, with the media abuzz over a 0.25 rate increase, many are questioning the Fed’s authority and ability to steer...","https://mises.org/wire/fed-can-do-real-damage-without-even-trying" """Stocks Are Not Overvalued"": Supply Siders Drop the (Crystal) Ball Again","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","January 20, 2016","Supply siders are always so cocksure of themselves that it is fun to gloat a little—alright, a lot—when their forecasts go awry, which they frequently do. Remember back in 2006 when Arthur Laffer smugly dismissed Peter Schiff's concerns about the housing bubble and assured us that there was no recession on the horizon? Alan Reynolds, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, is a prominent supply...","https://mises.org/wire/stocks-are-not-overvalued-supply-siders-drop-crystal-ball-again" """Gridlock"" in DC Does Little to Stymie Government Spending","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","February 9, 2016","It's long been common knowledge among advocates for limited government that the best thing to hope for is ""gridlock"" in DC where one party controls the White House and the other party controls the Congress.This theory assumes that in such a case, the two parties will spend all their time fighting each other and neither will be able to pass much damaging legislation.John Adams employed this theory...","https://mises.org/wire/gridlock-dc-does-little-stymie-government-spending" "Why Negative Interest Rates Will Fail ","Library Item","Frank Hollenbeck","Mises Wire","February 16, 2016","It is now just a matter of time before the US central bank follows the central banks of Japan, the EU, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland in setting negative rates on reserve deposits.The goal of such rates is to force banks to lend their excess reserves. The assumption is that such lending will boost aggregate demand and help struggling economies recover. Using the same central bank logic as in...","https://mises.org/library/why-negative-interest-rates-will-fail" "The Economics of ""Free Stuff""","Library Item","Jonathan Newman","Mises Wire","February 22, 2016","The perennial promises of free stuff from political candidates are front and center again now that we are ensnared in another US election cycle. The knee-jerk response from some economists and libertarians is “TANSTAAFL!” And of course it’s true that There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, because somebody must bear the costs of the supposedly “free” stuff. Nothing is free because every action...","https://mises.org/library/economics-free-stuff" "Chapter 36: In Praise of Demagogues","Online Text Chapter","Joseph T. Salerno, Matthew McCaffrey","Books","March 1, 2016","For many years now, demagogues have been in great disfavor. They are not sober, they are not respectable, they are not “gentlemen.” And yet there is a great and growing need for their services. What, exactly, have been the charges leveled against the demagogues? They are roughly three in number.In the first place, they are disruptive forces in the body politic. They stir things up. Second, they...","https://mises.org/chapter-36-praise-demagogues" "Investing Responsibly in an Irresponsible World","Wire","Doug French","","March 11, 2016","Not so long ago the idea of negative interest rates seemed absurd. Now, as The New York Times reports, over $7 trillion in debt the world over make lenders yield instead of the other way around. But negative rates haven’t stimulated anything but the occasional bubble. What monetary treachery do the money mandarins have up their sleeves beyond creating enormous amounts of central bank credit and...","https://mises.org/wire/investing-responsibly-irresponsible-world" "We Need to Talk about Frank (Fetter)","Wire","Matthew McCaffrey","","March 11, 2016","If we were to ask readers to list the most important Austrian economists, most people would probably name Menger, Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard. But probably very few would think to include Frank Albert Fetter (1863–1949) among the luminaries of the tradition. This is unfortunate, because Fetter’s work, although neglected, is actually the source of some of the greatest insights in Austrian economics...","https://mises.org/wire/we-need-talk-about-frank-fetter" "Introduction by Professor Lionel Robbins","Online Text Chapter","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books","March 16, 2016","Of all branches of economic science, that part which relates to money and credit has probably the longest history and the most extensive literature. The elementary truths of the Quantity Theory were established at a time when speculation on other types of economic problem had hardly yet begun. By the middle of the nineteenth century when, in the general theory of value, a satisfactory statical...","https://mises.org/introduction-professor-lionel-robbins" "Must The Central Bank Be The Source Of An ""Austrian"" Boom And Bust?","Wire","Greg Ransom","","December 1, 2008","Many economists seem to think that the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle is an explanatory projected circumscribed by its dependence on the identification of lose money created by a central bank as the necessary explanans for the boom and bust cycle. But this is not Hayek’s view, and a careful reading of Hayek makes is clear that Hayek considered other sources of the misdirection of capital...","https://mises.org/wire/must-central-bank-be-source-austrian-boom-and-bust" "1. Price Control","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","March 30, 2016","The intervener may set either a minimum price below which a product cannot be sold, or a maximum price above which it cannot be sold. He can also compel a sale at a certain fixed price. In any event, the price control will either be ineffective or effective. It will be ineffective if the regulation has no current influence on the market price. Thus, suppose that automobiles are all selling at...","https://mises.org/1-price-control-0" "8. Charity and Poverty","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","April 4, 2016","A common complaint is that the free market would not insure the elimination of poverty, that it would “leave people free to starve,” and that it is far better to be “kindhearted” and give “charity” free rein by taxing the rest of the populace in order to subsidize the poor and the substandard.In the first place, the “freedom-to-starve” argument confuses the “war against nature,” which we all...","https://mises.org/8-charity-and-poverty-0" "The Ethics of Capitalism","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","April 13, 2016","In the expositions of Ethical Socialism one constantly finds the assertion that it presupposes the moral purification of men. As long as we do not succeed in elevating the masses morally we shall be unable to transfer the socialist order of society from the sphere of ideas to that of reality. The difficulties in the way of Socialism lie exclusively, or predominantly, in men's moral shortcomings....","https://mises.org/wire/ethics-capitalism" "The Week in Review: April 30, 2016","Wire","Mises Institute","","April 29, 2016","Surprising no one, the FOMC announced this week that they would maintain the status quo on the federal funds rate. Meanwhile housing prices are outpacing household wages, with Ryan McMaken noting that the Fed’s suppression of interest rates has led to consumers replacing “saving with consumer debt (i.e., mortgages) and a hope that people can continue to make the high payments every month. It's...","https://mises.org/wire/week-review-april-30-2016" "Why Modern Luddites Are Attacking Uber Drivers ","Wire","Mateusz Machaj","","May 30, 2016","Earlier this year, a number of Uber cars in Poland came under attack by a group of vandals who were likely taxi drivers. In general, these types of vandalism have a long tradition in human history and have contributed to keeping populations’ general living standards at very low levels. Attacks on Uber drivers are simply the latest chapter in a long story of efforts to intimidate and destroy...","https://mises.org/wire/why-modern-luddites-are-attacking-uber-drivers" "We’re Going Deeper into Debt as Real Incomes Fall ","Wire","Victor Xing","","June 1, 2016","New York Fed President Dudley recently commented that “real consumer spending growth appears to have moderated somewhat from the relatively robust pace of the second half of 2015.” While this may suggest headwinds from cyclical economic conditions, there are emerging signs that ultra-accommodative policy also acts as a constraint on consumer spending via income effects. Instead of inducing savers...","https://mises.org/wire/were-going-deeper-debt-real-incomes-fall" "The Lesson Revisited","Wire","Henry Hazlitt","","July 1, 2016","Economics, as we have now seen again and again, is a science of recognizing secondary consequences. It is also a science of seeing general consequences. It is the science of tracing the effects of some proposed or existing policy not only on some special interest in the short run, but on the general interest in the long run.This is the lesson that has been the special concern of this book. We...","https://mises.org/wire/lesson-revisited" "Why We Need Profits ","Wire","Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski","","July 27, 2016","Monetary profit isn't the only kind of profit, and people may do many things for psychic profit. Nevertheless, in a complex and industrialized world, monetary profit is essential in building sustainable economies. It is relatively easy to understand and appreciate the benefits of direct cooperation. The value of familial gift-giving, mutual help between friends, and barter exchange is typically...","https://mises.org/wire/why-we-need-profits" "Will the Bubble Pop Even if the Fed Never Raises Rates? ","Wire","Brendan Brown","","August 7, 2016","There is no ready-made answer in Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) to the multi-trillion dollar question now looming over the global economy and markets. Is the present virulent asset price inflation disease likely to enter any time soon its final phase of bust and recession? Will this happen even though the Federal Reserve has flip-flopped on even token steps toward policy normalization and...","https://mises.org/wire/will-bubble-pop-even-if-fed-never-raises-rates" "Free Trade Brings Abundance — Protectionism Brings Scarcity","Wire","Frank Hollenbeck","","September 18, 2016","In a targeted attack against trade with China, Donald Trump has claimed that America has lost high paying manufacturing jobs to China because China promotes its exports through subsidies, tax advantages, and currency manipulations. The reality is that we should not care what China does. The more China subsidizes its industries, the more we gain in the abundance of cheap goods and services and,...","https://mises.org/wire/free-trade-brings-abundance-protectionism-brings-scarcity" "Don't Slap a New Tax on High-Frequency Trading ","Wire","John Chapman","","October 3, 2016","Demonizing the financial industry has proven to be a political winner. Exposure of the evil banks was followed by Michael Lewis's exposé of the markets in Flash Boys. The markets are rigged, we are told, by high-frequency traders (HFTs) who are a bunch of tech-savvy parasites.1 The banks have been thoroughly chastened by Washington politicians and now it is the turn of the markets with more to...","https://mises.org/wire/dont-slap-new-tax-high-frequency-trading" "Six Things to Consider About Inflation ","Wire","Emile Woolf","","October 21, 2016","As an economic term, “inflation” is shorthand for “inflation of the money supply.”The general public, however, usually takes it to mean “rising prices” which is not surprising since one of the common effects of an increase in the money supply is higher prices. However, supporters of government policy often say, “If quantitative easing (QE) and its terrible twin, fractional reserve banking, are so...","https://mises.org/wire/six-things-consider-about-inflation" "Electing ""the Right People"" Won't Fix Washington, DC","Wire","Tho Bishop","","November 2, 2016","The 2016 presidential circus isn’t over with yet, but no matter the result it has already proven to be a frustrating electoral season for libertarians. Both Senator Rand Paul’s and former Governor Gary Johnson’s campaigns have disappointed most of their respective bases, and it now seems uncertain whether Johnson will achieve the 5% national goal the Libertarian Party to help them in future...","https://mises.org/wire/electing-right-people-wont-fix-washington-dc" "We Need More Stuff — Not More Jobs ","Wire","Robert A. McKeown ","","November 7, 2016","As always in an election year, the public clamors for more jobs. Understandably, being unemployed for any reason is a deplorable (did I just use that word?) position to find oneself in. Politicians promise more jobs. But does the market call for more jobs or more production?In actuality, people clamor for more, cheap, newer and better stuff. They want a job to be able to accumulate the stuff. To...","https://mises.org/wire/we-need-more-stuff-not-more-jobs" "There Are Two Types of Credit — One of Them Leads to Booms and Busts ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 14, 2016","In the slump of a cycle, businesses that were thriving begin to experience difficulties or go under. They do so not because of firm-specific entrepreneurial errors but rather in tandem with whole sectors of the economy. People who were wealthy yesterday have become poor today. Factories that were busy yesterday are shut down today, and workers are out of jobs.Businessmen themselves are confused...","https://mises.org/wire/there-are-two-types-credit-one-them-leads-booms-and-busts" "Have Trump Tweets Replaced Fed Speak? ","Wire","Tho Bishop","","December 12, 2016","Another day, another Tweet from President-elect Trump has moved the market.Lockheed Martin shares have taken a tumble following Trump highlighting the obvious on Twitter — the F-35 is an expensive boondoggle. This follows shares of Boeing dropping last week following a social media outburst criticizing the costs of a new Air Force One (the stock bounced back following the Obama Administration’s...","https://mises.org/wire/have-trump-tweets-replaced-fed-speak" "Is Holiday Gift-Giving Just A Big Waste?","Wire","Jonathan Newman","","December 25, 2017","Originally published December 14, 2016.Is Christmas bad for the economy?Do gifts destroy value? Are they a drag on the economy, as many economists suggest?In “The economist’s guide to gift-giving” at FT, Tim Harford collects the research of these economists who say that “Gifts typically destroy value. The total deadweight loss of Christmas in the US alone was $12bn.”They say that givers pay more...","https://mises.org/wire/holiday-gift-giving-just-big-waste" "Will Automation Make us Poor? ","Wire","Aaron Bailey","","January 6, 2017","Automation has become a huge concern in recent years. With computer algorithms getting more and more sophisticated, machines are becoming increasingly able to do jobs that are many people’s bread and butter.Driverless cars have been tested on our roads for years. Although they aren’t commercially available yet, they eventually will be. Once that happens, they’ll replace cab drivers, as well as...","https://mises.org/wire/will-automation-make-us-poor" "In a Free Market, No Profit is ""Excessive"" ","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","January 16, 2017","Profits are never normal. They appear only where there is a maladjustment, a divergence between actual production and production as it should be in order to utilize the available material and mental resources for the best possible satisfaction of the wishes of the public. They are the prize of those who remove this maladjustment; they disappear as soon as the maladjustment is entirely removed. In...","https://mises.org/wire/free-market-no-profit-excessive" "Trump Cuts Subsidy to Real Estate Industry, Opponents Call It a ""Tax Increase"" ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","January 25, 2017","Among the many new directives and executive orders already issued by the Trump administration is a little-noticed order to halt a scheduled cut in mortgage insurance fees levied by the FHA. Earlier in January, the Obama administration announced it would cut the FHA's insurance premium by a quarter of a percentage point to 0.60 percent, effective on Jan. 27.The fact that this all seems like a tiny...","https://mises.org/wire/trump-cuts-subsidy-real-estate-industry-opponents-call-it-tax-increase" "2016's Homeownership Rate Was the Lowest since 1965","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","February 1, 2017","Yesterday, the Census Bureau released its measure of homeownership for 2016, and the annual average for 2016 was 63.4 percent. That's the lowest rate measured since 1965 when the homeownership rate was 63 percent. 2016 was also the twelfth year in a row in which the homeownership rate was lower than the year prior. In other words, the homeownership rate in the US has been falling since 2004. I...","https://mises.org/wire/2016s-homeownership-rate-was-lowest-1965" "Under Socialized Medicine, The State Owns You","Wire","Justin Murray","","April 24, 2017","As Americans were spending time scrambling to give the IRS their annual protection fee, the court system in the United Kingdom, at the behest of National Health Service bureaucrats, abducted and murdered an 8-month-old baby. This brazen abduction was done in broad daylight with full press coverage and the UK government and courts claimed loudly this was humane and the right thing to do.This might...","https://mises.org/wire/under-socialized-medicine-state-owns-you" "Trump's Budget Explosion Will Bring Dire Monetary Shocks ","Wire","Brendan Brown","","May 12, 2017","The monetary consequences of the looming largely unfunded mega tax-cutting package will almost certainly trump all others. Its advocates make vital comparisons with the Reagan era. But they omit the key fact that fiscal shock then occurred within a rare episode of “hard money.” Paul Volcker, nominated as Fed Chief by President Carter in late 1978, was applying monetarist medicine to usher the US...","https://mises.org/wire/trumps-budget-explosion-will-bring-dire-monetary-shocks" "US Household Debt Rises to All-Time Highs","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Wire","May 17, 2017","Following the 2008 financial crisis, many observers were surprised by how much many Americans began saving. From 2009 to 2012, total household debt fell considerably, dropping by more than 12 percent from 2008 to 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal, that drop was described by Fed researchers as “an aberration from what had been a 63-year upward trend reflecting the depth, duration and...","https://mises.org/library/us-household-debt-rises-all-time-highs" """Priming the Pump"" Won't Create Real Wealth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 22, 2017","Once an economy falls into recession many commentators tend to express concern that as a result of the economic slump there are now underutilized capital and labor. Resources that can be used are now made unemployed. It is held that the key factor behind this is an insufficient demand for goods and services.Once it is accepted that this key factor is associated with insufficient demand these...","https://mises.org/wire/priming-pump-wont-create-real-wealth" "To Lower Health Care Costs, Try Freedom","Wire","Julian Adorney","","June 1, 2017","As Congress debates the American Health Care Act, its members should remember the benefits in cost and quality generated by the free market. What Americans need is not another complicated insurance scheme, but a return to health care that patients pay for themselves. For the past several decades, government intervention has pushed Americans to pay for more of their medical expenses with insurance...","https://mises.org/wire/lower-health-care-costs-try-freedom" "When Will the European Super-Bubble Pop?","Wire","Nick Giambruno","","June 8, 2017","France’s new president can’t keep the European Union together.In early May, France elected globalist darling Emmanuel Macron. His victory gave the EU a short-term boost. However, it did not change the fundamental problems with Europe’s artificial mega-state.Doug Casey agrees:The EU was built upon a foundation of sand, doomed to failure from the very start. The idea was ill-fated because the...","https://mises.org/wire/when-will-european-super-bubble-pop" "Fed Officials Can't See What's Right In Front Of Them","Library Item","Jonathan Newman","Mises Wire","June 12, 2017","While the Federal Reserve has an explicit dual mandate to keep prices stable and maintain full employment, they have unofficially taken on new goals like maintaining financial stability. Bernanke, Yellen, and other officials have noted how traditional monetary policy is a limited and blunt tool to accomplish this goal, which is why the Fed has, in recent years, exercised and flexed its regulatory...","https://mises.org/library/fed-cant-see-whats-right-front-them" "Government Medicine: Court Declares Child Should Die Rather Than Receive Privately-Funded Health Care ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","June 29, 2017","In a government-controlled healthcare system, the state determines who can receive treatment and when. This has long been admitted. But, what is less often discussed is that once a patient finds himself within a state-run healthcare facility, the state may deny him treatment — even if privately funded. This was recently illustrated when Charlie Gard, a small child suffering from mitochondrial...","https://mises.org/wire/government-medicine-court-declares-child-should-die-rather-receive-privately-funded-health-care" "Does a Falling Money Supply Cause Recessions? ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","July 7, 2017","In his writings, Milton Friedman blamed central bank policies for causing the Great Depression. According to Friedman, the Federal Reserve failed to pump enough reserves into the banking system to prevent a collapse in the money stock (see Free to Choose). In response to this failure, Friedman argued the money stock M1, which stood at $28.264 billion in October 1929; fell to $19.039 billion by...","https://mises.org/wire/does-falling-money-supply-cause-recessions" "How Central Banking Increased Inequality","Library Item","Louis Rouanet","Mises Wire","August 15, 2017","Although today high levels of inequality in the United States remain a pressing concern for a large swath of the population, monetary policy and credit expansion are rarely mentioned as a likely source of rising wealth and income inequality. Focusing almost exclusively on consumer price inflation, many economists have overlooked the redistributive effects of money creation through other channels...","https://mises.org/library/how-central-banking-increased-inequality" "More Spending Does Not Drive More Employment","Wire","Per Bylund","","September 27, 2017","It is almost universally asserted today that consumer spending drives employment. This thesis gives support to the general Keynesian idea that government should “stimulate” the economy when it is suffering from a recession, whether it is through fiscal or monetary policy. Glorious Spending At the core, the idea is that if spending on goods and services goes up, then more people are needed in...","https://mises.org/wire/more-spending-does-not-drive-more-employment" "How Much Do Central Banks Cost Us? ","Wire","Karl-Friedrich Israel","","October 11, 2017","A classic argument for central bank controlled fiat money goes like this: a commodity such as gold is very costly to produce. All the resources, capital, and labor devoted to mining gold for monetary purposes could be employed elsewhere in the economy, to the benefit of society, if only we had a fiat standard.This argument is by no means conclusive. We would not stop producing Champagne either,...","https://mises.org/wire/how-much-do-central-banks-cost-us" "How Trump Bailed Out Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve — For Now","Library Item","Tho Bishop","Mises Wire","October 12, 2017","The biggest winner of the Trump presidency is also the most surprising: Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen. After all, Yellen was a constant target for criticism by Candidate Trump, going so far as to accuse her of being “more political than Hillary Clinton.” Beyond Mr. Trump’s barbed rhetoric, pundits such as Paul Krugman predicted that Trump’s ascendency would be disastrous for the US...","https://mises.org/library/how-trump-bailed-out-janet-yellen-and-fed" "Subsidies In One Place Don't Justify Tariffs in Another ","Wire","Lee Friday","","October 13, 2017","Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard told reporters ""Quebec has been attacked. And Quebec will resist. And Quebec will unite. . . .”This sounds serious. I always thought Canada’s deference to its southern neighbour would preclude a confrontation with the almighty U.S. military. Couillard continued “All together, we will protect our workers.” Okay, now we can relax. As they appeal for public support...","https://mises.org/wire/subsidies-one-place-dont-justify-tariffs-another" "These Feminist Economists Are Right about GDP ","Wire","Jonathan Newman","","October 13, 2017","Gross Domestic Product has numerous issues, especially as a measure of national-level standard of living. It is supposed to be a measure of total production and therefore the general health of an economy, but it falls short of this in many ways. In the US, the Bureau of Economic Analysis is responsible for estimating GDP, and their preferred estimation technique is to add up all consumption,...","https://mises.org/wire/these-feminist-economists-are-right-about-gdp" "We're Living in the Age of Capital Consumption","Wire","Ronald-Peter Stöferle","","November 18, 2017","When capital is mentioned in the present-day political debate, the term is usually subject to a rather one-dimensional interpretation: Whether capital saved by citizens, the question of capital reserves held by pension funds, the start-up capital of young entrepreneurs or capital gains taxes on investments are discussed – in all these cases capital is equivalent to “money.” Yet capital is...","https://mises.org/wire/were-living-age-capital-consumption" "Man, Economy, and Sexual Harassment","Wire","Christopher Westley","","December 6, 2017","When reading about the curious case of Garrison Keillor, the public radio icon fired for what he considers an innocent misunderstanding—or was it payback for his defense of Senator Al Franken?—I noticed a line in a comments section about where today’s raging response to sexual harassment (among other fruits of the sexual revolution) is likely to lead. The commenter, michaeljames49, said: “Best...","https://mises.org/wire/man-economy-and-sexual-harassment" "The Fed's Fantasy on Neutral Interest Rates","Wire","Frank Shostak","","December 11, 2017","In her testimony to the Congressional Economic Committee on November 29, 2017, the Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that the neutral rate appears to be quite low by historical standards. From this, she concluded that the federal funds rate would not have to increase much to reach a neutral stance.The neutral rate currently appears to be quite low by historical standards, implying that the federal...","https://mises.org/wire/feds-fantasy-neutral-interest-rates" "How to End the Organ Donor Shortage","Wire","Allan Stevo","","January 13, 2018","In the United States every ten minutes someone is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. While waiting for a transplant an average of 20 people die each day in the US, while 450 people die annually in the U.K. waiting for an organ donation. Some 4,000 people die annually across the European Union waiting for organ donation. And at the same time, these statistics do not tell the...","https://mises.org/wire/how-end-organ-donor-shortage" "The Net Worth of Americans Still Hasn't Recovered from the Last Recession","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","January 9, 2018","Axios is reporting today on commentary from Deutsche Bank economist Torsten Slok in which Slok concludes that Americans now have a smaller net worth than they did in 1989: A greater share of Americans have more debt than money in the bank than at any point since 1962, according to Deutsche Bank economist Torsten Slok. And, in a note to clients yesterday, Slok said that, despite record stock...","https://mises.org/power-market/net-worth-americans-still-hasnt-recovered-last-recession" "Mises Explains the Difference Between Circulation Credit and Commodity Credit","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 20, 2018","In the slump of a cycle, businesses that were thriving come to experience difficulties or go under. These errors aren't specific to any one firm. They occur in tandem with whole sectors of the economy. People who were wealthy yesterday have become poor today. Factories that were busy yesterday are shut down today, and workers are out of jobs.Businessmen themselves are confused as to why. They...","https://mises.org/wire/mises-explains-difference-between-circulation-credit-and-commodity-credit" "A Sideways Skyscraper Curse?","Wire","Doug French","","January 19, 2018","The Skyscraper Index shows a correlation between the construction of the world’s tallest buildings and economic busts. It was created by economist Andrew Lawrence in 1999. Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute expanded on Lawrence’s work combining Austrian Business Cycle Theory to the analysis. Dr. Thornton said in an interview,Record-setting skyscrapers are a prominent example of how distortions...","https://mises.org/wire/sideways-skyscraper-curse" "American Laws — Not Chinese Ones — Make American Industry Less Competitive","Wire","Justin Murray","","March 13, 2018","Much has been said about the proposed steel and aluminum tariffs proposed by President Trump. It will likely usher in a trade war the US is ill-equipped to fight. Tariffs are just another tax. In general, tariffs are an all-around bad idea.However, the underlying message of the tariff is it is put in place to protect employment. The message goes, steel producers deal with unfair practices abroad...","https://mises.org/wire/american-laws-not-chinese-ones-make-american-industry-less-competitive" "Paul Ryan was a Failure — It’s Important to Understand Why","Wire","Tho Bishop","","April 13, 2018","Paul Ryan’s retirement from Congress marks the end for one of the most prominent Republicans of his generation. Even before taking the role of Speaker of the House, Ryan had managed to become, in the words of Mitt Romney, the ""intellectual leader"" of the post-Bush GOP. Unfortunately Ryan’s story can be seen as nothing but a tragedy. By all accounts he is a good-natured man, but one who ended up...","https://mises.org/wire/paul-ryan-was-failure-its-important-understand-why" "Why the Cleveland Browns Need More than Draft Capital to Be Successful","Wire","Tho Bishop","","April 26, 2018","One of my favorite sports events of the year has always been the NFL Draft, a love that only has deepened with my appreciation of economics. One of the big story lines going into tonight’s draft is how Cleveland will take advantage of the impressive bounty of draft picks they have amassed over the last few years, which includes five picks in the first two rounds (1, 4, 33, 35, and 52.) As Warren...","https://mises.org/wire/why-cleveland-browns-need-more-draft-capital-be-successful-1" "Japan Abandons the 2-Percent Inflation Standard","Wire","Brendan Brown","","May 9, 2018","Japan is now on its way to leaving the 2 per cent inflation standard, having been the last to join (in 2013). Accordingly, the Bank of Japan has scrubbed from its latest policy statement (end-April) all promise that the target will be met by any given time-line. The apparent indefinite postponement could be deceptive. BoJ Governor Kuroda may simply be seeking to avoid the embarrassment of...","https://mises.org/wire/japan-abandons-2-percent-inflation-standard" "Hayek’s Best Test of a Good Economist","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","May 28, 2018","A careful reading of the quotations that Hayek left us upon his death on explains what is, in his opinion, the ultimate and definitive test of whether or not someone is a true economist. It is curious to draw attention to the fact that Hayek had already referred to this matter in Appendix III to his Pure Theory of Capital, which he wrote in 1941 and which ends with the following words: ""More than...","https://mises.org/wire/hayeks-best-test-good-economist" "It's Been 20 Years Since France Minted that First Euro Coin","Wire","Andrew Moran","","May 28, 2018","On May 11, 1998, at a formal ceremony, Economy Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn activated the mint printing press and produced its first euro coin, making France the first of 11 nations participating in the launch of the single currency to strike the money. Taking a bite out of the coin, Strauss-Kahan declared that it’s “the real thing, it’s no copy.” At the time, the Monnaie de Paris was...","https://mises.org/wire/its-been-20-years-france-minted-first-euro-coin" "Tom Wolfe, RIP","Wire","Doug French","","June 2, 2018","I remember two books from my adult pre-Rothbardian days: Bonfire of the Vanities, and Liar's Poker. The first written by the recently departed Tom Wolfe, the second by Michael Lewis, who recalled telling his daughter on the way to interview Mr. Wolfe in 2015, “I want at least one of my children to meet him. I think he’s a big reason it ever occurred to me to do what I do for a living. Because the...","https://mises.org/wire/tom-wolfe-rip" "Chapter 3: Do You Have a Theory?","Online Text Chapter","Mark Thornton","Books, Books","July 10, 2018","We don’t really know what starts the speculative bubbles. — Jesse Abraham and Patric Hendershott, “Bubbles in Metropolitan Housing Prices” The Skyscraper Index was based on the most noteworthy business cycles of the twentieth century and can be explained using Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT). In contrast, there is no consensus within mainstream economics about business cycle theory. The...","https://mises.org/chapter-3-do-you-have-theory" "Chapter 7: The Curse Misses New York. Is Auburn, Alabama, Next?","Online Text Chapter","Mark Thornton","Books, Books","July 10, 2018","As of November 2013, it was official. New York City had won the title of having the nation’s tallest structure. The heated controversy between New York and Chicago was settled when the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based in Chicago, decided that the 408-foot spire sitting atop One World Trade Center could be included in the total height of the building. The revised height of 1,776...","https://mises.org/chapter-7-curse-misses-new-york-auburn-alabama-next" "How Liberal Adoption Laws Helped Romania’s Orphans","Wire","Chris Calton","","August 8, 2018","“The fetus is the property of the entire society. Anyone who avoids having children is a deserter who abandons the laws of national continuity.” This was the justification Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu offered for his 1966 “Decree 770.” Aimed at increasing the Romanian economy through population growth, Decree 770 criminalized abortion, which was the prevailing form of birth control...","https://mises.org/wire/how-liberal-adoption-laws-helped-romanias-orphans" "Why You Should Read Mark Thornton's The Skyscraper Curse ","Wire","Richard Duke","","September 1, 2018","A general, but serious, reason to read this book— The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economics Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of The Last Century — is to avoid being one of the millions who will be duped when the next crash (bust) occurs. Millions were and continue to be duped as to the reason for the boom leading up to 2007 and 2008 and why the bust occurred in 2008 relating to real...","https://mises.org/wire/why-you-should-read-mark-thorntons-skyscraper-curse" "The Fed's Plan for ""Countercyclical Capital Buffers"" Is Just More of the Same","Wire","Christopher Westley","","September 14, 2018","If you follow financial news related to Fed policy, you would have noticed a recent push for the use of “a new monetary tool,” called countercyclical capital buffers. Some prominent Fed officials and Fed watchers — the monetary version of all the king’s horses and all the king’s men — have decided the time is now to start raising such requirements, notwithstanding resistance to their...","https://mises.org/wire/feds-plan-countercyclical-capital-buffers-just-more-same" "¿Por qué la crisis no se produce cuando la nueva inversión se financia con ahorro real?","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","September 24, 2018","La crisis económica, y su consiguiente recesión, no surgen si el alargamiento de las etapas de la estructura productiva que hemos estudiado en el capítulo anterior se produce como resultado de un aumento previo del ahorro voluntario, y no como consecuencia de una expansión crediticia iniciada por la banca sin respaldo alguno de un aumento del ahorro real. Y es que, si el proceso se inicia como...","https://mises.org/node/44237" "What Insurance Companies’ Response to Hurricane Florence Can Teach Us About the Business Cycle","Wire","Brian Balfour","","October 3, 2018","Hurricane Florence has left a huge swath of devastated communities in its wake. Some estimates predict more than 750,000 homes in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia will sustain flood and wind damage, with reconstruction costs of up to $170 billion possible. For most, dealing with their insurance company to reimburse part of their damage repair costs will be a vital part of the...","https://mises.org/wire/what-insurance-companies-response-hurricane-florence-can-teach-us-about-business-cycle" "Few Dare Call it Socialism: Social Security and Medicare","Wire","Jacob G. Hornberger","","October 23, 2018","Whatever one might say about liberals (i.e., leftists or progressives), one thing is certain: When it comes to socialism, they get it. They understand that welfare-state programs like Social Security and Medicare are socialist programs. That’s fine by them because they love socialism. Leave it to a leftist to highlight and try to straighten out the confused minds of conservatives, including that...","https://mises.org/wire/few-dare-call-it-socialism-social-security-and-medicare" "Colorado's GOP Bloodbath, Explained","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","November 7, 2018","Yesterday in Colorado, voters rejected numerous proposed taxes and government regulations. One of the biggest was Proposition 112, which was an anti-fracking measure that would have outlawed fracking in much of the state. That failed, with 57 percent voting no. Meanwhile, a proposed tax to fund government schools — for the children! — failed with 55 percent voting no. Two separate new taxes to...","https://mises.org/power-market/colorados-gop-bloodbath-explained" "How Private Banks Create Bubbles — with the Help of Central Banks","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 30, 2018","With meagre resources at his disposal, an individual is likely to allocate these resources (i.e., his wealth) towards essentials such as food, clothing and a roof over his head. He is unlikely to allocate his meagre wealth to less essential goods as far as life and wellbeing is concerned. His variety of consumer goods is likely to be very limited. As his real wealth begins to expand, the...","https://mises.org/wire/how-private-banks-create-bubbles-help-central-banks" "5 Ways a Wealth Tax Is At Least as Bad as an Income Tax","Wire","Malachy McDermott","","November 29, 2018","There has been an increasing push for wealth taxes as of late. Supporters for new and larger wealth taxes contend that as the population ages, there won't be enough wage earners to fund the public purse. In other words, there will be less wage-based income to tax as time goes on. But there will still be plenty of pensioners to pay for. As The Guardian noted back in March, new revenue sources will...","https://mises.org/wire/5-ways-wealth-tax-least-bad-income-tax" "About Civility...","Power & Market","Jeff Deist","","November 30, 2018","The foundation of any and every civilization, including our own, is private ownership of the means of production. Whoever wishes to criticize modern civilization, therefore, begins with private property.—Ludwig von Mises. Civility is the word of the moment. New stories lament the breakdown of civility in American society, while reports of Antifa street violence in cities like Portland raise...","https://mises.org/power-market/about-civility" "French Protestors Fume over Climate Taxes and a Rising Cost of Living","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 4, 2018","French protests over a new climate-change-inspired fuel tax highlight high costs imposed on ordinary people by climate-change policies. The so-called ""Yellow Vest"" protests that have sprung up in France in recent weeks now involve a variety of domestic policy issues. But they were triggered by a new tax on fuel prices. French residents from the less-prosperous countryside, where driving an...","https://mises.org/wire/french-protestors-fume-over-climate-taxes-and-rising-cost-living" "The ECB Creates Jobs for Central Bankers Instead of Safeguarding Financial Stability","Wire","Karl-Friedrich Israel, Gunther Schnabl","","December 18, 2018","The ECB’s zero and negative interest rate policy continues despite the economic upswing. An interest rate hike is not expected before autumn 2019. The extensive purchases of government and corporate bonds will have reached €2,600 billion by the end of the year. The ECB’s financial market supervision as part of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), which was created in 2014 in response to the...","https://mises.org/wire/ecb-creates-jobs-central-bankers-instead-safeguarding-financial-stability" "El BCE crea empleos para los banqueros centrales en lugar de proteger la estabilidad financiera","Wire","Karl-Friedrich Israel, Gunther Schnabl","","December 18, 2018","La política de tipos de interés cero y negativos del BCE continúa a pesar de la mejora económica. No se espera un alza en las tasas de interés antes del otoño de 2019. Las compras extensivas de bonos gubernamentales y corporativos habrán alcanzado €2.600 millardos para finales de año. La supervisión de los mercados financieros del BCE como parte del Mecanismo Único de Supervisión (MSE), que se...","https://mises.org/node/45123" "The Crisis of Argentina and How to Reduce Country Risk","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","January 16, 2019","Argentina maintains a high country risk. In fact, it is currently the second highest in Latin America and the third of the emerging countries if we include Turkey. What is the country risk? It is the spread between the yield of the sovereign bond of a nation compared with the United States Treasury bonds, the lowest risk asset. Investors demand higher-yielding bonds due to the risk of the issuer...","https://mises.org/wire/crisis-argentina-and-how-reduce-country-risk" "Government Spending Doesn't Create Economic Growth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 25, 2019","According to many commentators, outlays by government play an important role in the economic growth. In particular, when an economy falls into a slower economic growth phase the increase in government outlays could provide the necessary boost to revive the economy so it is held. The proponents for strong government outlays when an economy displays weakness hold that the stronger outlays by the...","https://mises.org/wire/government-spending-doesnt-create-economic-growth" "The Euro Shows That a Fiat Money System Is More Expensive than We Thought","Wire","Karl-Friedrich Israel","","January 22, 2019","The traditional argument for fiduciary media and ultimately unbacked fiat money was based on the costs of production. The real resources otherwise used for gold mining and minting could, under a fiat standard, be used for other productive purposes and thus enrich society as a whole. The argument goes back at least to such great names as Adam Smith and David Ricardo. More recently, Milton Friedman...","https://mises.org/wire/euro-shows-fiat-money-system-more-expensive-we-thought" "It Turns out the Long Term Does Matter After All","Wire","Joakim Book","","February 20, 2019","It is fairly easy to imagine the regressive left having childishly high time preference; they see some current social ill (homelessness, potholes , student debt, inequality) and want them abolished right away. If your position is: ""solve the problem now, damn the future consequences,"" you show a very high discount rate; future costs pale in the face of the current disaster. Let me use former...","https://mises.org/wire/it-turns-out-long-term-does-matter-after-all" "No, You Don't Need a $200K College Degree","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","February 26, 2019","A female supporter of Bernie Sanders is advertising on Twitter the fact that she went 226,000 in debt to get a college degree in speech pathology. Those who posted the video apparently believe that this ought to be interpreted as a convincing example of how hard it is to pay for college these days. There is no doubt that a college education is not free. But publicly admitting that one owes...","https://mises.org/power-market/no-you-dont-need-200k-college-degree" "Central Banks Are Messing with Your Head","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","March 21, 2019","Human action and the interest rate People value present goods more highly than future goods. For instance, an apple available today is considered more valuable than the same apple available in, say, one month. This is expressive of time preference — which is an undeniable fact, a category of human action. The sentence “Humans act” is a logically irrefutable truth. It cannot be denied without...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-are-messing-your-head" "Ray Dalio's Hollow Lament","Wire","Jeff Deist","","April 10, 2019","Hedge fund titan Ray Dalio is just the latest billionaire to call for government to save us from guys like him. It's not pretty. Dalio's recent article titled ""Why and How Capitalism Needs to be Reformed"" is a mess, though to be clear it's a thoroughly well-intentioned and heartfelt mess. It's a mix of self-effacement (I'm just a lucky guy with good parents who went to good public schools!),...","https://mises.org/wire/ray-dalios-hollow-lament" "Government's Counterproductive War Against Smoking","Wire","Lee Friday","","April 20, 2019","Canada’s federal government wants cigarettes to self-extinguish when we stop smoking them, believing this will reduce incidents of death and injury from fires caused by careless smoking. Thus, since 2005 the government has mandated the use of reduced ignition propensity (RIP) materials in the manufacture of all cigarettes. However, the government’s high cigarette taxes prompt many smokers to...","https://mises.org/wire/governments-counterproductive-war-against-smoking" "As Fed Founders, Get Ready for More Radical Monetary Policy","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","May 9, 2019","Last week, the the Federal Reserve left unchanged its benchmark federal funds rate, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell declaring the US economy to be ""on a good path."" In a unanimous vote, the Fed kept the rate in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. The Fed's reluctance to allow interest rates to return to what would be considered a more normal rate historically continues to spur speculation about what...","https://mises.org/power-market/fed-founders-get-ready-more-radical-monetary-policy" "Austrian Economics is No Longer the Unheard Music","Wire","Jeff Deist","","June 18, 2019","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Readers of a certain generation will remember the seminal 1980s rock band X, featured in Penelope Spheeris's great documentary The Decline of Western Civilization. Punk and alternative bands in the Tipper Gore era struggled to get record deals, radio airplay, or even hire venues for gigs at their own expense. ""The Unheard Music,"" a song...","https://mises.org/wire/austrian-economics-no-longer-unheard-music" "The Next Prime Minister Must Choose: Working Class Britons, or the Neo-Keynesians","Wire","Alasdair Macleod","","July 16, 2019","Before Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, Britain’s epithet was ""the sick man of Europe."" The preceding drift into ever-greater socialism was accompanied by monetary inflation, which was driven in part by unionised labour in nationalised industries striking, or threatening to do so, for wages which were uneconomic. The differences between cause and effect during periods of monetary...","https://mises.org/wire/next-prime-minister-must-choose-working-class-britons-or-neo-keynesians" "Consumerism? Why People Spend on ""Useless"" Status Symbols","Wire","Mary Lucia Darst","","July 23, 2019","At the height of her scam, con-woman Anna Sorokin, alias Delvey, filled her hotel room with shopping bags from various clothing boutiques in New York City. According to the hotel receptionist whom Sorokin targeted first as a confidante, and later as a mark, some of the staff, including the receptionist, saw this behavior as proof of the former’s monied status. However, the two brands which the...","https://mises.org/wire/consumerism-why-people-spend-useless-status-symbols" "Is Deutsche Bank a Canary in the Economic Coal Mine?","Wire","Maurus Adam","","July 25, 2019","Deutsche Bank has recently announced its $8.3 billion restructuring plan to decrease its costs by 25% until 2022. The bank has already begun slashing jobs and scrapped the dividends for the next two years. 18,000 people will lose their jobs, in particular those working in the bank’s investment branch. The news on this European bank comes amidst the discussions about the expected interest rate...","https://mises.org/wire/deutsche-bank-canary-economic-coal-mine" "The Difference Between ""Business Fluctuations"" and a Recession","Wire","Murray N. Rothbard","","September 24, 2019","[Adapted from Man, Economy and State with Power and Market, pp. 851–55.] In the real world, there will be continual changes in the pattern of economic activity, changes resulting from shifts in the tastes and demands of consumers, in resources available, technological knowledge, etc. That prices and outputs fluctuate, therefore, is to be expected, and absence of fluctuation would be unusual....","https://mises.org/wire/difference-between-business-fluctuations-and-recession" "Negative Interest Rates are the Price We Pay for De-Civilization","Wire","Jeff Deist","","September 18, 2019","Do central bankers really think negative interest rates are rational? ""Calculation Error,"" which Bloomberg terminals sometimes display1, is an apt metaphor for the current state of central bank policy. Both Europe and Asia are now awash in $13 trillion worth of negative-yielding sovereign and corporate bonds, and Alan Greenspan suggests negative interest rates soon will arrive in the US. Despite...","https://mises.org/wire/negative-interest-rates-are-price-we-pay-de-civilization" "The Conscientious Objector","Power & Market","Natalie F. Danelishen","","September 19, 2019","“Because liberty is so fragile, its true defender recognizes that war is its greatest enemy, and therefore the true patriot is often the courageous individual who opposes a particular war because he recognizes that it is unjust — that it would be fought for the wrong purposes or that the risk for the loss of liberty is greater than any benefit to be gained by the war.” - John V Denson If we...","https://mises.org/power-market/conscientious-objector" "Greece Never Really Recovered from Its Financial Crisis","Power & Market","Petropoulos Delis Fotios","","October 3, 2019","Now that Greece’s bailout program has ended, what are the prospects for economic growth and development in Greece? These two definitions are different, as economic growth is the increase of income while economic development includes factors as increased schooling, life expectancy etc. However, economic growth is mandatory for economic development. There are many theories in the international...","https://mises.org/power-market/greece-never-really-recovered-its-financial-crisis" "Easy-Money Policies Don't Solve the Problem of Idle Resources","Wire","Frank Shostak","","December 7, 2019","It is widely believed that resources that are utilized in normal times to promote economic prosperity become underutilized during recessions. Some experts hold that what is required are policies which will increase the availability of credit. On this Ludwig von Mises wrote in Human Action, Here, they say, are plants and farms whose capacity to produce is either not used at all or not to its full...","https://mises.org/wire/easy-money-policies-dont-solve-problem-idle-resources" "What Is Capital?","Wire","Claude Frédéric Bastiat","","December 26, 2019","[Editor's note: In this selection, Bastiat explains the role of capital in building wealth, and why it is moral and proper that owners of capital ought to collect interest on the capital they lend out. Excerpt from chapter 5, ""Capital and Interest,"" in The Bastiat Collection (Auburn, AL: Mises Institute, 2011), pp. 147–58. ] 3. What Is Capital? There are some persons who imagine that capital is...","https://mises.org/wire/what-capital" "Three Ways to Increase Workers' Wages","Wire","Gor Mkrtchian","","January 1, 2020","Free marketeers have rightly written many refutations of the minimum wage. However, it’s difficult to beat something with nothing, and so this article will outline major ways in which wages actually rise: through capital accumulation and the honing of skills that others value. What Determines Wages? Before looking at how wages can increase, what determines them in the first place? Wages tend to...","https://mises.org/wire/three-ways-increase-workers-wages" "Why the US Wants to Lower Germans' Real Wages","Wire","Patrick Barron","","January 3, 2020","On December 20, 2019, President Trump authorized sanctions against companies and individuals who are participating in building Nord Stream Two, a pipeline under the Baltic Sea that will bring Russian natural gas to Western Europe, principally Germany. The pipeline is more than 80 percent completed. The sanctions were included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which funds America's...","https://mises.org/wire/why-us-wants-lower-germans-real-wages" "Economist: Your Freedom Is Dangerous Because You Might Set a Bad Example","Wire","David Gordon","","January 10, 2020","Last week I discussed a new argument against paternalism in the important book of Mario Rizzo and Glen Whitman, Escaping Paternalism. Today I’d like to give the other side a chance. Robert H. Frank is an economist at Cornell University, well regarded for his work on the emotions and usually anxious to stress the flaws of the free market. In his just-published Under the Influence, he offers, among...","https://mises.org/wire/economist-your-freedom-dangerous-because-you-might-set-bad-example" "What Free Market Money Would Look Like","Wire","Kristoffer Mousten Hansen","","January 18, 2020","Monetary affairs have always been subject to government intervention of one kind or another. In ancient times, these interventions were made to raise funds for public spending; by debasing the coinage, kings and other rulers could raise taxes without having to abide by constitutional rules and without raising popular anger at their spending. Increasingly, through legal tender laws and the...","https://mises.org/wire/what-free-market-money-would-look" "What Year Did Healthcare Become a ""Right""?","Wire","J. Kyle deVries","","February 5, 2020","Bernie Sanders declares with piety, “Healthcare is a human right.” His statement may sound reasonable, because when we think about someone without healthcare what comes to mind is pain, suffering, and the loss of hope and dignity. Bernie is correct that no one in a country as prosperous as ours should be without some form of healthcare. However, is healthcare truly a right? It may sound terrible...","https://mises.org/wire/what-year-did-healthcare-become-right" "Social Security Is a Terrible ""Investment""","Wire","Gregory Bresiger","","February 17, 2020","Social Security, the primary retirement savings tool and biggest tax for millions of Americans, is a bad deal, critics contend. They argue that mandatory Social Security is a poor investment because it only provides an average annual income of some $17,000. This is a lousy return on the decades of tax payments, critics contend. They say most would obtain superior returns with private investments...","https://mises.org/wire/social-security-terrible-investment" "How Fractional Reserve Lending Makes Money Disappear","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 24, 2020","According to the popular way of thinking, it is held that banks are responsible for the expansion of lending also known as credit, and given that economic prosperity is associated with an increase in credit, they are seen as crucial to the economic well-being. But are banks the true source of credit? Real Credit Is Backed by Real Savings For instance, take farmer Joe, who produced two kilograms...","https://mises.org/wire/how-fractional-reserve-lending-makes-money-disappear" "Markets vs. Socialism: Why South Korean Healthcare Is Outperforming Italy with COVID-19","Wire","Matthew Tanous","","March 13, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Everyone is vitally aware of the spread of the novel COVID-19 pandemic as it rages in early stages across the globe. Travel restrictions are everywhere as people are trying to get tested, prepare for possible quarantines, and worrying about their jobs and their families. Events involving large groups of people are canceled, and in some cases...","https://mises.org/wire/markets-vs-socialism-why-south-korean-healthcare-outperforming-italy-covid-19" "How the Fed Sows Social Division and Mistrust","Wire","Nick Hankoff","","March 31, 2020","The Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy and industry bailouts threaten more than just the fragile economy. The very foundation of the social order risks permanent fracturing under this system of moral hazard. In Human Action, Ludwig von Mises defined society as “joint action and cooperation in which each participant sees the other partner's success as a means for the attainment of his...","https://mises.org/wire/how-fed-sows-social-division-and-mistrust" "What ""Lender of Last Resort"" Is Supposed to Mean","Wire","Fabrizio Ferrari","","April 6, 2020","Modern central banks have already moved far beyond what was once considered the proper role for a central bank as a ""lender of last resort."" Now Keynesians and MMTers (modern monetary theorists) want to take things even further. As the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent freezing of economic activity take place, many economists are hoping for central bankers and monetary policy to take the lead...","https://mises.org/wire/what-lender-last-resort-supposed-mean" "Japan Has Avoided a COVID-19 Panic. But the Global Recession Will Hit Hard","Wire","Jason Morgan","","April 4, 2020","The number of COVID-19 cases in Japan had been showing a very low daily uptick until this past week. Suddenly, there were more than forty new cases a day, and the news is reporting that for most of those people the route of infection cannot be determined. The governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko has been teleconferencing with the governors of surrounding prefectures (such as Kanagawa (Kawasaki and...","https://mises.org/wire/japan-has-avoided-covid-19-panic-global-recession-will-hit-hard" "The Unseen Costs of Government-Forced Lockdowns ","Wire","Elizabeth Wilson","","April 29, 2020","[Author's note: This is my modified version of Frédéric Bastiat's great work ""That Which is Seen, and that Which is Not Seen,"" as applied to the current COVID-19 panic and the resulting 2020 Great Lockdown.] ""In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it...","https://mises.org/wire/unseen-costs-government-forced-lockdowns-0" "Ludwig von Mises’s ""Circulation Credit"" Theory of the Trade Cycle","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","May 14, 2020","[This article is part of the Understanding Money Mechanics series, by Robert P. Murphy. The series will be published as a book in 2021.] Starting with Carl Menger’s undisputed role in the “marginal revolution,” which ushered in subjective value theory, the Austrian school has made important contributions that have been absorbed into standard economic theory. However, the Austrian theory of the...","https://mises.org/wire/ludwig-von-misess-circulation-credit-theory-trade-cycle" "Let's Hope Deflation Is Headed Our Way","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 20, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The yearly growth rate of the US consumer price index (CPI) fell to 0.4 percent in April from 2 percent in April last year while the annual growth of the producer price index (PPI) plunged to –1.2 percent last month against 2.4 percent in April 2019. Furthermore, the yearly growth rate of the import price index fell to –6.8 percent in April...","https://mises.org/wire/lets-hope-deflation-headed-our-way" "Two Analogies for the Economy That the Media Keeps Getting Wrong","Wire","Mark Thornton","","May 30, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. In an attempt to maintain the lockdown and their authority over our lives, politicians, health experts, and the mainstream media have been misusing some unusual analogies to describe the current economy. By using these analogies, our political overlords hope they can continue to keep the economy shut down, force companies to produce what the...","https://mises.org/wire/two-analogies-economy-media-keeps-getting-wrong" "Rothbard's Rules","Wire","Mark Thornton","","June 11, 2020","When an economic crisis hits, everybody from the Fed chairman to the man on the street knows that the Fed must print more money and reduce interest rates and that the government must spend more money and go deeper into debt. This is seen as necessary to “fill the gap” left by the private sector. This approach is entirely wrong. In fact, it is highly counterproductive. Murray Rothbard’s number one...","https://mises.org/wire/rothbards-rules" "Trump Can Ensure a V-shaped Economic Recovery by Heeding the Lessons of 1921","Wire","Walter Block","","August 3, 2020","A U or V? That is the question—whether the economic recovery from the COVID-19 shutdown will be a long, drawn-out process, a wide, flattish U” or a sharp, upward-bound one, a V. To best wrestle with this question, let us look back a bit at some economic history regarding recessions and depressions, focusing on the US. Is this of interest to those following the course of the Chinese economy? Of...","https://mises.org/wire/trump-can-ensure-v-shaped-economic-recovery-heeding-lessons-1921" "Pennsylvania Is Playing Politics with Drug Rationing","Wire","Zachary Yost ","","August 10, 2020","""Never let a crisis go to waste,"" the old adage goes, and the coronavirus fiasco has demonstrated this principle in action more times than one can count. From declarations of veritable society-wide house arrest to crazed government spending and monetary policy, there has been no shortage of opportunistic actors working to live out their dreams of power and dominion over others that ""normal"" times...","https://mises.org/wire/pennsylvania-playing-politics-drug-rationing" "Are Negative Rates a Natural Historical Development? ","Wire","Pascal Hügli","","August 12, 2020","Negative interest rates have long since become a reality. But we are not talking about negative real interest rates. This is the case when the return on an investment is lower than the officially stated inflation rate. In today's context, negative interest rates are rather negative nominal interest rates; that is, the nominal interest rate is below 0 percent. h1.png...","https://mises.org/wire/are-negative-rates-natural-historical-development" "Gold Prices Show There's a ""Big Short"" Going on in Official Currencies","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","August 13, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. On August 4, 2020, the price of gold surpassed $2,000 per ounce, currently trading around an all-time high of $2,050 per ounce. While one may say that the price of gold is on the rise, it would actually be more meaningful to say that the purchasing power of the world’s fiat currencies vis-à-vis gold is on the decline, because this is what a...","https://mises.org/wire/gold-prices-show-theres-big-short-going-official-currencies" "The Social and Economic Side Effects of Negative Interest Rates","Wire","Pascal Hügli","","August 26, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Our world is currently suffering from acute schizophrenia. Banks are pushing impact and sustainable investing like crazy, companies are subordinating their production sites and supply chains to the noble goal of sustainability, and more and more parts of our society are discovering ecologism as the most meaningful political religion of our...","https://mises.org/wire/social-and-economic-side-effects-negative-interest-rates" "Why We Need Landlords","Wire","Bradley Thomas","","August 31, 2020","A tweet by the widely followed “Existential Comics” account recently made the rounds. It might be easy to dismiss, but with more than 345,000 followers, the account apparently appeals to a lot of like-minded people. The tweet caught my eye in large part because of how many people liked what amounts to a very economically ignorant and naïve “pop quiz.” thomas1.png...","https://mises.org/wire/why-we-need-landlords" "1920: The Crash That Cured Itself","Wire","Pedro Almeida Jorge","","September 16, 2020","The Spanish flu of 1918 is an event that, unsurprisingly, is being revisited by many observers today. And yet, at the same time, another major event occurred a century ago which we would also do well to remember: namely the largely forgotten economic depression of 1920. We all hear, from time to time, about the ghost of the 1929 crash, of the dreadful decade of the thirties, of the Great...","https://mises.org/wire/1920-crash-cured-itself" "La Fed y la burbuja/caída inmobiliaria","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","October 1, 2020","[Este artículo es parte de la serie Understanding Money Mechanics, de Robert P. Murphy. La serie se publicará como libro a finales de 2020.] En el capítulo 8 presentamos la teoría del crédito de circulación del ciclo comercial de Ludwig von Mises, o lo que hoy en día se conoce como la teoría austriaca del ciclo comercial. En el presente capítulo, aplicaremos la teoría general al caso específico...","https://mises.org/node/52288" "No, the Stock Market Isn't a ""Leading Indicator"" of Economic Prosperity","Wire","Chris Calton","","October 19, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. “STOCK MARKET UP ANOTHER 300 POINTS,” Donald Trump tweeted on October 12, with characteristic overcapitalization. “GREATEST LEADING INDICATOR OF THEM ALL!!!” President Trump’s use of the stock market as an economic indicator is hardly unusual. Democrats like to tout the stock market performance under Obama as a counterpoint to Trump’s...","https://mises.org/wire/no-stock-market-isnt-leading-indicator-economic-prosperity" "Another Pointless Antitrust Campaign by Federal Regulators","Wire","Dave Albin","","October 30, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Thank goodness the US Justice Department has again saved food consumers from…well, it’s kind of hard to say. This time, the target is chicken producers, but I wrote about similar events several years ago with the dairy industry. The latest developments involve a $110 million settlement and indictments of executives, such as chicken producer...","https://mises.org/wire/another-pointless-antitrust-campaign-federal-regulators" "Want to Reduce the Trade Deficit? Cut Government Spending. ","Wire","Tate Fegley","","November 11, 2020","In 2016, then presidential candidate Donald Trump, noting the US trade deficit with China and other countries, stated, We “have a trade war, and we’re losing badly.” The US trade deficit (also known as the current account deficit) was $67 billion in August of this year, according to the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Does this mean the US is continuing to lose on trade? No....","https://mises.org/wire/want-reduce-trade-deficit-cut-government-spending" "2021 Would Be a Great Time to Audit the Fed","Wire","Nick Hankoff","","November 24, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Gone are the days of the Federal Reserve hiding in the shadows. Now it’s a woke central bank fighting for climate and racial justice. Progressives must not fall for this but instead team up with the populist right to audit the Fed and demand transparency. Let the healing begin! If it is going to be President Joe Biden a couple months from...","https://mises.org/wire/2021-would-be-great-time-audit-fed" "Why Sound Money Is ""Green"" and Central Banks Aren't","Wire","Brendan Brown, Philippe Simonnot","","November 27, 2020","[Editor's note: this is a special preview—for Mises Wire readers—of Europe's Century of Crises under Dollar Hegemony: A Dialogue on the Global Tyranny of Unsound Money, a dialogue book by Brendan Brown and Philippe Simonnot newly published by Palgrave Macmillan.] Although many central bankers have claimed the central banks are instrumental in ushering in a more green economy, a closer look...","https://mises.org/wire/why-sound-money-green-and-central-banks-arent" "Let Slip the Dogs of Secession","Library Item","David Gordon","The Austrian, Institute Publications","November 30, 2020","Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Unionby Richard KreitnerLittle, Brown, 2020viii + 486 pages The extreme polarization in American politics today has led many people to ask: Is the United States too large? Don’t people who find the centralizing policies of the Leviathan state oppressive have the right to leave and govern themselves? Ron Paul thinks so...","https://mises.org/library/let-slip-dogs-secession" "Biden Nominee Rachel Levine Was a Disaster in Pennsylvania. Now She's Headed to Washington. ","Wire","Zachary Yost ","","January 25, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. On January 19 it was announced that Joe Biden planned to nominate Rachel Levine, the Pennsylvania (PA) secretary of health, for the position of assistant secretary of health in the Department of Health and Human Services. This is potentially good news for Pennsylvanians, who will finally be rid of her after having had to endure her...","https://mises.org/wire/biden-nominee-rachel-levine-was-disaster-pennsylvania-now-shes-headed-washington" "When Biden ""Creates Jobs"" Look for the Hidden Costs","Wire","Asim Hussain","","January 29, 2021","Biden’s Government Jobs Are the ""Seen"" the Lost Market Jobs Are the ""Unseen"" In the near future, anyone reading up on news is likely to find an article titled ""Jobs Created under Biden"" or a report on how many jobs were added through Biden’s programs. These jobs the news reader will see, but the jobs that workers would have been doing had the government not hired them will be invisible to this...","https://mises.org/wire/when-biden-creates-jobs-look-hidden-costs" "How Markets Turn Lousy Products into Great Ones","Wire","Malachy McDermott","","February 9, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Most people have managed to get through life without ever seeing Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The New Generation. It currently stands at a 16 percent score with critics and an 18 percent score with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, so most people, we can conclude, have dodged a bullet by not seeing it. However, this production does have two very...","https://mises.org/wire/how-markets-turn-lousy-products-great-ones" "GDP Hides the Damage from the Covid-19 Lockdowns","Wire","Patrick Barron","","March 29, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Do not believe government pronouncements that the economy is rebounding from very minimal damage caused by unprecedented covid-19-inspired closures of businesses. Government will use its favorite statistic of the health of the economy to justify its actions—gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is supposed to represent the total of spending on...","https://mises.org/wire/gdp-hides-damage-covid-19-lockdowns" "The Plan to Save the the Postal Service by Making It Even Worse","Wire","Doug French","","April 15, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. There is likely no more loathsome federal bureaucrat than the aptly named Louis DeJoy, who, despite supposedly being a successful businessman, has the surefire winner of a business plan to resurrect the United States Postal Service (USPS)—raise prices and slow service. Sounds perfect. DeJoy (translated as ”lose happiness”) plans among other...","https://mises.org/wire/plan-save-postal-service-making-it-even-worse" "How Markets Have Delivered More Economic Equality","Wire","Antony Sammeroff","","April 28, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. I recently attended the Soho Forum debate between (democratic socialist) Ben Burgis and (libertarian) Gene Epstein on the question of whether capitalism or socialism would lead to the most prosperity, equality, and liberty. Ben took it for granted that a socialist economy would be more equal, and Gene did not fight hard on this point; indeed...","https://mises.org/wire/how-markets-have-delivered-more-economic-equality" "Restaurant Revitalization Fund: Government Remaking American Society","Power & Market","Georg Grassmueck","","May 17, 2021","The Small Business Administration creation of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFA) under the American Rescue Plan Act is another government program in response to the covid pandemic that has the potential for abuse and misuse, similar to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). However, what is even more troubling about the RFA is the increased politicization of the application process through...","https://mises.org/power-market/restaurant-revitalization-fund-government-remaking-american-society" "How Families Fuel Economic Development","Wire","Gor Mkrtchian","","May 20, 2021","The family provides enormous economic advantages to daily life and civilization as a whole. But the extended and even nuclear family have been eroding thanks to changes in government policy, economic trends, and culture. In this article, I highlight how the nuclear and especially extended family supercharge human productivity thanks to the specialization and division of labor found within them....","https://mises.org/wire/how-families-fuel-economic-development" "Be Very Afraid: Why Today's Bureaucrats Love Fear-Based Politics","Power & Market","Gary Galles","","June 11, 2021","Outside of the D.C. Beltway, state capitols and city halls, bureaucrats receive something less than adulation from citizens. And libertarians often lead the chorus. But some bureau employees are necessary. One libertarian who recognized this long ago was Leonard Read, in “The Worrycrats,” part of his 1972 To Free or to Freeze. Even when government is limited to codifying the taboos, invoking a...","https://mises.org/power-market/be-very-afraid-why-todays-bureaucrats-love-fear-based-politics" "Government Debt Is Starting to Look Almost as Sketchy as Payday Loans","Wire","Malachy McDermott","","July 10, 2021","If there is one thing every honest money-saving advisor would agree on, it's that a payday loan is a bad idea. Taking a high interest loan backed by nothing but your word to pay off your current account to fuel consumption with no capital investment is just leading you on the road to ruin. However this simple message of living within one’s means does not seem to have reached the gilded ears of...","https://mises.org/wire/government-debt-starting-look-almost-sketchy-payday-loans" "Fiat Money Economies Are Built on Lies","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","July 20, 2021","Now and then, it pays to take a step back to get a broader perspective on things, to look beyond the daily financial news, to see through the short-term ups and downs in the market to find out what is really at the heart of the matter. If we do that, we will not miss the fact that we are living in the age of fiat currencies, a world in which basically everything bears their fingerprints: the...","https://mises.org/wire/fiat-money-economies-are-built-lies" "Why ""Public Goods"" Don't Justify Taxation","Library Item","David Gordon","Friday Philosophy, Institute Publications","July 23, 2021","Eric Mack is one of the foremost contemporary philosophers who support the free market. He has for many years been concerned with the “anarchist-minarchist” dispute. In a “state of nature” in which people’s rights to self-ownership and private property are generally recognized, most individuals would find it in their interest to hire private protection agencies to defend their rights rather than...","https://mises.org/library/why-public-goods-dont-justify-taxation" "The Demise of the Gold Standard","Wire","Mark Thornton","","August 17, 2021","This is the fiftieth anniversary of the demise of the gold standard and the beginning of the current fiat paper standard. Many will say “good riddance” to gold and “thank goodness” for the “good ole greenback”! Reflection, however, produces an alternative conclusion. To be sure, the opinion of current experts places great weight on paper money. Economists, bankers, and central bank bureaucrats...","https://mises.org/wire/demise-gold-standard" "Compounding Shortfalls in Innovation","Power & Market","Hunter Hastings","","August 30, 2021","Curt Carlson, the world’s leading authority on innovation and how to implement it, worries that the US is under-performing on this front – badly. On LinkedIn, he writes: Almost all measures of innovative performance today are wanting. Only 3% of patents recoup their investment; the rest are mostly waste that costs many tens of billions of dollars a year just in maintenance fees. Only one in...","https://mises.org/power-market/compounding-shortfalls-innovation" "Thanks to Central Banks, the Old Investment Rules Don't Apply Anymore","Wire","Pascal Hügli","","October 26, 2021","Sixty percent equities, 40 percent bonds. What has been considered the golden rule of portfolio theory for decades is of less and less value to investors today. Because central banks have backstopped almost every market, essentially mimicking the market maker of last and first resort, returns have been low, correlations have increased, and valuations are deprived of their meaning. To act as the...","https://mises.org/wire/thanks-central-banks-old-investment-rules-dont-apply-anymore" "The Tragedy of the Government's Ban on Human Organ Sales","Wire","Mark Thornton","","October 29, 2021","In late September surgeons successfully attached a kidney from a genetically modified pig to a human body, establishing a “proof of concept.” This is a large step in alleviating a massive shortage of cadaver or donated human body parts for those often desperate people in need of a transplant. Given the functionality of these pig parts and the existing genetic modifications created for those with...","https://mises.org/wire/tragedy-governments-ban-human-organ-sales" "The Overlooked Promise Of Health Savings Accounts","Power & Market","Aadi Golchha","","November 1, 2021","Health savings accounts are a little-used feature of America's current healthcare system, which, despite their numerous advantages, have gone largely unnoticed. Health savings accounts, or HSAs, are pre-tax savings accounts that allow consumers to set aside money for certain health care services. Congress first established HSAs in 2003 under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and...","https://mises.org/power-market/overlooked-promise-health-savings-accounts" "Are Digital Marketspaces The Last Free Market Frontier?","Power & Market","Raushan Gross","","November 30, 2021","In his book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith said of producers: ""They are led by an invisible hand to make nearly the same distribution of the necessaries of life which would have been made had the earth been divided into equal portions among all inhabitants; and thus, without intending it, without knowing it, advance the interest of society, and afford means to the multiplication of...","https://mises.org/power-market/are-digital-marketspaces-last-free-market-frontier" "Gordon is a Genius, and I am a Classical Liberal","Power & Market","Jim Fedako","","January 10, 2022","David Gordon is a genius, a man whose intellectual abilities and output exceed mine. I make that claim without any sense of envy. I also claim our unequal conditions are beneficial to each other, and society in general. Because of these declarations, I am a classical liberal in the Misesian sense. Let me explain. First, I need to define left and right as I see them. To do this, I paraphrase Paul...","https://mises.org/power-market/gordon-genius-and-i-am-classical-liberal" "Is the ""Resource"" Curse Keeping Many Developing Nations Poor? ","Power & Market","Lipton Matthews","","January 21, 2022","The impact of resources on national development has puzzled economists and political scientists for decades. Economic literature has noted that resource-rich countries conventionally fail to transform natural advantages into material prosperity. In the field of economics, this development is known as the resource curse. It has been asserted that resource abundance degrades the quality of...","https://mises.org/power-market/resource-curse-keeping-many-developing-nations-poor" "Is the ""Resource"" Curse Keeping Many Developing Nations Poor? ","Power & Market","Lipton Matthews","","January 21, 2022","The impact of resources on national development has puzzled economists and political scientists for decades. Economic literature has noted that resource-rich countries conventionally fail to transform natural advantages into material prosperity. In the field of economics, this development is known as the resource curse. It has been asserted that resource abundance degrades the quality of...","https://mises.org/power-market/resource-curse-keeping-many-developing-nations-poor-0" "They Told Us We Needed Lockdowns to Prevent Economic Collapse. They Were Wrong. ","Power & Market","Ryan McMaken","","February 18, 2022","One of the many sketchy tactics employed by advocates of covid lockdowns was to insist that we had to choose between two bad options: the first option was to damage the economy with lockdowns. But in that case, we'd be saving countless lives. The second option was to not impose lockdowns. But the experts insisted in that case, the economic devastation would be far worse because most people would...","https://mises.org/power-market/they-told-us-we-needed-lockdowns-prevent-economic-collapse-they-were-wrong" "It’s Mid-2022 and the Fed Has Still Done Nothing to Fight Inflation","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","May 4, 2022","It was last August when Jerome Powell began to admit that inflation just might be a problem. But even then, he was only willing to say that inflation would likely be “moderately” above the arbitrary 2 percent inflation standard. Back in August, low inflation—not high inflation—was still perceived to be the “problem."" But things had certainly changed by late November when Powell was forced by...","https://mises.org/wire/its-mid-2022-and-fed-has-still-done-nothing-fight-inflation" "Mises and Fascism","Library Item","David Gordon","Friday Philosophy, Institute Publications","May 6, 2022","“Fascist” these days is little more than a term of abuse for opponents and has no cognitive value, but in what follows I’ll be using it in a precise sense, to designate a supporter of the regime established by Benito Mussolini in Italy. Was Ludwig von Mises in this sense a Fascist or a Fascist sympathizer? The question on its face seems absurd, and so indeed I shall be arguing it is; Mises was a...","https://mises.org/library/mises-and-fascism" "Market Success Is about Giving People What They Want","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","June 11, 2022","Economists are often examining the variables that lead to prosperity, but surprisingly, intelligence is rarely featured in this literature, despite its high replicability in research. Intelligence is a robust predictor of well-being, job performance, and other social outcomes. Due to heightened reasoning abilities, intelligent people are more cooperative and adept at defusing tension. Intelligent...","https://mises.org/wire/market-success-about-giving-people-what-they-want" "Rising Interest Rates Are Revealing the True Damage Done by the Fed","Power & Market","Tho Bishop","","June 16, 2022","On May 4, Jerome Powell dismissed the possibility of the Federal Reserve hiking the federal funds rate by three-quarters of a percent. On June 15, he announced that America’s central bank was doing just that, a reminder that the Fed continues to give itself more power over the economy, even as it repeatedly demonstrates an inability to predict inflation, economic growth, or even its own policy....","https://mises.org/power-market/rising-interest-rates-are-revealing-true-damage-done-fed" "Economies Cannot Produce Wealth without Patience and Long-Term Horizons","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","August 4, 2022","In a pioneering study, psychologist Walter Mischel demonstrated that delaying gratification in childhood led to success in later life. The experiment entailed placing toddlers in a room with treats and giving them the option of eating them immediately or waiting for fifteen minutes so that they could get a second offering. Follow-up studies found that participants were more successful in...","https://mises.org/wire/economies-cannot-produce-wealth-without-patience-and-long-term-horizons" "Progressives’ Automaticity Kills (and Kills and Kills)","Power & Market","James Anthony","","July 26, 2022","Proto-Progressives didn’t stand back and let a porous border emancipate slaves into rising prosperity. Instead, proto-Progressives used the new industrialization, railroads, and telegraphs to power industrial-scale conscription, killing, maiming, and destruction. Progressives didn’t stand back and let European governments wage a first total war against Europe’s people. Instead, Progressives used...","https://mises.org/power-market/progressives-automaticity-kills-and-kills-and-kills" "Inflation Makes People Poorer (And It's the Government's Fault)","Wire","André Marques","","August 15, 2022","The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the US was 9.1 percent in June. Taking into account that the government lies about inflation, it is better to consider Shadow Government Statistics’ CPI (based on the 1980s CPI methodology), which was (as of July 13) about 17 percent. The government claims that this high CPI is due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (you could argue that, one of the reasons is the...","https://mises.org/wire/inflation-makes-people-poorer-and-its-governments-fault" "Money Is Not Wealth, nor Is Wealth Natural Resources","Wire","Manuel Tacanho","","August 19, 2022","The misconception that money and natural resources are wealth is rampant among intellectuals and other educated individuals, and even economists. Prevailing monetary and economic policy choices reflect this entrenched misconception. Consider the fact that since the 2008 Great Recession, leading central banks have injected trillions of dollars, euros, yens, etc., into economies and have monetized...","https://mises.org/wire/money-not-wealth-nor-wealth-natural-resources" "Do We Want Real Tax Cuts? How About Cutting Government Spending?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 31, 2022","According to many economic commentators, an effective way to generate economic growth is through the lowering of taxes. The lowering of taxes, it is held, will place more money in consumers’ pockets, thereby setting in motion an economic growth. This way of thinking is based on the belief that a given dollar increase in consumer spending will lift the economy’s gross domestic product (GDP) by a...","https://mises.org/wire/do-we-want-real-tax-cuts-how-about-cutting-government-spending" "Genuine Recovery Is Up to Investors, Producers, and Consumer Choice","Wire","James Anthony","","September 27, 2022","So-called recession and recovery are false metrics. The falsity comes from focusing on the total earned by all people, not the total earned on average by a given individual. If in total, people earn one percent more, but in total, the population is two percent more, then on average a given individual earns one percent less. On average, a given individual is in a recession if the total earnings...","https://mises.org/wire/genuine-recovery-investors-producers-and-consumer-choice" "Declining Prices Do Not Destroy Wealth; They Enable Its Creation","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 8, 2022","Most economists believe that a general decline in the prices of goods and services is bad news because it is associated with major economic slumps such as the Great Depression. In July 1932, the yearly growth rate of US industrial production stood at –31 percent whilst in September 1932 the yearly growth rate of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at –10.7 percent. Many economic commentators...","https://mises.org/wire/declining-prices-do-not-destroy-wealth-they-enable-its-creation" """Antidemocratic"" Just Means ""Something the Regime Doesn't Like."" ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","November 8, 2022","“Democracy” is the new “revolutionary.” In the old Marxist regimes, anything that displeased the regime was said to be contrary to “the revolution.” For example, in the Soviet Union, national leaders spoke regularly of how the nation was in the process of “a revolutionary transformation” toward a future idealized communist society. Many years after the actual revolution and coup d’état in Russia...","https://mises.org/wire/antidemocratic-just-means-something-regime-doesnt" "Why ""Greedflation"" Isn't Real","Wire","Connor O'Keeffe","","November 14, 2022","Even as price inflation slows and we move past June’s peak, progressives continue to push the concept of “greedflation”—that this year’s price inflation is caused by corporate greed and price gouging. This is inaccurate, based on bad economics, and it blames a consequence of the problem rather than the problem itself. If we want to address the real issues in the economy and avoid similar pain in...","https://mises.org/wire/why-greedflation-isnt-real" "Can a Deeply Unserious America Fix Its Economy?","Wire","Jeff Deist","","November 22, 2022","Does America simply lack the political will to face economic reality? In the teeth of the Depression, Treasury secretary Andrew Mellon famously told President Herbert Hoover to “liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate”—in other words, to resist bailing out any industry through state intervention. This was a tough sell even in those days, and of course Hoover...","https://mises.org/wire/can-deeply-unserious-america-fix-its-economy" "Who Pays Wealth Tax: The Rich or the Poor?","Wire","Jesús Huerta de Soto","","November 30, 2022","The Spanish government’s announcement that it plans to introduce a new “solidarity tax” on the wealth of those who possess over €3 million has again brought to the fore the debate about taxes levied on wealth and capital. The issue is not merely that the announcement is highly politicized in what is already, de facto, a preelection period, nor that it could disrupt the fiscal autonomy of Madrid,...","https://mises.org/wire/who-pays-wealth-tax-rich-or-poor" "Keynesian Policies Gave Us High Debt, Inflation, and Weak Growth","Wire","Daniel Lacalle","","December 15, 2022","The evidence from the last thirty years is clear. Keynesian policies leave a massive trail of debt, weaker growth and falling real wages. Furthermore, once we look at each so-called stimulus plan, reality shows that the so-called multiplier effect of government spending is virtually nonexistent and has long-term negative implications for the health of the economy. Stimulus plans have bloated...","https://mises.org/wire/keynesian-policies-gave-us-high-debt-inflation-and-weak-growth" "Authoritarianism Is Not Compatible with Economic Progress: Freedom Is Indivisible","Wire","Patrick Barron","","December 31, 2022","Is it possible, or even desirable, for economic freedom and progress to be compatible with authoritarianism? Although some may believe so, this is a fallacy. Freedom is indivisible. Political and economic freedom cannot be separated. This is the position of Ludwig von Mises himself. In Planning for Freedom, he says, “Tyranny is the political corollary of socialism, as representative government is...","https://mises.org/wire/authoritarianism-not-compatible-economic-progress-freedom-indivisible" "Saved by a Trillion-Dollar Coin?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2011","Now that the ""crisis"" over the federal debt ceiling has been averted, we can leisurely explore two of the wackier proposals that emerged during the state of panic. Not surprisingly, the schemes involved the Federal Reserve and its ability to circumvent, not just standard accounting, but also the traditional divisions of political power. It's worth studying the episode carefully because we will...","https://mises.org/library/saved-trillion-dollar-coin" "Why Die for Ukraine?","Wire","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","","January 31, 2022","You would think that the problems facing the United States would be enough for brain-dead Biden. With massive inflation, the economy is teetering on the brink of ruin. We face tyrannical control because of harmful vaccine mandates. Bogus propaganda about “climate change” threatens to cripple American industry. The government seeks to monitor all our financial transactions. We threaten China with...","https://mises.org/wire/why-die-ukraine" "San Jose's Gun Tax Has Nothing to Do with Reducing Crime","Wire","Tate Fegley","","February 2, 2022","CNN touts San Jose as being “poised to take a step closer to first-in-the-nation gun ownership requirements.” At first, I had thought that the poorly worded headline must be mistaken, as there are cities, such as Kennesaw, GA, that have required residents own guns. In San Jose’s case, “gun ownership requirements” means paying an annual tax and being required to purchase insurance to exercise the...","https://mises.org/wire/san-joses-gun-tax-has-nothing-do-reducing-crime" "The Price-Gouging State","Wire","Hal Snarr","","February 7, 2023","Friends and family are talking, on Facebook, about the rapid rise in the price of eggs. Their posts also report that there are plenty of eggs in the dairy sections of local grocery stores. A few people, along with some reporters, blame this rapid increase in the price of eggs on price-gouging corporations. State governments take price gouging seriously. Section 396-R of New York’s General...","https://mises.org/wire/price-gouging-state" "Mississippi Legislature Votes Overwhelmingly to End Sales Taxes on Gold and Silver","Power & Market","Jp Cortez","","February 23, 2023","State lawmakers of both houses have just voted overwhelmingly to exempt physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bullion from the Mississippi state sales tax, sending the bill to Governor Tate Reeves (R) for his signature. Senate Bill 2019, sponsored by Sen. Chad McMahan (R – 6), passed yesterday out of the full senate by a vote of 47-2. This afternoon, Rep. Jody Steverson’s...","https://mises.org/power-market/mississippi-legislature-votes-overwhelmingly-end-sales-taxes-gold-and-silver" "Jeremy Bentham: From Laissez-Faire to Statism","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","February 25, 2023","[An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (1995)] Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) began as a devoted Smithian but more consistently attached to laissez-faire. During his relatively brief span of interest in economics, he became more and more statist. His intensified statism was merely one aspect of his major — and highly unfortunate — contribution to economics: his consistent...","https://mises.org/library/jeremy-bentham-laissez-faire-statism" "Why Biden's Spending Is Unsustainable","Wire","Gary Galles","","March 9, 2023","As the State of the Union address and subsequent pronouncements have made clear, American politics is in the firm grip of fiscal illusion. One example is President Biden’s bragging that “In the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion—the largest deficit reduction in American history,” which implied that we should only look at a short run effect which had...","https://mises.org/wire/why-bidens-spending-unsustainable" "Anatomy of the Bank Run","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","March 18, 2023","[This article is featured in chapter 79 of Making Economic Sense by Murray Rothbard and originally appeared in the September, 1985 edition of The Free Market] It was a scene familiar to any nostalgia buff: all-night lines waiting for the banks (first in Ohio, then in Maryland) to open; pompous but mendacious assurances by the bankers that all is well and that the people should go home; a...","https://mises.org/library/anatomy-bank-run" "To Prevent Future Busts, Rothbard's America's Great Depression Must Be Reckoned With","Wire","Teyo Gokcek","","March 14, 2023","In the midst of an economic downturn caused by central banks interfering with the economy, economists and politicians have proposed a variety of proposed causes and remedies to these business cycles, many hoping to have their plans followed so as to achieve fame and government privilege. Though some are close to the mark as to what causes business cycles, with a few inadvertently stumbling upon...","https://mises.org/wire/prevent-future-busts-rothbards-americas-great-depression-must-be-reckoned" "Karl Marx Was Not an Economist","Wire","Yash Dubey","","March 24, 2023","Despite the massive intellectual feat that Marx’s Capital represents, the Marxian contribution to economics can be readily summarized as virtually zero. Professional economics as it exists today reflects no indication that Karl Marx ever existed. —Thomas Sowell If socialists understood economics they wouldn’t be socialists. —F.A. Hayek Karl Marx is a very popular name in social sciences. As a...","https://mises.org/wire/karl-marx-was-not-economist" "Central Banks: Who Needs Them? No One","Wire","Vibhu Vikramaditya","","March 31, 2022","As the Federal Reserve hikes its lending rate to a range of 0.25–0.50 percent, murmurs are heard around the world, with financial pundits predicting doom due to the increased pressures imposed on the cost structures of firms that are recovering from the pandemic lockdowns. The Federal Reserve is leader of the group of central banks around the world that are ostensibly directed by their respective...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-who-needs-them-no-one" "Carl Schmitt and Murray Rothbard","Library Item","David Gordon","Friday Philosophy, Institute Publications","April 1, 2022","Carl Schmitt has been classified in many different ways, but certainly never as a libertarian. To the contrary, Schmitt strongly supported a strong state and for a few years was a leading light among Nazi jurists, though he fell out of favor with the Nazi Party after 1936. In his great work Constitutional Theory (1928), he writes critically of the bourgeois state based on the rule of law (...","https://mises.org/library/carl-schmitt-and-murray-rothbard" "Who Are the Wealth Destroyers, Politicians or Billionaires?","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","April 5, 2023","Thinking that billionaires are a policy failure has become pervasive in the United States. Politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren are leading the charge in the demonization of billionaires. Left-leaning politicians and their allies think that billionaires corrode society by accumulating large fortunes, which amplify inequality. As such, many propose taxation as a tool to...","https://mises.org/wire/who-are-wealth-destroyers-politicians-or-billionaires" "Peak EV: Electric Vehicles Will Fade as Their True Costs Become Clear","Wire","Doug French","","April 12, 2023","“On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to announce tough new tailpipe emission standards designed to effectively force the auto industry to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars,” reports The Verge, with the provocative headline “The End Is Nigh for Gas-Powered Cars.” Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is the newest religion, and we all know who the...","https://mises.org/wire/peak-ev-electric-vehicles-will-fade-their-true-costs-become-clear" "Mississippi Becomes the 43rd State to End Sales Taxes on Gold and Silver","Power & Market","Jp Cortez","","April 20, 2023","With the stroke of Gov. Tate Reeves’s pen on Wednesday, Mississippi has become the 43rd state in the country to end sales taxes on the purchase of physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bullion. Senate Bill 2862, sponsored by Sen. Juan Barnett (D-34), had passed out of the full senate by a vote of 52-0 and sailed through the House of Representatives by a vote of 115-0. The...","https://mises.org/power-market/mississippi-becomes-43rd-state-end-sales-taxes-gold-and-silver" "The Great Reset VII: Capitalism for the Rich and Socialism for the Poor","Wire","Michael Rectenwald","","April 20, 2022","The standard leftist refrain about “advanced capitalism” is that it amounts to “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.” Like most leftist notions, this idea represents almost the exact opposite of the truth. The system they refer to is anything but socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. Capitalists do not want socialism for themselves and capitalism for the rest....","https://mises.org/wire/great-reset-vii-capitalism-rich-and-socialism-poor" "Introduction","Online Text Chapter","F.W. Taussig","Online Texts","May 20, 2016","This book, written in 1892–1895 and published in 1896, has long been out of print. The London School of Economics (University of London) now honors me by undertaking a reprint in its series of scarce books and monographs.The book should be read in the light of the stage at which economic theory stood when it was prepared. Large matters of principle were then in a ferment, which in England and...","https://mises.org/introduction-9" "Wages and Capital","Library Item","F.W. Taussig","Online Texts","May 20, 2016","Taussig's Introduction This book, written in 1892–1895 and published in 1896, has long been out of print. The London School of Economics (University of London) now honors me by undertaking a reprint in its series of scarce books and monographs. The book should be read in the light of the stage at which economic theory stood when it was prepared. Large matters of principle were then in a ferment,...","https://mises.org/library/wages-and-capital" "The Most Important Factor in The Economy Is Flashing A Huge Warning Sign","Power & Market","Jon Wolfenbarger","","May 4, 2023","Since money is used in all transactions, including investments in physical goods and financial instruments, the supply of money is extremely important to the economy and financial markets. Accelerating money supply growth typically leads to stronger economic activity and higher prices, while decelerating money supply growth (or decline) typically leads to weaker economic activity and lower prices...","https://mises.org/power-market/most-important-factor-economy-flashing-huge-warning-sign" "Arrojando luz sobre la ley de las consecuencias no intencionadas","Wire","Joshua Schubert","","May 5, 2023","El Departamento de Energía de EEUU acaba de anunciar dos nuevas normas que prohibirán la fabricación de bombillas incandescentes a partir de julio de 2023 e irán introduciéndose progresivamente en los distintos sectores durante los meses siguientes. El gobierno de Biden afirma que esta prohibición es una medida de ahorro que «ahorrará a los consumidores unos 3.000 millones de dólares anuales...","https://mises.org/node/63133" "5. The Social Function of Profit and Loss","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books","February 2, 2016","Profits are never normal. They appear only where there is a maladjustment, a divergence between actual production and production as it should be in order to utilize the available material and mental resources for the best possible satisfaction of the wishes of the public. They are the prize of those who remove this maladjustment; they disappear as soon as the maladjustment is entirely removed. In...","https://mises.org/5-social-function-profit-and-loss" "The Economic Nationalists Are Wrong: Free Trade Means Freedom and Prosperity","Wire","Benjamin Seevers","","May 31, 2023","Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a debate about the morality of capitalism between James Otteson and Michael Anton, a defender of economic nationalism. Otteson made a good case for capitalism; however, Anton derailed the debate by choosing to focus on specific policies rather than ethical concerns. Ironically, Anton admits that he has hardly ever picked up an economics textbook....","https://mises.org/wire/economic-nationalists-are-wrong-free-trade-means-freedom-and-prosperity" "Review: Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier","Wire","Rudolph Kohn","","May 24, 2023","George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier is a book for which I kept hearing recommendations. I was told that it contained biting criticisms of socialism and was a valuable source of antiauthoritarian thought. What I found, instead, was a snobbish text that ineffectually denounces snobbery, an erudite-sounding text that lacks any philosophical or economic depth, and a persistent veil of ignorance...","https://mises.org/wire/review-orwells-road-wigan-pier" "Modern Socialism Is Forced Socialization","Wire","Finn Andreen","","July 22, 2023","My article “The Education of the Modern Socialist” deserves a follow-up. The first part showed that a change has occurred in the definition of “socialism”—a necessary change in view of the failures of this ideology during the last century. Socialism today is based on the ideology of “statism”—the conviction that the state must play a fundamental role in society. Ludwig von Mises’s wider...","https://mises.org/wire/modern-socialism-forced-socialization" "What to Do (And What NOT to Do) after Disasters Strike","Power & Market","James Anthony","","August 22, 2023","In the following diagram, Jesús Huerta de Soto has summarized the actions people take to recover from a disaster when people are free. figure._stylized_stages_when_free_people_save_and_invest.png Data from Jesús Huerta de Soto.Graphic interpretation by author. Figure. Stylized stages when free people save and invest. The starting point in...","https://mises.org/power-market/what-do-and-what-not-do-after-disasters-strike" "Times Are Hard: On the Causes of the Business Cycle","Library Item","Gene Callahan","Mises Daily Articles","April 28, 2006","IntroductionOut of GasThe Fed Starts A PartyBoom, Bust, and the Structure of CapitalBut What About Expectations?The Rate Game [This article is excerpted from chapter 13 of Mr. Callahan's book, Economics for Real People.]In the economies of most modern industrial nations, a central bank manages the nation's money supply and attempts to control the level of interest rates, at least to some extent...","https://mises.org/library/times-are-hard-causes-business-cycle" "An Open Letter to Warren Buffett","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","July 26, 2012","Mr. Warren Buffett3555 Farnam StreetSuite 1440Omaha, NE 68131Mr. Buffett:You have been quoted time and again, without any denial on your part that I am aware of, as having said, ""There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.""In view of the seriousness of this statement, I have to ask you some questions.Do you intend to be taken...","https://mises.org/library/open-letter-warren-buffett" "Economic Recessions, Banking Reform, and the Future of Capitalism","Library Item","Jesús Huerta de Soto","Mises Daily Articles","November 1, 2010","[Hayek Memorial Lecture, The London School of Economics and Political Science, October 28, 2010. Originally published by the Cobden Centre.] It is a great honor for me to have been invited by the London School of Economics to deliver this Hayek Memorial Lecture. To begin, I would like to thank the school and especially Professor Timothy Besley for inviting me, Professor Philip Booth and the...","https://mises.org/library/economic-recessions-banking-reform-and-future-capitalism" "The Consumption Tax: A Critique","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","June 24, 2022","The Alleged Superiority of the Income Tax Orthodox neoclassical economics has long maintained that, from the point of view of the taxed themselves, an income tax is ""better than"" an excise tax on a particular form of consumption, since, in addition to the total revenue extracted, which is assumed to be the same in both cases, the excise tax weights the levy heavily against a particular consumer...","https://mises.org/library/consumption-tax-critique" "A Critical Note on Fractional-Reserve Free Banking","Library Item","Jesús Huerta de Soto","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 1, No. 4 (Winter 1998) Over the last fifteen years there has been a revival of some of the economic doctrines of the old Free-Banking School Supporters of this revival defend the idea that fractional-reserve free banking would not only lead to fewer distortions and financial crises than those generated by the current central banking system, but would also tend to eliminate economic...","https://mises.org/library/critical-note-fractional-reserve-free-banking-0" "Austrians vs the Mainstream: on Taxes","Wire","Jeffrey M. Herbener","","March 15, 2018","This article illustrates the usefulness of the methodology of the Austrian school of economics. No scientific inquiry can occur without a method, be it carefully considered or willy-nilly. Yet, mainstream economists pay little attention to the methods they use. Apparently they are satisfied to mimic the method of physics. For economists as a whole, the Austrians stand virtually alone as students...","https://mises.org/wire/austrians-vs-mainstream-taxes" "Children and Rights","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","May 9, 2007","[This article is excerpted from chapter 14 of The Ethics of Liberty. Listen to this article in MP3, read by Jeff Riggenbach. The entire book is being prepared for podcast and download.]We have now established each man's property right in his own person and in the virgin land that he finds and transforms by his labor, and we have shown that from these two principles we can deduce the entire...","https://mises.org/library/children-and-rights" "Risking Aggression: Reply to Block","Library Item","Kris Borer","Libertarian Papers, Journals, Other Journals","May 18, 2010","Volume 2, Article 13 (2010)Walter Block is a radical anarchist. He is a libertarian extremist. The government probably spends oodles of fiat currency investigating, monitoring and keeping detailed records of Block’s activities. More is undoubtedly spent each year in order to produce propaganda to counter his promotion of Austrian economics. A “narrow”1 interpretation of the non-aggression...","https://mises.org/library/risking-aggression-reply-block" "Is Garrison's Notion of ""Secular Growth"" Compatible With the Solow Growth Literature?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","April 2, 2018","[Full Issue of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 20, no. 4 (2017)]ABSTRACT: Roger Garrison (2001) employs the concept of “secular growth” in which a one-shot (but permanent) fall in time preferences can yield a long string of doses of net investment, so long as gross saving exceeds depreciation. However, Salerno (2001) argues that secular growth is incompatible with orthodox Austrian...","https://mises.org/library/garrisons-notion-secular-growth-compatible-solow-growth-literature" "That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen","Library Item","Claude Frédéric Bastiat","Articles of Interest, Institute Publications","November 25, 2022","In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession — they are not seen: it is well for us if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole...","https://mises.org/library/which-seen-and-which-not-seen" "Does the widening US trade deficit pose a threat to the economy?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","February 2, 2006","Most economists are extremely alarmed about the effect of the expanding deficit on the current account. In 2004 the deficit stood at $668 billion, or 5.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP). For 2005 we have estimated that the deficit was around $788 billion, or 6.3% of GDP. As a result of the ballooning deficit, the value of US net external liabilities, expressed at historical cost, jumped to $...","https://mises.org/library/does-widening-us-trade-deficit-pose-threat-economy" "The Prophet of the Great Depression","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","October 4, 2006","The Causes of the Economic Crisis is a collection of articles on the business cycle, money, and exchange rates by Ludwig von Mises that appeared between 1919 and 1946. Here we have the evidence that the master economist foresaw and warned against the breakdown of the German mark, as well as the market crash of 1929 and the depression that followed.Mises presents his business cycle theory in its...","https://mises.org/library/prophet-great-depression" "Where Is the US Economy Heading?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","December 7, 2009","Economists are currently divided on the issue of how strong the US economic recovery is going to be. Some are of the view that as a result of the stimulus policies of the Fed and the Federal government, the recovery is going to be quite strong. Some others are more pessimistic given still-rising unemployment, which they believe will keep consumer spending subdued. In October the unemployment rate...","https://mises.org/library/where-us-economy-heading" "Mises: Defender of Freedom","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","September 29, 2006","Today, September 29, 2006 is the one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary of the birth of Ludwig von Mises, economist and social philosopher, who passed away in 1973. Mises was my teacher and mentor and the source or inspiration for most of what I know and consider to be important and worthwhile in these fields — of what enables me to understand the events shaping the world in which we live. I...","https://mises.org/library/mises-defender-freedom" "In Praise of the Capitalist 1 Percent","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","October 21, 2011","""The wealth of the 1 percent provides the standard of living of the 99 percent.""The protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement and its numerous clones elsewhere in the country and around the world chant that 1 percent of the population owns all the wealth and lives at the expense of the remaining 99 percent. The obvious solution that they imply is for the 99 percent to seize the wealth of the...","https://mises.org/library/praise-capitalist-1-percent" "Profits","Library Item","Hans F. Sennholz","Mises Daily Articles","June 6, 2012","[Originally published in the Freeman, November 1964, this article is included in Free Market Economics: A Basic Reader, edited by Bettina Bien Greaves.]Although every businessman aims to earn a ""profit,"" he usually knows very little about the economic nature of his objective. He may even succeed in earning a profit, and yet be unable to explain this excess of proceeds that accrues to him after...","https://mises.org/library/profits" "The Glories and Pathologies of Texocentrism","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","November 30, 2004","A Thanksgiving visit to my Texas hometown provokes the question: it is possible to adore the people and enterprising ethics of a place while abhorring its politics of nonchalant imperialism?There are plenty of theoretical problems with combining laissez-faire economics with the belief that the Texas political establishment ought to otherwise run the world. But such a stance, however contradictory...","https://mises.org/library/glories-and-pathologies-texocentrism" "Boom to Bust","Library Item","Jeffrey M. Herbener","Mises Daily Articles","September 8, 1998","Murray Rothbard called the central puzzle of the business cycle the ""cluster of entrepreneurial error."" During the boom, most entrepreneurs and investors appear to be geniuses, earning extraordinary profits year after year. During the bust, their fortunes are suddenly reversed, and they seem like dunces and suffer losses year after year. Yesterday's profitable ventures suddenly reveal themselves...","https://mises.org/library/boom-bust" "Malinvestment and Regime Uncertainty","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","October 29, 2012","A recent Circle Bastiat blog post highlighted a discussion by Robert Higgs where he argued,anemic investment recovery evinces, at least in part, the prevailing regime uncertainty brought about by the Fed's and the Bush and Obama administrations' massive, ill-advised, and counter-productive interventions in the economy during the past five years.He supported his argument with data from the St....","https://mises.org/library/malinvestment-and-regime-uncertainty" "The Flipside of the Trillion Dollar Coin","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Mises Daily Articles","January 30, 2013","As outlandish as the idea of the $1 trillion platinum coin at first appears, it gives us a glimpse of a monetary arrangement that, although far from ideal, is superior to the current system. Now that the Obama Treasury has definitely ruled out the scheme to mint the coin to circumvent the gimmicky debt ceiling, it is instructive to take a closer look at the reason why it did so and to articulate...","https://mises.org/library/flipside-trillion-dollar-coin" "The Broken Window Fallacy Reapplied","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","June 11, 2022","The claim of the Austrian School that has scandalized members of other schools for 150 years is the following. The propositions of economics are universal. The principles apply in all times and all places, because they derive from the structure of reality and human action. What brought about economic growth, inflation, or the business cycle in China in 300 BC are the same institutions that drive...","https://mises.org/library/broken-window-fallacy-reapplied" "The Popular (and Wrong) Interpretation of the ""Industrial Revolution""","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","June 4, 2019","It is generally asserted that the history of modern industrialism and especially the history of the British ""Industrial Revolution"" provide an empirical verification of the ""realistic"" or ""institutional"" doctrine and utterly explode the ""abstract"" dogmatism of the economists.1 The economists flatly deny that labor unions and government prolabor legislation can and did lastingly benefit the whole...","https://mises.org/library/popular-and-wrong-interpretation-industrial-revolution" "The ""New Economists"" and the Great Depression of the 1970s","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","February 16, 2022","During the 1960s, when Keynesian economics came to truly dominate the economics profession, there was a large influx of these ""new economists"" into government. The disastrous results included the ""keynesianisation"" of the economy and what is best described as an economic depression lasted throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s. Like the 1920s and 1990s, the decade of the 1960s was a period...","https://mises.org/library/new-economists-and-great-depression-1970s" "Lifeboat Situations","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","October 1, 2004","This article is taken from chapter 20 of The Ethics of Liberty.It is often contended that the existence of extreme, or ""lifeboat,"" situations disproves any theory of absolute property rights, or indeed of any absolute rights of self-ownership whatsoever. It is claimed that since any theory of individual rights seems to break down or works unsatisfactorily in such fortunately rare situations,...","https://mises.org/library/lifeboat-situations" "Ends and Values and the Law of Marginal Utility","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","February 8, 2019","[Man, Economy, and State (1962)] All action involves the employment of scarce means to attain the most valued ends. Man has the choice of using the scarce means for various alternative ends, and the ends that he chooses are the ones he values most highly. The less urgent wants are those that remain unsatisfied. Actors can be interpreted as ranking their ends along a scale of values, or scale of...","https://mises.org/library/ends-and-values-and-law-marginal-utility" "Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XV","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","June 24, 2008","Chapter XV. The MarketChapter Summary1. The Characteristics of the Market EconomyThe market economy is a social system where individuals specialize in their occupations and the means of production (natural resources, tools, etc.) are privately owned. Although everyone acts to serve his own interests, in a market economy this is achieved by aiming to satisfy the desires of other people.The market...","https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-chapter-xv" "Three Flawed Fed Exit Options","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","March 14, 2011","Whether giving public lectures or teaching at the Mises Academy, I'm often asked whether Bernanke will be able to ""pull this off."" Specifically, can the Fed gracefully exit from the huge hole it has dug for itself?Unfortunately my answer is no. In the present article I'll go over three possible exit options, and explain the flaws in each.The ProblemBefore assessing the chances of escape, let's...","https://mises.org/library/three-flawed-fed-exit-options" "The Hiroshima Myth","Library Item","John V. Denson","Mises Daily Articles","August 6, 2020","Every year during the first two weeks of August the mass news media and many politicians at the national level trot out the ""patriotic"" political myth that the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan in August of 1945 caused them to surrender, and thereby saved the lives of anywhere from five hundred thousand to 1 million American soldiers, who did not have to invade the islands. Opinion polls...","https://mises.org/library/hiroshima-myth" "How Recessions Become Depressions","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","November 4, 2003","As all Austrians should be aware, recessions themselves only come about as a reaction to the unsustainable tempo of the preceding Boom. They also know that, at root, the Boom itself always has its genesis in an unwarranted expansion of the means of payment.When the central bank proactively encourages--or retroactively endorses--a credit expansion, the subtle interconnections between supply and...","https://mises.org/library/how-recessions-become-depressions" "Illusions of the Age of Keynes","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","January 25, 2010","A year ago George Melloan wrote in the Wall Street Journal, ""We're all Keynesian's Again."" You remember last January — change was on its way. We had a new rock-star president and he was going to get us out of the mess that Wall Street had got us into. ""Now is the time to jump-start job creation, restart lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our...","https://mises.org/library/illusions-age-keynes" "Fifty Links to Our Healthcare Future?","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","April 5, 2010","As someone who has long been critical of our healthcare system and who has argued for true reform, I was frustrated with the bill passed in February by simple majorities in the House and Senate. Change in itself is not reform, and chanting ""yes we can"" to yourself one thousand times cannot make it so.Yet I wonder, Why did efforts to centralize healthcare fail in the early 1990s but succeed today...","https://mises.org/library/fifty-links-our-healthcare-future" "The Deflationary Spiral Bogey","Library Item","Robert Blumen","Mises Daily Articles","February 14, 2013","What is deflation? According to dictionary.com, it is “a fall in the general price level or a contraction of credit and available money.”Falling prices. That sounds good, especially if you have set some cash set aside and are thinking about a major purchase.But as some additional research with Google would seem to demonstrate, that would be a naïve and simple-minded conclusion. According to...","https://mises.org/library/deflationary-spiral-bogey" "The Demise of the Interest Rate","Library Item","Thorsten Polleit","Mises Daily Articles","June 27, 2005","Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851–1914) expressed concern that the interest rate might not get rid of its ""moral shade"" (""moralischer Schatten"").1 Indeed, people have actually been looking upon the interest rate phenomenon with animosity for centuries. Back in the middle ages those who dealt with money lending tended to be exposed to heavy discrimination by their fellow people.In the more recent past,...","https://mises.org/library/demise-interest-rate" "A Golden Way Out of the Monetary Fiasco","Library Item","Thorsten Polleit","Mises Daily Articles","January 7, 2009","Sir Edward Burne-Jones""The Golden Stairs""The government-controlled monetary regime — the most destructive force set into motion by state interventionism — has finally been blown to pieces. This is the message conveyed by the monetary fiasco in global capital markets, typically referred to as the international credit crisis.However, politicians and central bankers the world over are taking great...","https://mises.org/library/golden-way-out-monetary-fiasco" "Boom and Depression in Ancient Rome","Library Item","H. J. Haskell","Mises Daily Articles","October 6, 2011","[The New Deal in Rome (1939; 2009)] The great achievement of the government that Augustus organized was the Roman peace. Under him and his successors for nearly 400 years the empire kept at bay the hordes that threatened to destroy Western civilization. During this time the Greco-Roman culture became so firmly established and so widespread that it was able to survive the disintegration of the...","https://mises.org/library/boom-and-depression-ancient-rome" "The Euro Debt Crisis and Economic Theory","Library Item","Kel Kelly","Mises Daily Articles","February 4, 2011"," Throughout the last year, European debt problems have been cited as a threat to both the euro and to the American economy, among other entities. While many correct assertions have been made concerning the potential impact of a European debt implosion, there have also been many ill-conceived ones. It is often faulty economic theory that leads to faulty conclusions. This article revisits economic...","https://mises.org/library/euro-debt-crisis-and-economic-theory" "It's the Language of Action, Not a Trick","Library Item","Predrag Rajsic","Mises Daily Articles","February 3, 2010","In the last several months, retail stores have sales on all sorts of products. Discounts go as far as 90% off. Some of these widespread price reductions can be attributed to the holiday season behind us, while most of them, it seems, were triggered by the recent fall in consumer demand due to the macroeconomic downturn.This might induce some individuals to be concerned that sellers are now highly...","https://mises.org/library/its-language-action-not-trick" "Liberty in Aquarius?","Library Item","Gerhard Ohrband","Mises Daily Articles","June 1, 2012","While ""New Age"" can stand for a great variety of heterogeneous movements and worldviews, there are general features characterizing its followers, apart from clothing and food habits: a conviction of being part of a new planetary force that will contribute to or witness a spiritual transformation of humanity — taking a qualitative quantum leap to higher consciousness. Although many of the invoked...","https://mises.org/library/liberty-aquarius" "A Plague From Both Their Houses: The Economic Advisors to Bush & Dukakis","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","August 1, 1988","The Free Market 6, no. 8 (August 1988) In primitive societies, witchdoctors legitimized tyrannical government by naming it the mandate of heaven. In return, they got a cut of the earthly loot.In the U.S., some economists serve the same function. For promoting government intervention as scientific, and advising on the most efficient forms, they receive power, prestige, and money from Washington....","https://mises.org/library/plague-both-their-houses-economic-advisors-bush-dukakis" " Money and Our Future","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","February 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 2 (February 2009) We are fortunate to be living in these times, for we are seeing the unfolding of events long explained and predicted by the Austrian tradition. Maybe that sounds implausible. What is fortunate about our times? The economy is tanking, stocks have been pummeled, unemployment is rising, and Washington is pursuing the worst combination of economic policies...","https://mises.org/library/money-and-our-future-0" "Kotlikoff vs. Vance","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","December 20, 2005","Lawrence Kotlikoff has responded to Laurence Vance’s criticism of the FairTax idea. So that it doesn’t get lost in the ever-longer thread here, here it is as a separate post. It seems to me that that his whole response underscores what a great job Vance did. Smoke and mirrors indeed!Reviewing Laurence Vance’s Book Review“There’s No Such Thing as a Fair Tax”Dr. Laurence J. KotlikoffProfessor of...","https://mises.org/wire/kotlikoff-vs-vance" "Chapter 8: Fundamentals of Value and Price","Online Text Chapter","Joseph T. Salerno, Matthew McCaffrey","Books","March 1, 2016","Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was born on September 29, 1881, in the city of Lemberg (present day Ukraine), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where his father, Arthur Edler von Mises, a distinguished construction engineer working for the Austrian railroads, was stationed. Growing up in Vienna, Mises entered the University of Vienna at the turn of the century to study for his graduate...","https://mises.org/chapter-8-fundamentals-value-and-price" "Ludwig von Mises: Defender of Capitalism","Wire","George Reisman","","September 29, 2017","September 29, 2017 is the one-hundred-and-thirty-sixth anniversary of the birth of Ludwig von Mises, economist and social philosopher, who passed away in 1973. Mises was my teacher and mentor and the source or inspiration for most of what I know and consider to be important and worthwhile in these fields—of what enables me to understand the events shaping the world in which we live. I want to...","https://mises.org/wire/ludwig-von-mises-defender-capitalism" "1. The Austrian School","Online Text Chapter","Murray N. Rothbard","Online Texts","March 14, 2018","Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was born on September 29, 1881, in the city of Lemberg (present day Ukraine), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where his father, Arthur Edler von Mises, a distinguished construction engineer working for the Austrian railroads, was stationed. Growing up in Vienna, Mises entered the University of Vienna at the turn of the century to study for his graduate...","https://mises.org/1-austrian-school" "It's Time to Give Up on Britain's National Health Service","Wire","Antony Sammeroff","","July 16, 2018","“Woe unto you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” — Luke 6:26 Our National Health Service just turned 70! According to a recent article in The Guardian by Polly Toynbee , The NHS is our religion in the UK and that's why the conservative government can't destroy it. Of course, the Conservative government have never actually tried to destroy the...","https://mises.org/wire/its-time-give-britains-national-health-service" "Who Conserves Our Resources?","Wire","Ruth Shallcross Maynard","","December 3, 2018","[Reprinted from Free Market Economics: A Basic Reader compiled by Bettina G. Greaves and The Freeman July 1962.] ""Who should conserve our resources?"" If a poll were taken, a large majority probably would answer: ""Our federal and state governments."" And if one were to ask why this view is so widely held, he would find among other ""reasons"" the following: (1) that the free market is chaotic, gives...","https://mises.org/wire/who-conserves-our-resources" "Two Simple Questions Keynesians Can't Answer","Wire","Gary North","","February 22, 2019","Let us say that a carpenter wishes to cut fifty boards for the purpose of laying the floor of a house. He has marked his boards. He has set his saw. He begins at one end of the mark on the board. But he does not know that his seven-year old son has tampered with the saw and changed its set. The result is that every board he saws is cut slantwise and thus unusable because [the board is] too short...","https://mises.org/wire/two-simple-questions-keynesians-cant-answer" "Aprendiendo las lecciones correctas del día D","Wire","John L. Chapman","","June 6, 2019","La conmemoración del día D ha conferido a este día un lugar especial en la historia americana e incluso en la cultura pop, y ha generado literalmente una industria artesanal de cientos de libros, artículos y películas... No es de extrañar entonces que hoy, las hordas de clase de los grandes medios de comunicación estadounidenses hayan descendido sobre Francia, uniéndose a los políticos para...","https://mises.org/node/46764" "Banking and Monetary Policy from the Perspective of Austrian Economics","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","May 21, 2020","Banking and Monetary Policy from the Perspective of Austrian EconomicsAnnette Godart-van der Kroon and Patrik Vonlanthen, eds.Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2018280 pp. Joseph T. Salerno (salerno@mises.org) is professor of economics at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. The editors are to be heartily congratulated for putting together this book, which covers an impressive range of...","https://mises.org/library/banking-and-monetary-policy-perspective-austrian-economics" "What the Failed 55-MPH Speed Limit Law Tells Us about COVID Lockdowns","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","May 27, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. During the oil crises of the 1970s, Congress attempted to lower gasoline consumption by mandating a lowered speed limit for vehicles on all highways. But the efforts quickly evolved into a national campaign to increase traffic safety through lowered speed limits. Government data showed that thousands of lives could be saved per year by...","https://mises.org/wire/what-failed-55-mph-speed-limit-law-tells-us-about-covid-lockdowns" "Mastering the Future: The Megalomaniacal Ambitions of the WEF","Wire","Michael Rectenwald","","January 24, 2023","The fifty-third annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) brought together fifty-two world leaders, seventeen hundred corporate executives, sundry artists, and other personalities to address “Cooperation in a Fragmented World.” Fragmentation is the nemesis of the World Economic Forum and its United Nations (UN) and corporate partners. “Fragmentation” means that segments of the world...","https://mises.org/wire/mastering-future-megalomaniacal-ambitions-wef" "Money Inflation Is Baked In. Savers Need to Preserve Assets","Power & Market","James Anthony","","March 10, 2023","This time is different. Crises aren’t just typical cycles. In Great Inflation II, savers can at least preserve savings and likely earn substantial returns by owning gold. Government spending as a percentage of GDP has risen to a new minimum level—34 percent. picture1.png picture1.png Government...","https://mises.org/power-market/money-inflation-baked-savers-need-preserve-assets" "What Have We Learned? Lessons from America’s Great Depression?","Wire","Andrew den Boggende","","March 14, 2023","There has been much talk lately about the Great Depression. Not only because we are on the cusp of a recession, but comparisons have always been drawn to this ominous period of economic downturn. The best action we can take as economists is to study it, and Murray Rothbard did just that. America’s Great Depression, published in 1963, contains many valuable lessons that still hold true today for...","https://mises.org/wire/what-have-we-learned-lessons-americas-great-depression" "William Tell, Tax Rebel","Library Item","Adam Young","Mises Daily Articles","February 16, 2018","[This article was originally published in 2004.]The legend of William Tell, the Swiss legendary hero who symbolizes the struggle for individual and political freedom, has its origins in medieval Switzerland, in the tax rebellions that launched the Everlasting League and the defeat of an empire.Settled first by the Tene, then the Celts and then the Romans, after the empire fell Switzerland fell...","https://mises.org/library/william-tell-tax-rebel" "Miscalculating Human Interest","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","February 19, 2000","[Review of Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails To Satisfy in an Era of Excess by Robert H. Frank (The Free Press, 1999, ix + 326 pgs.) This preview is from the Spring 2000 issue of The Mises Review.]In 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith assailed American spending patterns. Consumers, he told us in The Affluent Society, spend too much on such fripperies as large tailfins on cars. As the result of this...","https://mises.org/library/miscalculating-human-interest" "Are Rich People Parasites?","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","September 6, 2007","[Are the Rich Necessary? Great Economic Arguments and How They Reflect Our Personal Values. By Hunter Lewis. Axios Press, 2007. Viii + 277 pgs.]Hunter Lewis's excellent book differs from nearly all other books on economics. Most books defend a particular point of view: a work by Duncan Foley, e.g., will be much more favorable to Marxism than one by Ludwig von Mises. Lewis instead presents the...","https://mises.org/library/are-rich-people-parasites" "What You Must Read About the Great Depression","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","February 22, 2009","The single most important book on the Great Depression."" – David GordonIn the present recession, advocates of government intervention often evoke the specter of the Great Depression. Unless the government intervenes massively, we are told, we risk an economic collapse comparable to that of the 1930s. To see the fallacy of this claim, it is imperative to understand that government intervention...","https://mises.org/library/what-you-must-read-about-great-depression" "Friedrich Hayek as a Teacher","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","May 8, 2009","Friedrich August von Hayek (1899–1992)In 1969, Friedrich Hayek taught at UCLA; he was Flint Professor of Philosophy, a visiting position of great prestige which had in past years been held by Bertrand Russell and Alfred Tarski. I was then a senior and enrolled in his only undergraduate class, Philosophy of the Social Sciences. He also taught a graduate seminar that covered the manuscript of his...","https://mises.org/library/friedrich-hayek-teacher" "An Ideal Guide to Keynes's Dangerous and Destructive Economics","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","December 7, 2009","Where Keynes Went Wrong And Why Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts • By Hunter Lewis • Axios Press, 2009 • Vi + 384 pages.Defenders of Keynes, such as the recent convert Bruce Bartlett, often claim that he supported capitalism. (Bartlett's The New American Economy has this as a primary theme.) His interventionist measures had as their aim not the replacement of capitalism by...","https://mises.org/library/ideal-guide-keyness-dangerous-and-destructive-economics" "What Individualism Is Not","Library Item","Frank Chodorov","Mises Daily Articles","May 10, 2014"," The bottle is now labeled libertarianism. But its content is nothing new; it is what in the nineteenth century, and up to the time of Franklin Roosevelt, was called liberalism — the advocacy of limited government and a free economy. (If you think of it, you will see that there is a redundancy in this formula, for a government of limited powers would have little chance of interfering with...","https://mises.org/library/what-individualism-not" "The Myth of the Neutral Interest Rate Policy","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","February 8, 2005","It is widely accepted that by means of suitable monetary policies the US central bank can navigate the economy towards a growth path of economic stability and prosperity. The key ingredient in achieving this is price stability.Most experts are of the view that what prevents the attainment of price stability are the fluctuations of the federal funds rate around the neutral rate of interest. The...","https://mises.org/library/myth-neutral-interest-rate-policy" "Who Knows the Neutral Rate of Interest? Not the Fed","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","May 17, 2006","On Wednesday May 10, Federal Reserve policy makers raised the federal funds rate target by 0.25% to 5%. This was the 16th increase in the target since June 2004 when it stood at 1%.The statement issued by Fed Chairman Bernanke and his colleagues suggested they would now pause in the cycle of interest rate increases. They say that they must assess the implications on economic activity from the...","https://mises.org/library/who-knows-neutral-rate-interest-not-fed" "The Fed Did It, and Greenspan Should Admit It","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","March 19, 2009","In his Wall Street Journal article from March 11, 2009, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan rejects the idea that the Fed's low-interest-rate policy between December 2000 and June 2004 fueled the housing bubble, which in turn laid the foundation for the current economic crisis.(The federal funds rate was lowered from 6.5% in December 2000 to 1% by June 2003. It was kept at 1% until June 2004 when...","https://mises.org/library/fed-did-it-and-greenspan-should-admit-it" "Does Deflation Pose a Threat to the US Economy?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","October 13, 2009","Many commentators are of the view that the biggest threat to the economy is deflation rather than inflation, because of the present economic slack. The United States used only 69.6% of its industrial capacity in August, against 77.6% in August last year and the historical average of 81.1% since January 1967. In Q2 this year, the real GDP stood 7.6% below the potential real GDP. This gap stood at...","https://mises.org/library/does-deflation-pose-threat-us-economy" "Environmentalism Refuted","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","April 20, 2001","Environmentalism is the product of the collapse of socialism in a world that is ignorant of the contributions of Ludwig von Mises—a world that does not know what he has said that would logically explain the collapse of socialism and, even more importantly, the success of capitalism.Because of ignorance of the contributions of von Mises, the great majority of the intellectuals, and of the general...","https://mises.org/library/environmentalism-refuted" "Post Office Hell","Library Item","Gregory Bresiger","Mises Daily Articles","December 22, 2004","Lenin once dismissed the question of how socialism would work by pointing to the workings of the post office. Socialism, he said , means only to ""To organize the whole economy on the lines of the postal service.""Well, I tried my best to avoid this pocket of socialism, but it was just unavoidable.I trained for it as though I would be in a life or death situation. Now it was time for a terrible...","https://mises.org/library/post-office-hell" "Communism in Capital Markets","Library Item","Ilana Mercer","Mises Daily Articles","October 7, 2002","Mainstream media seldom fail to shed darkness on whatever topic they tackle. Since the arrest of former ImClone CEO Dr. Samuel Waksal for prematurely ridding himself of his soon-to-tumble ImClone stock, the media have not deviated from this mandate. Point-men like Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post, the wild-eyed James Cramer, and Chris Matthews have been whooping it up uncritically for the...","https://mises.org/library/communism-capital-markets" "Dress Like the Great Depression","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","March 9, 2009","A conspicuous cultural change we can look forward to is a dramatic change in men's dress style. Guys, you might as well get ahead of the curve. The free-fall economy means a boon for better fashion for men who intend to survive the onslaught.We will be highly fortunate if the second Great Depression turns out to be as stylish as the first, in which even the bums sleeping in the park benches...","https://mises.org/library/dress-great-depression" "The Works of Leonard E. Read","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","March 31, 2009","The works of Leonard E. Read, who founded the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 1946, are now online at the Mises Institute. It is probably not the complete collected works, but it is all that he collected in book form. These are books that shaped several generations of activists, donors, writers, and intellectuals. They are the books that kick-started the libertarian movement after...","https://mises.org/library/works-leonard-e-read" "Turncoat and Airhead","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","May 3, 2002","Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative (NY: Crown Publishers, 2002) is one of those books that you buy for the index. The advance word on it was that David Brock, the author of scathing books and articles on Anita Hill and Bill Clinton in the 1990s, had turned against his own to rat out the conservative-movement slime that crawl around Capitol Hill.Would Brock's legendary...","https://mises.org/library/turncoat-and-airhead" "Rule By the Ridiculous","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","January 17, 2003","David Frum did not intend to write a send-up of the state. His goal was not to demystify the White House. But that is the effect of his chatty little book, The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush (NY: Random House, 2002).It has very little substance, and no content of grave historical import. It mainly consists of goofy stories concerning what words Bush ought to use and how,...","https://mises.org/library/rule-ridiculous" "The Brilliance of That Hayek vs. Keynes Rap","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","February 6, 2010","The debate between J.M. Keynes and F.A. Hayek, both living and teaching in Britain in the 1930s, was one of the great debates of the century. Sadly, the charming globetrotter Keynes had the podium and the audience, to the point of influencing policy the world over even to the present day. Meanwhile, the quiet and studious Hayek never really did gain an audience. Like his colleague and mentor...","https://mises.org/library/brilliance-hayek-vs-keynes-rap" "The Demand for Money and the Time-Structure of Production","Library Item","Jörg Guido Hülsmann","Mises Daily Articles","October 21, 2009","[From Property, Freedom and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe.]Hans-Hermann Hoppe is famous for his ground-breaking studies on the epistemology of the social sciences, on the ethics of capitalism, and on democracy. But he also made original and important contributions in various other fields, such as monetary economics.[1] Money and banking were actually our shared research interest...","https://mises.org/library/demand-money-and-time-structure-production" "Francis Wayland: Preacher-Economist","Library Item","Laurence M. Vance","Mises Daily Articles","April 21, 2022","One of the great but long-forgotten works of political economy from the nineteenth century was not written by a politician or an economist—it was written by the Baptist minister Francis Wayland (1796–1865). He was equally an author, a preacher, a teacher, a pastor, and an administrator. After a brief period of study for the ministry, and an even briefer stint as a college tutor, Wayland accepted...","https://mises.org/library/francis-wayland-preacher-economist" "You Will Find It in Human Action","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","May 15, 2006","Everyone interested in ideas has surely had the following experience. You become curious about a certain topic. You start with periodicals, read a bit more deeply, become engaged more broadly and start to buy and check out book after book. Pretty soon you have a good-sized library developing. You speak the language. You know the players. You apply the ideas to understanding the world. But there...","https://mises.org/library/you-will-find-it-human-action" "The Myth of Political Leadership","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","April 21, 2004","In this dreadful election season, many politicians have promised to ""lead us into the future."" I can hardly think of a worse fate for any society than to be led into the future by the political class of gangsters, marauders, looters, and liars. Even the most honest and well-intended among them are powerless to improve the world in any way except by diminishing rather than increasing their power....","https://mises.org/library/myth-political-leadership" "The Book History Conspired to Bury","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2006","Everyone interested in ideas has surely had the following experience. You become curious about a certain topic. You start with periodicals, read a bit more deeply become engaged more broadly, and start to buy and check out book after book.Pretty soon you have a good-sized library developing. You speak the language. You know the players. You apply the ideas to understanding the world. But there...","https://mises.org/library/book-history-conspired-bury" "Some Applications of the Time-Preference Theory","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","April 9, 2010","[This article is excerpted from chapter 18 of Human Action: The Scholar's Edition and is read by Jeff Riggenbach.] Every part of economics is open to intentional misrepresentation and misinterpretation on the part of people eager to excuse or to justify fallacious doctrines underlying their party programs. To prevent such misuse as far as possible, it seems expedient to add some explanatory...","https://mises.org/library/some-applications-time-preference-theory" "What Is ""Originary Interest""? ","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","September 3, 2019","[This article is excerpted from chapter 19 of Human Action: The Scholar's Edition.] Originary interest is the ratio of the value assigned to want-satisfaction in the immediate future and the value assigned to want-satisfaction in remoter periods of the future. It manifests itself in the market economy in the discount of future goods as against present goods. It is a ratio of commodity prices, not...","https://mises.org/library/what-originary-interest" "The Fed's War on the Middle Class","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","June 4, 2008","Multimillionaires like Hillary Clinton and Lou Dobbs butter their bread by defending middle-class Americans. They are correct about the problem, but their suggested remedies — protectionism, welfare, regulation, subsidy, and tax reform — would only make the problem worse.The middle class actually faces many important economic problems, but in reality they boil down to three current problems and...","https://mises.org/library/feds-war-middle-class" "Austrian Recipe vs. Keynesian Fantasy","Library Item","Mark Thornton","Mises Daily Articles","May 21, 2009","The current crisis has revealed the Keynesian roots of mainstream economics. The only debate has been the type and size of bailouts and stimulus packages. For example, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University thinks nationalization is preferable to the Geithner-Summers toxic-asset-relief plan. The Keynesian fantasy is really a monomania because ultimately it is a fixation on a single...","https://mises.org/library/austrian-recipe-vs-keynesian-fantasy" "Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","June 25, 2012","[This essay was originally published as a minibook by the Constitutional Alliance of Lansing, Michigan, 1969.]We live in a world of euphemism. Undertakers have become ""morticians,"" press agents are now ""public relations counselors"" and janitors have all been transformed into ""superintendents."" In every walk of life, plain facts have been wrapped in cloudy camouflage.No less has this been true of...","https://mises.org/library/economic-depressions-their-cause-and-cure" "Beggars Can Be Choosers","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","June 23, 2004","When it comes to ""armchair economics,"" a popular and effective technique is the reductio ad absurdum. Rather than attacking a view head-on, it is often simpler to take the argument to its logical conclusion, at which point its inherent fallacy is obvious (or at least, should be obvious). For example, in order to refute the doctrine that saving is bad for the economy (because it reduces...","https://mises.org/library/beggars-can-be-choosers" "Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XI","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","February 12, 2008","CHAPTER XI. VALUATION WITHOUT CALCULATIONCHAPTER SUMMARY1. The Gradation of the MeansActing man values means according to the valuation he places on the ends they can achieve. (An apple seed is valued through consideration of the future apples it can produce for consumption.) The totality of means needed for a given end would possess the same value as the end, except for the discount due to the...","https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-chapter-xi" "Banks Should Raise Prices in a Recession","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","February 6, 2009","In working on my forthcoming book dealing with the Great Depression, I noticed something intriguing about the discount rate of the Fed. Oh wait, I should first clarify — I'm talking about the New York Federal Reserve Bank, because the Fed banks had more autonomy in the beginning, and so you couldn't talk of ""the Fed's"" discount rate.What I noticed is that from the time it opened its doors in...","https://mises.org/library/banks-should-raise-prices-recession" "Save the Bluefin Tuna through Property Rights","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","December 2, 2010","Over the past two weeks, National Public Radio (NPR) has carried stories on the plight of the bluefin tuna and on the conservation campaign designed to save the endangered fish. Restaurants and supermarket chains have pledged to boycott the delectable creature until governments lower fishing quotas. Some vocal fishermen naturally oppose reductions in their quotas, because this would hurt their...","https://mises.org/library/save-bluefin-tuna-through-property-rights" "Should Congress Raise the Debt Ceiling?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 2011","At current rates of spending, the federal government may bump up against its debt limit as early as March. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warns that it will be ""catastrophic to the economy"" if Congress doesn't increase Uncle Sam's credit limit. Writers in conservative outlets call for Republicans to use this opportunity to extract significant spending cuts before extending the limit. And...","https://mises.org/library/should-congress-raise-debt-ceiling" "Blinder Understates the Cost of a Carbon Tax","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","February 3, 2011","In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Alan Blinder listed numerous alleged benefits of a phased-in carbon tax. Out of his entire column, he devoted a single sentence to the possible downside of his plan when he wrote, ""No one likes to pay higher taxes."" A more balanced assessment shows that a carbon tax presents very real dangers, even if we rely on the same economic analysis that so...","https://mises.org/library/blinder-understates-cost-carbon-tax" "Econ Nobel: Here We Go Again","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","October 13, 2011","This year's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics goes to two Americans, Thomas Sargent (NYU) and Christopher Sims (Princeton). Officially the award is for ""their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.""There is no doubt that these two guys are really sharp, and free-market economists can find a lot to like in much of the work of Sargent in particular. Yet to update what I said of...","https://mises.org/library/econ-nobel-here-we-go-again" "Teaching Tomorrow's Economists","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","March 9, 2012","I am happy to announce that the Teacher's Manual is now available for my introductory textbook, Lessons for the Young Economist. For those readers who are unfamiliar with it, let me explain that the student text was designed with junior-high students in mind, but it is applicable for younger, precocious students, and also even for adults who never got a solid grounding in free-market economic...","https://mises.org/library/teaching-tomorrows-economists" "The Economics of ObamaCare","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","November 14, 2013","Near the end of Human Action Ludwig von Mises declared that it was the “primary civic duty” to learn the teachings of economics. The public’s growing furor over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — popularly known as “ObamaCare” — beautifully illustrates Mises’s point. No one has any business being shocked — shocked! — that millions of Americans will lose their current health...","https://mises.org/library/economics-obamacare" "A Rejoinder to Brad DeLong","Library Item","Roger W. Garrison","Mises Daily Articles","May 19, 2009","""My article did not contain any problematic math; it contained no math at all — because the Austrians recognize that the relationship between cause and effect is not a quantitative relationship.""– Roger GarrisonIn his dismissive response to my recent Freeman article (""Mainstream Macro in an Austrian Nutshell,"" May 2009), Brad DeLong provides some arithmetic that supposedly weighs against the...","https://mises.org/library/rejoinder-brad-delong" "American Healthcare Fascialism","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Daily Articles","October 23, 2009","Some time ago I invented the phrase ""fascialism"" to describe the American system of political economy. Fascialism means an economy is part fascist, part socialist. Economic fascism has nothing to do with dictatorship, militarism, or bizarre racial theories. Fascism is a brand of socialism that was the economic system of Germany and Italy in the early 20th century. It was characterized by private...","https://mises.org/library/american-healthcare-fascialism" "What To Do About the Recession","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","October 31, 2001","With the latest news that the U.S. economy officially has been shrinking, it is time to admit the obvious: We are in a recession. Consumer spending is down, along with business investment. The only people making money these days are those who contract with the Pentagon.Some are claiming that the attacks of September 11 triggered this latest economic slide, but all signs point to the fact that...","https://mises.org/library/what-do-about-recession" """Bad Medicine"" or Bad Economics?","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","March 20, 2002","While most of the writings of Paul Krugman are, to me, analogous to one’s scraping his fingernails on a chalkboard, I must admit to reading his stuff. His latest gripe about a story on how many doctors are refusing to see more Medicare patients provides ample proof that one can be called an ""economist,"" yet not know much about economics.1Krugman was referring to a recent New York Times piece that...","https://mises.org/library/bad-medicine-or-bad-economics" "Krugman the Keynesian","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","September 11, 2003","Ever since he started writing his semi-weekly column for the New York Times, Paul Krugman has been a lightning rod of sorts. The Princeton University faculty member has become the Times' resident ""expert"" on economic issues, and he usually fails to disappoint, at least if creating controversy constitutes success.I admit to being a regular reader of Krugman's columns, and I suspect that many of my...","https://mises.org/library/krugman-keynesian" "The Party is Over - Again","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","August 30, 2007","In February, 2001, I saw the end of the credit-filled boom, as the stock market went bust, and predicted recessionary times, which soon followed. It seems, however, that Washington, D.C., is one great big toga party, and if it is true that Blutarsky of ""Animal House"" became Senator Blutarsky (as the film's credits tell us at the end), perhaps that provides an explanation for the outright...","https://mises.org/library/party-over-again" "To Be an Austrian: A Primer","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","November 3, 2004","To be an Austrian has become oddly fashionable in recent days, judging from the number of news reports thus describing commentators on economic and financial affairs. Because there is no trademark on the name, and the Mises Institute issues no Seal of Austrian Approval, our only real hope is that these good people take time off from talking to the press and spend more time reading.Man, Economy,...","https://mises.org/library/be-austrian-primer" "Use Your Noodle, Or Else","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","January 4, 2007","For anyone who thinks that inflation starts and ends with what the authorities report in their periodic consumer price index releases, there were two news items recently — one from each of those titanic, productive-consumptive symbionts, China and the United States — which should have given them pause for reflection. Proving the old adage of nothing new under the sun, each story in turn carried...","https://mises.org/library/use-your-noodle-or-else" "The Mess Greenspan Leaves","Library Item","Stefan Karlsson","Mises Daily Articles","December 26, 2005","With Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan set to retire next month after more than 18 years on the job, it seems appropriate to summarize his performance. Greenspan has been the single most powerful individual in the world in the economic sphere.By merely changing his choice of words between different speeches he has been able to rattle the markets. When he merely removes or add words like ""...","https://mises.org/library/mess-greenspan-leaves" "Recession 2007","Library Item","Stefan Karlsson","Mises Daily Articles","April 11, 2007","I have written in several mises.org articles — see here, here, and here — of the great imbalances of the US economy. Yet in all of my previous articles on the subject I have been unable to pinpoint when these imbalances will result in a bust.One can never be completely sure of the future, of course, as one does not have full information about all factors shaping future events. Thus, it is...","https://mises.org/library/recession-2007" "John Law and the Invention of Modern Finance","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","July 17, 2009","[Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance • By Janet Gleeson • Simon and Schuster, 2001 • 304 pages]When the stock market was on a tear after hitting bottom in March, there was no talk of another stimulus plan. Now, suddenly, with stock prices melting in the summer heat, discussion of a second stimulus plan has Washington buzzing. Nobel laureate Paul Krugman...","https://mises.org/library/john-law-and-invention-modern-finance" "A Life-Changing Week","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","May 24, 2012","The right instructor can change a student's life. I know. It happened to me. Looking through the course catalog at UNLV years ago, I noticed the class ""EC 742 — History of Economic Thought. Instructor: Rothbard."" I didn't know who Murray Rothbard was. I hadn't ever heard of Austrian economics. I didn't know what a libertarian was. I was in my late 20s but hadn't thought much about my worldview at...","https://mises.org/library/life-changing-week" "The Faith of Economists","Library Item","Robert Nelson","Mises Daily Articles","December 13, 2001","Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond. By Robert H. Nelson, Max L. Stackhouse. (Penn State Press, June 2001) $24.50.There is a growing interest among economists in the connections between religion and the economy, as I attempt to document in my new book Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond.American economists in the decades after World War II treated...","https://mises.org/library/faith-economists" "The Human Impact of Factor Mobility","Library Item","Clifford F. Thies","Mises Daily Articles","June 7, 2004","That some factors of production are mobile, says the new protectionist, ""proves"" that free trade is not as attractive as (supposedly) David Ricardo argued. But factor mobility is not new. It has long been accepted by economists that either goods or people (and other factors of production) move. Indeed, part of the argument for free trade between Mexico and the US is that there would be a reduced...","https://mises.org/library/human-impact-factor-mobility" "Keynesians Can't Predict","Library Item","L. Albert Hahn","Mises Daily Articles","July 28, 2009","If you take the trouble to interrogate a large number of economists about the economic future of the country you will find that an overwhelming majority argues in the following way: In about two years at the latest, rearmament will be completed and the amounts spent for this purpose will be negligible. At about the same time the pent-up demand for investments will be largely satisfied. The...","https://mises.org/library/keynesians-cant-predict" "Common Sense Beats Keynesian Sense","Library Item","L. Albert Hahn","Mises Daily Articles","April 12, 2010","[Preface to Common Sense Economics (1956)]My book, The Economics of Illusion, published in 1949, was essentially a critique of the late Lord Keynes's General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. My conclusion was, briefly, that what is new in Keynes's work is not good, and what is good is not new.Since then I have often been asked to add to my negative critique of Keynes's theory the...","https://mises.org/library/common-sense-beats-keynesian-sense" "Lands of Catastrophe: The Case of India and Pakistan","Library Item","Jayant Bhandari","Mises Daily Articles","October 31, 2005","Less than a year after a Tsunami killed approximately 275,000 people in the poorer part of Asia,1 another 80,000 have died in Pakistan and India from an earthquake that hit on 8 October 2005.2 An estimated 3.3 million are now homeless in the harsh winter of the region.Close to a million are still sleeping in the open — all at risk of dying — while the states of India and Pakistan each work to...","https://mises.org/library/lands-catastrophe-case-india-and-pakistan" "Stagnating Socialist Sweden","Library Item","Per Bylund","Mises Daily Articles","January 11, 2011"," Sweden is thriving. At least compared to other countries, Sweden has done pretty well during the financial crisis. Some people, like Paul Krugman, seem to think this is due to extensive bailouts and the nationalization of private corporations at the beginning of the 1990s that supposedly ""saved"" Sweden from market-imposed disaster. Whereas it is true that a bank was nationalized and billions of...","https://mises.org/library/stagnating-socialist-sweden" "Why They Hate the Market","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","March 8, 2004","It is always the fashion among many intellectuals to blame society's ills on the free market. One publication argued that the market is ""The god That Sucked."" The course summaries in my university's catalog, the themes of the lecture series, and the editorial content of the student newspapers suggest that many students and faculty would agree.Popular contempt for the market is distressing. Few...","https://mises.org/library/why-they-hate-market" "The Case for Wal-Mart","Library Item","Karen De Coster, CPA","Mises Daily Articles","January 27, 2003","The accusations against Wal-Mart are numerous, and they include: paying overseas workers too little; not paying benefits to part-time workers; refusing to sell items that don't fall within its criteria for being ""family-oriented""; not giving enough back to the community; and discriminating against women.All the accusations leveled against Wal-Mart can be applied to just about any large...","https://mises.org/library/case-wal-mart" "Fear of Monopoly","Library Item","Edmond S. Bradley","Mises Daily Articles","March 1, 2001","The Microsoft trials remind us that the fear of industrial concentration is the last refuge of socialist theory. The claim is that capitalism ultimately fails because all (or most, or at least some) industries naturally congeal into monopolies in a free market. It follows that government must regulate industries to bring about ""competition."" It also follows that since some people in these giant...","https://mises.org/library/fear-monopoly" "The Silent Partner in Family Decline","Library Item","Per Henrik Hansen","Mises Daily Articles","June 9, 2004","The traditional family has for many centuries and in most countries been the core unit of society. It has been the foundation and even the ultimate purpose in many people's lives. It has provided a stable framework to bring children into the world, to raise them, to teach them manners and how to become productive and happy human beings. It has been relied upon for emotional and financial support...","https://mises.org/library/silent-partner-family-decline" "Tricky Finance","Library Item","Christopher Whalen","Mises Daily Articles","January 4, 1999","Watching the national debate about what to do or not do about Social Security (SS), it is tempting to think the worst about our fellow citizens and the people who represent them in Washington. The debate suggests that most people have no idea what SS is, how the program figures in Washington's finances, or how SS comes to shuffle around hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Politicians,...","https://mises.org/library/tricky-finance" "The Empire's Next Attack","Library Item","Daniel Ryan","Mises Daily Articles","August 10, 2001","Empire. By Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. (Harvard University Press, March 2000, 512 pages) $35.00. This is one of those books that is expected to take the middlebrow world by storm. What Empire claims to be is a readable text in post-modern Marxist analysis combined with a ""thesis"" that will tell the reader what the world will be like in the near future.The first goal is one that the authors...","https://mises.org/library/empires-next-attack" "Indonesia's Energy Policy: A Lesson in Failure","Library Item","K.Y. Leong","Mises Daily Articles","September 6, 2005","Disruption, high prices, and dislocations of all sorts have led to call for a new ""energy policy."" Let us consider the case of Indonesia, which has an energy policy of an unusual sort. As the Sunday Times of Singapore reported on September 4, 2005: ""Jakarta subsidizes heavily the cost of fuel for ordinary Indonesians and faces a subsidy bill of as much as 138.6 trillion rupiah this year because...","https://mises.org/library/indonesias-energy-policy-lesson-failure" "Doubts about Recovery","Library Item","D.W. MacKenzie","Mises Daily Articles","October 8, 2003","The popular press has adopted a more optimistic tone regarding economic conditions. The reasons for this are clear. It appears that the current recovery is picking up pace. Recent reports indicate that second quarter GDP for this year increased by 3.3%, instead of the earlier 3.1% estimate. This is more than double the GDP growth rate from the preceding two quarters. Analysts expect 4% or higher...","https://mises.org/library/doubts-about-recovery" "The Quirky Nature of Credit","Library Item","Christopher Mayer","Mises Daily Articles","June 14, 2002","One change in the fabric of American finance that is particularly striking over the years is the proliferation of credit and the growth of nonbank financing. The primary creditors of the nation’s debtors are not banks, but are so-called nontraditional lenders--such as GE Capital, the financial services arm of General Electric (which, interestingly enough, provides 40 percent of GE’s total...","https://mises.org/library/quirky-nature-credit" "Japan's Bust: An Austrian Critique of the Fed's Explanation","Library Item","Christopher Mayer","Mises Daily Articles","April 12, 2004","Athanasios Orphanides' recent Fed paper touches on aspects of Japan's extended economic slump (his basic thesis: the BOJ should have done more). This paper served as a reminder of the inadequacies and limitations of mainstream analysis in explaining Japan's long economic winter. Fortunately, though long unrecognized and unappreciated by the mainstream, there is a good framework for understanding...","https://mises.org/library/japans-bust-austrian-critique-feds-explanation" "Political Power and Economic Ignorance","Library Item","Jeremie T.A. Rostan","Mises Daily Articles","October 9, 2008","Georges Bush's recent speech in defense of his bailout plan was quite a tour de force. Indeed, it managed to explain the pending recession of the US economy by a previous situation of ""easy credit"" without mentioning the monstrously inflationist policy of the Federal Reserve — which reached its climax in 2003 and 2004, when it lent dollars at a negative short-term interest rate, and resulted in...","https://mises.org/library/political-power-and-economic-ignorance" "Why I Pay with Two-Dollar Bills","Library Item","Briggs Armstrong","Mises Daily Articles","July 24, 2009"," I recently decided that I am going to pay for as many things as is practicable using only two-dollar bills. I will now attempt to explain my purely symbolic gesture and the reactions I have received so far.A few weeks ago I determined that I should be doing something to express my dissatisfaction with current monetary policy, and get people interested in the topic. Inflation was my main concern...","https://mises.org/library/why-i-pay-two-dollar-bills" "The Mises Daily Top 10 of 2010","Library Item","Briggs Armstrong","Mises Daily Articles","January 5, 2011","Every year the Mises Institute publishes hundreds of articles, videos, audio recordings, and electronic books on Mises.org; all are available for free. It would be incredibly difficult, perhaps even impossible, to keep up with all of the content generated in a year. All of the articles and media have great value and are instrumental in advancing good economic understanding throughout the world,...","https://mises.org/library/mises-daily-top-10-2010" "Australia's Uncreative Destruction","Library Item","Chris Brown","Mises Daily Articles","June 29, 2009","It turns out that Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is going around town breaking windows by, well, demanding they be built. There are over 35,000 construction and maintenance projects planned across Australia over the next 12 months. This includes AU$49 (US$39.4) billion dedicated to ""nation building infrastructure,"" or crudely AU$2,200 in taxes for every man, woman, and child residing in...","https://mises.org/library/australias-uncreative-destruction" "How to Conquer Poverty","Library Item","John Chamberlain","Mises Daily Articles","November 24, 2009","""The free-swinging enterpriser, using capitalist savings, is the true hero of the war on poverty.""[The Freeman, 1973]The message of Henry Hazlitt's The Conquest of Poverty is that his subject could have been dealt with in the past tense if it weren't for the pernicious doctrine that ""the state knows best.""Alas! the tendency to hand problems of income ""distribution"" over to politicians whose only...","https://mises.org/library/how-conquer-poverty" "What's So Great about Representative Government?","Library Item","Stephen Mauzy","Mises Daily Articles","December 7, 2010","""Two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner"" — a clever metaphorical descriptor of pure democracy sometimes attributed to that wellspring of clever metaphorical descriptors Benjamin Franklin. Other founding fathers were less clever and less metaphorical on democracy than Mr. Franklin, but just as damning nonetheless:""A simple democracy … is one of the greatest of evils."" — Benjamin Rush,...","https://mises.org/library/whats-so-great-about-representative-government" "Another Plea to End the Insanity","Library Item","Stephen Mauzy","Mises Daily Articles","June 29, 2011","Mexico is rapidly withering. Its very life is being siphoned off by a hopeless war on illegal drugs. If ever there was an abject display of government pigheadedness and stupidity, it is this ridiculous insistence on banning the unbannable.In the past five years, Mexico tallied 34,600 homicides related to its government's war on illegal drugs. That's the official count. The unofficial count —...","https://mises.org/library/another-plea-end-insanity" "Spain's Dropout Generation","Library Item","Jaime Levy Moreno","Mises Daily Articles","June 1, 2010","In the last two decades in Mediterranean Europe, and especially in Spain, a new social group has emerged, called jovenes (youngsters). Members of this group exhibit several specific characteristics. First, jovenes are usually male, aged 25–35, although some members are in their 40s. Second, they are in a perpetual state between graduation and their first job. Third, they usually live with their...","https://mises.org/library/spains-dropout-generation" "Inflation and the Value of Gold Explained","Library Item","Rod Rojas","Mises Daily Articles","March 2, 2011","As the story goes, someone asked an economist how his wife was doing, and the economist answered ""compared to what?""Joking aside, this is one of the most important questions one can ask when dealing with many economic problems.In recent times, with gold reaching all-time highs, we have seen people question the valuation of assets in dollars. Basically, the yardstick used to measure your assets —...","https://mises.org/library/inflation-and-value-gold-explained" "Cash for Clunkers: A Personal Look","Library Item","James E. Miller","Mises Daily Articles","October 4, 2011","In a desperate attempt to assure Congress, and weary voters, that Keynesian stimulus spending still works, President Obama recently revealed a jobs initiative aimed at jump-starting the economy. Surprisingly enough, the econometric models that calculated that the first stimulus program would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent were inaccurate. This wasn't a surprise to Austrians. But then...","https://mises.org/library/cash-clunkers-personal-look" "General Electric’s Crony Capitalism","Library Item","Hunter Lewis","Mises Daily Articles","November 25, 2013","This is an adaptation of chapter 10 from Hunter Lewis’s book Crony Capitalism in America: 2008–2012, available in the Mises Store. During the presidential campaign of 2012, an online commentator observed that President Obama had not met with his Jobs Council for six months. How could this be, the commentator asked, when jobs were foremost on the president’s agenda? The answer was not hard to...","https://mises.org/library/general-electrics-crony-capitalism" "A Closer Look at Income Inequality","Library Item","Andrew Syrios","Mises Daily Articles","March 31, 2014","Economic inequality is the big thing these days. Barack Obama has called it the “defining challenge of our time” and the number of books being published on the subject could fill a small library. Of particular note is a survey by Michael Norton and Dan Ariely of 5,000 Americans asking what they thought wealth inequality should be compared to what it actually is. Norton and Ariely asked which of...","https://mises.org/library/closer-look-income-inequality" "The American Story","Library Item","Garet Garrett","Books","May 27, 1955","He was a defender of free enterprise who adored the magnificence of the American genius for progress.He was a champion of business who believed in profiting the old fashioned way.He was a libertarian who deplored the rise of big government.He was a constitutionalist who was aghast at how presidents and congresses shredded the document in times of economic crisis and war.He was the last of the...","https://mises.org/library/american-story" "Eastern Airlines and the Scourge of Unionism","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","May 1, 1989","The Free Market 7, no. 5 (May 1989) Any business owner whose employees deliberately set out to harass and even endanger customers could do only one thing: fire the offenders, and maybe sue them for damages as well. Nothing else would be compatible with free-enterprise and private property. But thanks to a whole host of government interventions, unionized companies like Eastern Airlines cannot...","https://mises.org/library/eastern-airlines-and-scourge-unionism" "The Recession Explained","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","January 1, 1992","The Free Market 10, no. 1 (January 1992) I told you so!"" may not be considered polite among Recession friends or acquaintances, but in ideological clashes it is important to remind one and all of your successes, since neither the indifferent nor your enemies are likely to do the job for you.In the case of Austrian business cycle theory, shouldering this task is particularly important. For not...","https://mises.org/library/recession-explained" "Privatize What?","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","March 1, 1997","The Free Market 15, no. 3 (March 1997) They should have called it the Federal Advisory Panel for a Huge and Sneaky Tax Increase and a Massive Increase in Corporate Welfare. That—and not ""privatization""—is the real upshot of what the advisory counsel to fix Social Security recommended.We're not talking here about minor subsidies and taxes, but a grand plot that would put all of Wall Street on the...","https://mises.org/library/privatize-what" "Capitalism: The Greatest Charity","Library Item","William H. Peterson","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","September 1, 2002","The Free Market 20, no. 9 (September 2002) When a politician talks of ""reform,"" grab your wallet. As in ""welfare reform,"" for example. For as any hardened inside-the-Beltway observer of dark Washington ways can tell you, ""welfare reform"" is typically a spin for tightening the screws on the taxpayer and easing welfare access.To be sure, a welfare-to-work program launched in 1996 led to the...","https://mises.org/library/capitalism-greatest-charity" "Deflation: Hurrah!","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","August 1, 2003","The Free Market 23, no. 8 (August 2003) If you stuck a dollar in a savings jar in 1913 and tried to spend it today, you would find your purchasing power had been sapped. Your dollar would be worth about a nickel. What happened? Well, the government had created an institution called a central bank that was endowed with the power to create money. And create it did: so much so that it diminished the...","https://mises.org/library/deflation-hurrah" "Socialized Medicine in America","Library Item","Timothy D. Terrell","The Free Market, Institute Publications","November 1, 2003","The Free Market 23, no. 11 (November 2003) Thanks to the untiring efforts of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Americans have been faced with the greatest expansion of the government into medical care since the 1960s. When these moves are complete, the free market in American medicine will be practically gone. Interventionism will be in complete possession of the field of battle, and the task of...","https://mises.org/library/socialized-medicine-america" "The Market and Our Future","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2004","The Free Market 24, no. 4 (April 2004) This dreadful election season will spew forth many promises by politicians to ""lead us into the future."" I can hardly think of a worse fate for any society than to be led into the future by the political class of gangsters, marauders, looters, and liars. Fortunately, they haven’t the capacity to lead whole societies anywhere. They are outclassed and outrun...","https://mises.org/library/market-and-our-future" "The Human Impact of Factor Mobility","Library Item","Clifford F. Thies","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","May 1, 2004","The Free Market 24, no. 5 (May 2004) That some factors of production are mobile, says the new protectionist, ""proves"" that free trade is not as attractive as (supposedly) David Ricardo argued. But factor mobility is not new. It has long been accepted by economists that either goods or people (and other factors of production) move. Indeed, part of the argument for free trade between Mexico and the...","https://mises.org/library/human-impact-factor-mobility-0" "Mistaken Identity","Library Item","Art Carden","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","June 1, 2004","The Free Market 24, no. 6 (June 2004) It is always the fashion among many intellectuals to blame society’s ills on the free market. One college newspaper recently argued that the market is ""The God That Sucked."" The course summaries in my university’s catalog, the themes of the lecture series, and the editorial content of the student newspapers suggest that many students and faculty would agree....","https://mises.org/library/mistaken-identity-0" "The Vision of Leonard Read","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","March 1, 2009","The Free Market 27, no. 3 (March 2009) The works of Leonard E. Read, who founded the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 1946, are now online at the Mises Institute. It is probably not the complete collected works, but it is all that he collected in book form. These are books that shaped several generations of activists, donors, writers, and intellectuals. They are the books that kick-...","https://mises.org/library/vision-leonard-read" "To Renew America, by Newt Gingrich","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 1995","The Sci-Fi Speaker Mises Review 1, No. 4 (Winter 1995)TO RENEW AMERICANewt GingrichHarper Collins, 1995, xii + 260 pp.To Renew America conveys a vivid sense of its author's unusual personality. But the vital core of the book lies elsewhere. In the guise of a reassertion of American values, Speaker Gingrich prescribes a thoroughly statist agenda.Our author proposes to confront six challenges that...","https://mises.org/library/renew-america-newt-gingrich" "Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails To Satisfy in an Era of Excess, by Robert H. Frank","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","April 1, 2000","Miscalculating Human InterestMises Review 6, No. 1 (Spring 2000)LUXURY FEVER: WHY MONEY FAILS TO SATISFY IN AN ERA OF EXCESSRobert H. FrankThe Free Press, 1999, ix + 326 pgs. In 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith assailed American spending patterns. Consumers, he told us in The Affluent Society, spend too much on such fripperies as large tailfins on cars. As the result of this wasteful spending, the...","https://mises.org/library/luxury-fever-why-money-fails-satisfy-era-excess-robert-h-frank" "Are the Rich Necessary? Great Economic Arguments and How They Reflect Our Personal Values, by Hunter Lewis","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 2007","Mises Review 13, No. 3 (Fall 2007)ARE THE RICH NECESSARY? GREAT ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS and HOW THEY REFLECT OUR PERSONAL VALUESHunter LewisAxios Press, 2007, viii + 277 pgs.Hunter Lewis's excellent book differs from nearly all other books on economics. Most books defend a particular point of view: a work by Duncan Foley, e.g., will be much more favorable to Marxism than one by Ludwig von Mises. Lewis...","https://mises.org/library/are-rich-necessary-great-economic-arguments-and-how-they-reflect-our-personal-values-hunter" "The Arithmetic of Keynesian Stimulus ","Wire","Julian Adorney","","February 12, 2014","[Editor's Note: Contrary to myth, Austrians are not opposed to quantitative or empirical assessments of history in light of economic knowledge. The confusion may arise from the fact that Mises regarded this not as economics, strictly speaking, but as economic history, or the work of historians. Nonetheless, discussions of measurements of economic phenomena are often informative. In this article,...","https://mises.org/wire/arithmetic-keynesian-stimulus" "The Problem is Fed Activism","Wire"," Mises.org","","March 2, 2004","Submitted by Scott Reamer:Dear Mr. Roach, I read with great interest your open letter to Alan Greenspan published Friday February 26th; your decidedly non-consensus macro views since the popping of the asset bubble in 2000 have given you a singular gravitas among your peers on the sell-side. Bravo for employing that gravitas in the service of a long overdue discussion about the efficacy of the...","https://mises.org/wire/problem-fed-activism" "The Thought Police and Hoppe","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","February 10, 2005","Professor, ACLU may sue UNLV, from The Rebel Yell. This is a particularly instructive--and scary--article. Finally, the name of the student who accused Hoppe, Michael Knight, is revealed. Some of his comments are really a sad statement on the egalitarian, entitlement mentality of today's brainwashed crop of sniveling, totalitarian-minded students.Although Hoppe claimed that none of his students...","https://mises.org/wire/thought-police-and-hoppe" "Baum: Everything's Fine in US Economy","Wire","Robert Blumen","","March 13, 2005","Worried about the federal deficit? The dollar? The global monetary system? You can relax now. Bloomberg columnist Caroline Baum writes Every Problem Is an Opportunity for U.S. Economy. Baum writes:If you consider the litany of negatives buffeting the economy since the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000 and the 2001 recession, it's something of a miracle that it managed to grow 2.3...","https://mises.org/wire/baum-everythings-fine-us-economy" "Hoppe has arrived.....in Italy","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","June 6, 2007","Paleolibertarism: Il pensiero di Hans-Hermann Hoppe [Paleolibertarianism: The Thought of Hans-Hermann Hoppe], by Piero Vernaglione, was published just a few weeks ago in Italian.This 116 page book provides a brief description of Hoppe's entire ""system"" of thought--property ethics, epistemology, failed economic systems (socialism and democracy), anarcho-capitalism in operation, and strategy (...","https://mises.org/wire/hoppe-has-arrivedin-italy" "An Austrian Economist Reports From a Mainstream Economics Conference","Library Item","Christopher Westley","Mises Daily Articles","October 16, 2014","Early on in the most recent meeting of the National Association of Business Economists (NABE) in Chicago, Dan Ratner, one of President Obama's tech gurus for the 2012 election cycle and expert in the hip field of Big Data mining, stated to his audience that “there is no such thing as truth. There is only the most recent updated version of it.”Little did I know this was to be a recurring theme at...","https://mises.org/library/austrian-economist-reports-mainstream-economics-conference" "Protectionism, the Freedom to Contract, and Immigration ""Reform"" ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","August 1, 2014","Congressman Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan has declared that he doesn’t want an award from the US Chamber of Commerce, which he says isn’t really devoted to “free enterprise.” So far, so good. The US Chamber of Commerce is indeed anything but devoted to free markets as is obvious from its frequent support for corporatist programs from the “stimulus” to the auto bailouts to No Child Left Behind. In...","https://mises.org/wire/protectionism-freedom-contract-and-immigration-reform" "Free Markets and Fighting Fires","Wire","Walter Block","","August 27, 2014","According to Terry L. Anderson and Daniel Botkin, “Fighting Western Fires with Economics” is a good idea.Were I writing an essay with this title, I would emphasize the role of private property rights. If all forests were owned by individuals and private corporations, those that did well in protecting their trees from conflagrations would prosper, those who failed to do so would lose money and...","https://mises.org/wire/free-markets-and-fighting-fires" "How Truly Free Markets Help the Poor","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Daily Articles","February 14, 2015","Discussing poverty as an advocate of free markets is tricky business in today’s world. If one takes poverty seriously and points out the very real plight of the impoverished, it is often assumed that one must therefore be advocating for government “solutions” to the problem. The knee-jerk reaction of many defenders of free markets is to simply deny that poverty exists much at all, or that if the...","https://mises.org/library/how-truly-free-markets-help-poor" "6. The Approach of Macroeconomics","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books, Books, PDF Texts","February 18, 2015","The authors who think that they have substituted, in the analysis of the market economy, a holistic or social or universalistic or institutional or macroeconomic approach for what they disdain as the spurious individualistic approach delude themselves and their public. For all reasoning concerning action must deal with valuation and with the striving after definite ends, as there is no action not...","https://mises.org/6-approach-macroeconomics" "IV. The Effects of Politically Lowered Interest Rates","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","The expansionists are quite right in asserting that credit expansion succeeds in bringing about booming business. They are mistaken only in ignoring the fact that such an artificial prosperity cannot last and must inextricably lead to a slump, a general depression.If the market rate of interest is reduced by credit expansion, many projects which were previously deemed unprofitable get the...","https://mises.org/iv-effects-politically-lowered-interest-rates" "I. Economic Theory","Online Text Page","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","Books, Books","March 5, 2015","For economic theory the question of how to increase wealth and get rich has a straightforward answer.It has three components: you get richer (a) through capital accumulation, i.e., the construction of intermediate “producer” or “capital” goods that can produce more consumer goods per unit time than can be produced without them or goods that cannot be produced at all with just land and labor (and...","https://mises.org/i-economic-theory" "Progressive Luddites and Gustave de Molinari’s Final Words","Library Item","Louis Rouanet","Mises Daily Articles","March 26, 2015","In spite of a seemingly endless number of examples to the contrary, we continue to be confronted, even in 2015, with the widespread idea that technological innovation can destroy jobs and wealth. Each new labor-saving technology leads to worried speculations by those who fear any challenge to the status quo.Astute economists and observers in every era have debunked this idea again and again....","https://mises.org/library/progressive-luddites-and-gustave-de-molinaris-final-words" "How Government Inaction Ended the Depression of 1921","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","May 20, 2015","As the financial crisis of 2008 took shape, the policy recommendations were not slow in coming: why, economic stability and American prosperity demand fiscal and monetary stimulus to jump-start the sick economy back to life. And so we got fiscal stimulus, as well as a program of monetary expansion without precedent in US history.David Stockman recently noted that we have in effect had fifteen...","https://mises.org/library/how-government-inaction-ended-depression-1921" "Why Loopholes and Lax Enforcement of Laws are the Lifeblood of Prosperity ","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","May 29, 2015","From A Critique of Interventionism:The history of the last decades can be understood only with a comprehension of the consequences of such intervention in the economic operations of the private property order. Since the demise of classical liberalism, interventionism has been the gist of politics in all countries in Europe and America. The economic layman only observes that “interested parties”...","https://mises.org/wire/why-loopholes-and-lax-enforcement-laws-are-lifeblood-prosperity" "Monetary Inflation and Counterfeiting","Online Text Chapter","Murray N. Rothbard","Books, Books","May 29, 2015","Suppose that a precious metal such as gold becomes a society's money, and a certain weight of gold becomes the currency unit in which all prices and assets are reckoned. Then, so long as the society remains on this pure gold or silver “standard,” there will probably be only gradual annual increases in the supply of money, from the output of gold mines. The supply of gold is severely limited, and...","https://mises.org/monetary-inflation-and-counterfeiting" "Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure","Online Text Chapter","Murray N. Rothbard","Books","June 1, 2015","We live in a world of euphemism. Undertakers have become ""morticians,"" press agents are now ""public relations counsellors"" and janitors have all been transformed into ""superintendents."" In every walk of life, plain facts have been wrapped in cloudy camouflage.No less has this been true of economics. In the old days, we used to suffer nearly periodic economic crises, the sudden onset of which was...","https://mises.org/economic-depressions-their-cause-and-cure" "Krugman and His Economics of Keynesian Baby-Sitting","Wire","Manuel Lora","","March 27, 2009","[This article by Juan Ramón Rallo was first published on March 16th, 2009, in Spanish for the Instituto Juan de Mariana. I translated it with Rallo's permission.]The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Economics to Paul Krugman has turned him into a kind of spiritual guide to managing the recovery from the current crisis. However, given that his knowledge of the business cycle leave a lot of be...","https://mises.org/wire/krugman-and-his-economics-keynesian-baby-sitting" "Ron Paul's Foreign Policy of Peace Is Central to the Message of Freedom ","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Wire","August 6, 2015","Ronald Reagan used to be called the Teflon president, on the grounds that no matter what gaffe or scandal engulfed him, it never stuck: he didn’t suffer in the polls. If Reagan was the Teflon president, the military is America’s Teflon institution. Even people who oppose whatever the current war happens to be can be counted on to “support the troops” and to live by the comforting delusion that...","https://mises.org/library/ron-pauls-foreign-policy-peace-central-message-freedom" "Mises: An Audacious Champion of Freedom ","Library Item","Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.","Mises Wire","December 29, 2015","Ideas are all-important. Indeed, they are more powerful than armies, as Victor Hugo noted. But ideas are advanced by specific individuals, and inculcated in them, and historically tied to them.How blessed are we that we have not a criminal like Marx nor a monster, like Keynes to follow, but Ludwig von Mises, a hero as well as a genius.Mises was not only a dazzling economist and champion of...","https://mises.org/library/mises-audacious-champion-freedom" "Which States Rely Most on Federal Spending? ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","March 4, 2016","Last month, we looked at military spending by state, and how some states — South Carolina and Virginia, for example — have military spending as a major component of their local economies. Proposing cuts to government spending via military spending would likely be political suicide in any of these places.But of course military spending is just one type of government spending, and some states are...","https://mises.org/wire/which-states-rely-most-federal-spending" "Will North Korea and Cuba Ever Be Wealthy? ","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Wire","April 1, 2016","After years of claiming to embrace revolutionary Marxism, the Cuban state is, for reasons of necessity and pragmatism, moving toward becoming a more traditional authoritarian state. Even once Raul and Fidel Castro are dead, it's rather unlikely that the Cuban government will suddenly turn to a political system that leans heavily in favor of relatively free markets. As has been the case with China...","https://mises.org/library/will-north-korea-and-cuba-ever-be-wealthy" "The Fed Can't Save Us","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","The Austrian, Institute Publications","April 5, 2016","In December, the Fed hiked its target for the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate banks charge each other for overnight loans of reserves. Since 2008 the Fed’s target for the Fed Funds Rate had been a range of 0 percent – 0.25 percent (or what is referred to as zero to 25 “basis points”). But last month they moved that target range up to 0.25 – 0.50 percent. Ending a seven-year period...","https://mises.org/library/fed-cant-save-us" "Elizabeth Warren’s War on the Poor ","Wire","Patrick Trombly","","June 16, 2016","There is no American politician more closely associated with “progressive” economic causes than Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The senator is widely regarded by the political Left as an expert on financial issues, is a self-professed champion of the “working poor,” and is a proud, finger-wagging chastiser of the 1 percent and Wall Street. Her cause is to lift up the least powerful and...","https://mises.org/wire/elizabeth-warrens-war-poor" "Our Disastrous Monetary System: A New Must-Read Book","Wire","Karl-Friedrich Israel","","July 19, 2016","There is a long tradition in Austrian economics and libertarian thought of presenting ideas not only to academic peers and fellow intellectuals, but directly to the broader public. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom, and Rothbard’s What Has Government Done to Our Money? are prime examples. In the German speaking world it was Roland Baader, a student of Hayek’s at the University of Freiburg in the 1960s, who...","https://mises.org/wire/our-disastrous-monetary-system-new-must-read-book" "Our Monetary System Favors the Rich and Hurts the Poor","Wire","Philipp Bagus","","July 24, 2016","Last month, Philipp Bagus and Andreas Marquart released their new book Blind Robbery!: How the Fed, Banks, and Government Steal Our Money, now available from FinanzBuch publishers. (See Karl-Friedrich Israel's full review on mises.org.) We recently spoke with Dr. Bagus about the new book and how certain politically influential groups benefit from our modern monetary system. Mises Institute: In...","https://mises.org/wire/our-monetary-system-favors-rich-and-hurts-poor" "The Myth of ""Macroeconomics""","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","September 7, 2016","The authors who think that they have substituted, in the analysis of the market economy, a holistic or social or universalistic or institutional or macroeconomic approach for what they disdain as the spurious individualistic approach delude themselves and their public. For all reasoning concerning action must deal with valuation and with the striving after definite ends, as there is no action not...","https://mises.org/wire/myth-macroeconomics" "Broken Politics, Broken Economics","Wire","Jeff Deist","","September 19, 2016","[Jeff Deist's comments at the 2016 Mises Supporters Summit in Asheville, North Carolina, September 16.]Before we hear from Judge Napolitano, I’d like to speak briefly tonight about where we are as a society, and what role the Mises Institute plays, or ought to play, in that society.Most of the country is caught up in the presidential election, following the latest news about Hillary’s health or...","https://mises.org/wire/broken-politics-broken-economics" "Will China Trigger the Next Global Recession?","Wire","Jing Jin","","October 26, 2016","China’s debt growth rate has become the focus of some discussions and, fair enough, from comparing the outright levels, it may seem that China can collapse at any moment. Daniel Fernandez suggested this in his article ""Has China Reached Its Debt Limit?"" in Mises Wire. In response to the government’s monetary expansion stimulus plan after the 2008 financial crisis, China’s corporate sector did...","https://mises.org/wire/will-china-trigger-next-global-recession" "Taking Off Our Economic Blinders ","Wire","Gary Galles","","February 1, 2017","As someone with a relatively distant relationship with horses, I have occasionally seen some with blinders on and wondered exactly why, when I have never noticed any other animal with blinders on. So when my curiosity got the best of me, I did some checking.It turns out that because horses are prey animals, they have eyes on the sides of their heads, to increase their ability to detect, and...","https://mises.org/wire/taking-our-economic-blinders" "Four Reasons Central Banks are Wrong to Fight Deflation","Wire","Jörg Guido Hülsmann","","June 22, 2017","The word “deflation” can be defined in various ways. According to the most widely accepted definition today, deflation is a sustained decrease of the price level. Older authors have often used the expression “deflation” to denote a decreasing money supply, and some contemporary authors use it to characterize a decrease of the inflation rate. All of these definitions are acceptable, depending on...","https://mises.org/wire/four-reasons-central-banks-are-wrong-fight-deflation" "Why California Has the Nation's Worst Poverty Rate","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","January 17, 2018","Earlier this week, the LA Times reminded its readers that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Specifically, when using the Census Bureau's most recent"" Supplemental Poverty Measure"" (SPM), California clocks in with a poverty rate of 20 percent, which places it as worst in the nation.To be sure, California is running quite closely with Florida and Louisiana, but we can certainly...","https://mises.org/wire/why-california-has-nations-worst-poverty-rate-1" "Misleading with Numbers: It's Worse When the Government Does It","Wire","Gary Galles","","January 30, 2018","Major international comparisons have long concluded that Americans’ ability to effectively utilize mathematics is inadequate. Such conclusions divide students, parents, teachers and administrators into camps that share little more than blaming others for the problems. However, it is unclear whether all the finger-pointing indicates a real desire to overcome our innumeracy. In fact, we...","https://mises.org/wire/misleading-numbers-its-worse-when-government-does-it" "Infrastructure Spending Won't Make America Great Again","Wire","Christopher Westley","","February 6, 2018","This past Tuesday afternoon, I was speaking with a reporter who was interested in the positive effects of infrastructure spending that occurred in the form of fiscal “stimulus” in my part of the country, back during the dark days of the Great Recession, around 2009 and 2010. How did this help our region, he wanted to know? My answer: It didn’t help very much, and that if it did, then (a) it didn’...","https://mises.org/wire/infrastructure-spending-wont-make-america-great-again" "The Scam That Is Urban ""Land Use"" Planning","Wire","Lee Friday","","February 7, 2018","For many years, property owners with vacant buildings in London, Ontario have applied for a 30 percent rebate on their property taxes. However, City Council decided to cut the rebate in half for 2018, then eliminate it entirely at year’s end. Additionally, despite insufficient parking in downtown London, Council is seriously considering a reduction in the number of parking lot permits.Ending the...","https://mises.org/wire/scam-urban-land-use-planning" "How Entrepreneurs Wouldn't Let a Beloved Car Brand Die","Wire","Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna","","February 10, 2018","Aston Martin, “the noble company that’s been at death’s door more times in its long history than most”, in the words of one elegant British sporting journal, is going through one of the very best periods of its storied 105-year history, with a public offering being organized to crown a profitable run that has saved the day—yet again. In 2016, the carmaker, now based at sleek new Warwickshire digs...","https://mises.org/wire/how-entrepreneurs-wouldnt-let-beloved-car-brand-die" "Why Banking Is No Ordinary Industry","Wire","Ryan Griggs","","March 6, 2018","Have you ever wondered what you ought to do with the money you make? If so, you aren’t alone. Recent college graduates, many of whom have had little to no experience in managing an income, find themselves in the awkward position of having to do something with it; that is if we suppose they actually find employment in the first place.The problem of what to do with the money we make has literally...","https://mises.org/wire/why-banking-no-ordinary-industry" "Secular Growth in Garrison's Model: A Comment","Library Item","Nicolás Cachanosky","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","April 2, 2018","[Full Issue of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 20, no. 4 (2017)]ABSTRACT: I comment on the controversy around Garrison’s secular growth, with special emphasis on Murphy’s contribution in this issue. I also argue that further research on this area should focus on formally connecting Garrison’s model with neoclassical growth theory.KEYWORDS: business cycle, Austrian School, GarrisonJEL...","https://mises.org/library/secular-growth-garrisons-model-comment" "Canada's Debt Spiral","Wire","Lee Friday","","May 19, 2018","Living beyond our means requires us to borrow money to cover the difference between our income and our spending. Many Canadians now understand the financial consequences of this practice and regret the choices they’ve made. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Trudeau is not one of them, as evidenced by his government’s budget deficits which are further eroding the financial wellbeing of Canadians. He...","https://mises.org/wire/canadas-debt-spiral" "Household-Formation Numbers Are Back to Recession-Era Levels","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","May 15, 2018","According to the Census Bureau, household formation in 2017 fell to the lowest levels seen since 2010. In 2017, total households in the United States grew 0.32 percent, which was only slightly above the historic low of 0.30 in 2010, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Of course, differences of one-hundredth of a percent don't have much meaning in statistics like these, so we can say,...","https://mises.org/wire/household-formation-numbers-are-back-recession-era-levels" "Central Banks Haven't Always Been Quite as Bad as They Are Now","Wire","Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna","","May 30, 2018","Long ago, in a universe of sane fiscal policy far away, there existed an institution, then new to the world of international banking and finance, called the Federal Reserve Bank, whose primary concern of the day—the day being its founding on December 13, 1913—was to have very large reserves of cash backed by even larger reserves of gold that were enough “to earn the public trust.” It was an...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-havent-always-been-quite-bad-they-are-now" "Sorry, ""Medicare for All"" Won't Save the Taxpayers Money","Wire","TJ Roberts","","August 18, 2018","Socialists are jumping for joy due to the fact that a Mercatus Center study supposedly concluded that ""Medicare for All"" would save the nation $2 trillion over the span of ten years. This twist of the official report stems from Jacobin Magazine, an openly socialist publication when they claimed that Medicare for All will ultimately save money for the people. This, however, is not the case....","https://mises.org/wire/sorry-medicare-all-wont-save-taxpayers-money" """Price Gouging"" Sends Important Signals About Risk","Wire","Justin Murray","","September 14, 2018","With Hurricane Florence making landfall in the Eastern United States, the usual reports of the “evils” of the private sector price gouging the poor, desperate people in the disaster zone tend to crop up. The economic arguments as to why this claimed problem really isn’t a problem have been covered extensively. However, government laws on price gouging, and the public sector presence in disaster...","https://mises.org/wire/price-gouging-sends-important-signals-about-risk" "Political Correctness as Misesian Destructionism","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","2018 Supporters Summit, Mises Media, Summits and Seminars, Supporters Summits","October 5, 2018","Presented at the Mises Institute's 2018 Supporters Summit in Auburn, Alabama. Recorded on September 29, 2018. Transcript: In his classic 1922 book Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis (first English edition published in 1936) Ludwig von Mises wrote of how the object of socialists everywhere had always been the destruction of existing society. After that is accomplished, then they can...","https://mises.org/library/political-correctness-misesian-destructionism" "Does a Falling Money Supply Cause Economic Slumps?","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 13, 2018","In his writings, Professor Milton Friedman blamed central bank policies for causing the Great Depression. According to Friedman, the Federal Reserve failed to pump enough reserves into the banking system to prevent a collapse in the money stock. In response to this failure, Friedman argued the money stock M1, which stood at $28.264 billion in October 1929; fell to $19.039 billion by April 1933 —...","https://mises.org/wire/does-falling-money-supply-cause-economic-slumps" "A Trump-Pelosi Budget Deal is a Recipe for the Worst Kind of Tax Increase","Power & Market","Daniel J. Mitchell","","November 13, 2018","The most disturbing outcome of the recent mid-term election isn’t that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be a Member of Congress. I actually look forward to that because of the humor value. Instead, with the Democrats now controlling the House of Representatives, I’m more worried about Donald Trump getting tricked into a “budget summit” that inevitably would produce a deal with higher taxes and more...","https://mises.org/power-market/trump-pelosi-budget-deal-recipe-worst-kind-tax-increase" "The Myth of the Neutral Interest Rate","Wire","Frank Shostak","","December 8, 2018","In his speech to the Economic Club of New York on November 28 2018, the Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell said that the US central bank’s policy interest rate is just below the neutral rate. This prompted many commentators to suggest that a tighter interest rate stance of the Fed is likely coming to an end. At the end of October the fed funds rate target stood at 2.25%. It is widely...","https://mises.org/wire/myth-neutral-interest-rate" "The State Is Influencing Big Tech’s ""Unpersoning"" — Now Imagine If It Takes Over Healthcare","Wire","Tho Bishop","","December 11, 2018","As tech executives continue to be grilled in front of Congress, the growing Bernie Sanders-wing of the Democratic Party is preparing to push its misnamed “Medicare for All” into the political mainstream after its political gains in the midterms. While these two stories seem to have very little in common, it’s not difficult to imagine a not-so-distant future where the two are dangerously connected...","https://mises.org/wire/state-influencing-big-techs-unpersoning-imagine-if-it-take-overs-healthcare-0" "Por qué el capital necesita emprendedores","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","December 31, 2018","La teoría de la productividad del capital domina la opinión popular y las discusiones públicas. Supone que el capital genera un rendimiento como los árboles engendran sus frutos. Desde este punto de vista, más ahorro implica más inversión y más inversión genera unas mayores existencias de capital, lo que a su vez genera rendimientos futuros. La creencia extendida es que los activos monetarios...","https://mises.org/node/45321" "A Chinese Bomb: Are We Really on the Threshold of Another Global Financial Crisis?","Wire","Diego Santizo","","February 25, 2019","The growth of corporate credit in China has been excessive in the last five years. This credit boom is related to a substantial increase in investment after the Great Recession. In the United States, the “debt crisis,” as Nassim Taleb called it, has not been corrected by corporations pursuing an intelligent strategy to reduce their debt. Chinese companies, however, have been following suit. Their...","https://mises.org/wire/chinese-bomb-are-we-really-threshold-another-global-financial-crisis" "The Bank of Canada Ignores its Mandate","Wire","Lee Friday","","March 6, 2019","On March 6th, the Bank of Canada (BoC) announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1.75 %. The next rate announcement is scheduled for April 24th, by which time it will have been six months since the BoC’s last rate increase. The BoC’s mandate “is to conduct monetary policy to promote the economic and financial well-being of Canadians.” It conducts this policy through...","https://mises.org/wire/bank-canada-ignores-its-mandate" "Tuesday's UK Vote Chaos: Will Brexit Never Happen?","Wire","Kai Weiss","","March 13, 2019","We are closing in on the third anniversary of the UK’s referendum to exit the European Union. The decision by the British people on June 23, 2016, was overdramatically called by many as revolutionary, but it was significant without a doubt. In theory, Britain is set to leave the EU in a little more than two weeks — on March 29. Nonetheless, there might not have been a time since the vote in 2016...","https://mises.org/wire/tuesdays-uk-vote-chaos-will-brexit-never-happen" "The ""Fertility Crisis"" Is a Government-Caused Crisis","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","March 15, 2019","January's report on fertility from the CDC set off a new wave of speculation in the media about the alleged ""fertility crisis."" We continue to see headlines like Fortune magazine's article ""Americans Aren’t Making Enough Babies, Says CDC "" and we hear from experts in this Marketplace interview that replacement-level fertility, ""is needed to sustain high living standards and a high quality of...","https://mises.org/wire/fertility-crisis-government-caused-crisis" "The Neutral Interest Rate: The Fed's Impossible Goal","Wire","Frank Shostak","","April 13, 2019","It is widely accepted that by means of suitable monetary policies the US central bank can navigate the economy towards a growth path of economic stability and prosperity. The key ingredient in achieving this is price stability. Most experts are of the view that what prevents the attainment of price stability are the fluctuations of the federal funds rate around the neutral interest rate. The...","https://mises.org/wire/neutral-interest-rate-feds-impossible-goal" "Skidelsky's Push for Modern Mercantilism","Library Item","David Gordon","The Austrian, Institute Publications","June 7, 2019","Money and Government: The Past and Future of EconomicsRobert SkidelskyYale University Press, 2018xiv + 402 pages The title of Murray Rothbard’s Power and Market provides a useful entry to understanding Robert Skidelsky’s long and learned book. Rothbard drew a contrast between peaceful cooperation through the free market and State coercion. Which do you support, he asks: power or market? Skidelsky...","https://mises.org/library/skidelskys-push-modern-mercantilism" "Doctors Are Not ""Playing God,"" But the Government Certainly Is","Wire","Lee Friday","","June 17, 2019","I have a right to end my own life, because it is my life. It therefore follows that I also have a right to ask another person if they are willing to perform this task for me, just as I have hired other willing agents (barbers, lawyers, contractors, etc.) to perform various tasks for me throughout my life. But I do not have a right to force anyone to help me end my life. In contrast, the...","https://mises.org/wire/doctors-are-not-playing-god-government-certainly" "Why the Swiss Voted for More Gun Control","Wire","José Niño","","June 19, 2019","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. On May 19, 2019, Swiss voters approved a new set of gun control restrictions. This newly-approved gun control measure would put Switzerland’s gun control laws in line with European Union standards. Under this new law, military-style, semi-automatic weapons would be heavily restricted, while also tightening up gun registration standards. A...","https://mises.org/wire/why-swiss-voted-more-gun-control" "Bernie Sanders Shows Us How a Minimum Wage Hike Hurts Workers","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","July 23, 2019","The Washington Post reported last week that some workers on the Bernie Sanders campaign for calling for a wage increase to a the equivalent of 15 dollars per hour. This, of course, is the hourly rate which Sanders has long pushed for in legislation and on the campaign trail. But that's more than what many Sanders employees make per hour. Many campaign workers are salaried, so the problem lies in...","https://mises.org/wire/bernie-sanders-shows-us-how-minimum-wage-hike-hurts-workers" "The Disaster of Negative Interest Policy ","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","August 22, 2019","Those who had hoped that things could not get worse with the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) have been proven wrong. At its last meeting on 25 July 2019, the Governing Council of the ECB kept interest rates unchanged: the main refinancing rate was kept at 0.00% and the deposit rate at -0.40%. At the same time, however, ECB President Mario Draghi has prepared the ground to lower...","https://mises.org/wire/disaster-negative-interest-policy" "Hayek Was Right, Keynes Was Not An Economist","Wire","Alasdair Macleod","","August 29, 2019","Perhaps we should have listened to Friedrich Hayek, when he said that his friend Lord Keynes was not an economist. This description of Keynes by Hayek is extracted from a video interview with Leo Rosten in 1975: He was a man with a great many ideas who knew very little about economics. He knew nothing but Marshallian economics. He was completely unaware of what was going on elsewhere. He even...","https://mises.org/wire/hayek-was-right-keynes-was-not-economist" "Economic Busts Can Happen in a Free Market. But Central Banks Make Things Much Worse.","Wire","Justin Murray","","September 14, 2019","Given the nature of the modern global economic system, it is only natural to focus on the role of government-created money and central banks when discussing recessions and the ever-expanding credit structure. However, it is important to remember that theoretically, booms and busts and other downturns are not impossible in a truly free market system. Although, the length, scale, and scope of such...","https://mises.org/wire/economic-busts-can-happen-free-market-central-banks-make-things-much-worse" "Trade Restrictions Are an Assault on the Individual's Human Values and Rights","Wire","Patrick Barron","","September 27, 2019","A tariff is a tax on imports that is used to satisfy a policy goal. Before the federal income tax became law in 1913, the US federal government was funded almost entirely by tariffs and excise taxes. An excise tax is a tax on a good that is produced in the US. The best example of a current excise tax is the federal tax on gasoline. The most infamous excise tax was the tax on whiskey in the early...","https://mises.org/wire/trade-restrictions-are-assault-individuals-human-values-and-rights" "Why Behavioral Economics Isn't Very Useful","Wire","Joakim Book","","November 22, 2019","A famous adage of questionable origin reads something like this: you can fool all people some of the time, or some people all of the time, but never all people all of the time. The strand of modern economics called ‘behavioral economics’ makes its living on occasionally fooling some people and wrapping the results in daunting mathematical equations. The now-40-year-old subdiscipline was...","https://mises.org/wire/why-behavioral-economics-isnt-very-useful" "Why this Boom Could Keep Going Well Beyond 2019","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","December 7, 2019","The Austrian business cycle theory offers a sound explanation of what happens with the economy if and when the central banks, in close cooperation with commercial banks, create new money balances through credit expansion. Said credit expansion causes the market interest rate to drop below its ""natural level,"" tempting people to save less and consume more. Credit expansion also drives firms to...","https://mises.org/wire/why-boom-could-keep-going-well-beyond-2019" "El pánico del coronavirus: del paternalismo de un billón de dólares al «dinero para el búnker»","Wire","Gregory Gordon","","March 21, 2020","La vida en Estados Unidos ha sido reformada dramáticamente en las últimas dos semanas. El miedo al coronavirus chino ha eclipsado por completo todas las demás noticias en los EEUU y en el extranjero. Entre estas historias está la carrera de las primarias Demócratas, que aparentemente sigue en curso — y donde Joe Biden ha logrado tropezar con un estatus de casi presunto nominado al sobrevivir a un...","https://mises.org/node/49792" "What If the Fed Did Nothing?","Wire","Noah Bonn","","March 30, 2020","Austrians and Libertarians are well-established critics of central banking in general, and emergency monetary stimulus in particular. There is near universal agreement that Alan Greenspan should not have cut rates following the Dot-Com Bubble, and that Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen should not have quadrupled the monetary base following the Housing Bubble.1 Yet if you mention this to someone who...","https://mises.org/wire/what-if-fed-did-nothing" "Even If the Fed Keeps Pumping Money, We May Still See Deflation","Wire","Frank Shostak","","April 11, 2020","So far in March, the data indicates that the yearly growth rate of our measure for US money supply (as measured by the AMS metric) stood at 10.5 percent against 6.6 percent in February and 1.7 percent in March last year. Given that the Fed is busy throwing money at the economy as if there were no tomorrow, it is tempting to suggest that the momentum of the AMS is likely to increase further and...","https://mises.org/wire/even-if-fed-keeps-pumping-money-we-may-still-see-deflation" "Rothbard on Why We Need Entrepreneurs","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","April 20, 2020","In his Man, Economy, and State, Murray N. Rothbard investigates not only the role of the capitalist but also that of the entrepreneur in a market economy. Rothbard uses the theoretical concept of the evenly rotating economy (ERE) to compare the role of the capitalist to that of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs earn profits in so far as they successfully correct the maladjustments in the real...","https://mises.org/wire/rothbard-why-we-need-entrepreneurs" "Deregulation Is the Path to Increasing the Supply of Medical Services","Wire","Mitch Nemeth, Rafael Ribeiro","","May 1, 2020","Many entrepreneurs and policymakers have embraced the expansion of capacity at hospitals and medical facilities as an answer to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This effort has been characterized by an overwhelming shift in commercial productivity towards medical equipment (ventilators) and personal protective equipment (PPE). Along the way, however, businesses and medical professionals have...","https://mises.org/wire/deregulation-path-increasing-supply-medical-services" "Europe's Communists Are Trying to Blame COVID-19 on Markets and ""Neoliberalism""","Wire","Fabrizio Ferrari","","May 8, 2020","As the COVID-19 pandemic is taking place worldwide, many leftist pundits and communist politicians are blaming its spread on the alleged inborn flaws of neoliberalism—which they identify with globalization, laissez-faire, the absence of solidarity and greater inequality. However, all their claims and theories are either factually wrong or deductively and praxeologically nonsensical. Globalization...","https://mises.org/wire/europes-communists-are-trying-blame-covid-19-markets-and-neoliberalism" "Will COVID-19 Be a Generation-Defining Event?","Power & Market","Peter Lothian Nelson","","May 12, 2020","Could the COVID-19 panic lead to a generational shift in culture comparable to those resulting from the Great Depression or the advent of the personal computer? The new era we are entering could set up a new generation of people ready to obey orders. After all, “stay at home,” “shelter in place,” and “social distance” sound to many like commands that ought to succeed. Therefore, governors and...","https://mises.org/power-market/will-covid-19-be-generation-defining-event" "Central Bankers Gone Wild: It's a New Era at the Fed","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","June 8, 2020","Editor's Note: We keep hearing from the Fed's defenders that the current spate of new stimulus and bailouts from the central bank are really not a big deal and are all very prudent and moderate. I asked Senior Fellow Bob Murphy to provide some much needed perspective. Ryan McMaken: We’re in a very odd situation right now in terms of evaluating the state of the economy. We can see that there is...","https://mises.org/wire/central-bankers-gone-wild-its-new-era-fed" "How Capitalists Improve Human Productivity","Wire","Fabrizio Ferrari","","September 7, 2020","To quote the last paragraph of this 2008 article by Robert Murphy, when asked why Austrian school economics should be studied, the best answer is: ""the Austrian theory of capital is the best one you can find if you really want to grasp how the economy actually works—beyond sterile mathematics and static timeless analysis."" The Austrian school’s understanding of capital and production relies upon...","https://mises.org/wire/how-capitalists-improve-human-productivity" "Central Banks and the Problem with Playing God","Wire","Pascal Hügli","","October 16, 2020","Today’s Western institutions have long been deemed to be sacrosanct. As a matter of fact, though, nation-states are increasingly met with reservation or even outright resentment. Public trust in government is near historic lows, and pillars like the media or democracy are suffering from a loss of confidence. But one modern institution seems to be standing as strong as ever: central banks....","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-and-problem-playing-god" "Mises Explains Why Socialism Fails","Wire","Fabrizio Ferrari","","November 7, 2020","One century ago, Mises began the socialist calculation debate, publishing his essay Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth (1920) and his subsequent treatise Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis (1922). Later, Mises included his antisocialist arguments in Human Action [1949] (1999) , his magnum opus, especially in Sections III (about economic calculation) and V (about...","https://mises.org/wire/mises-explains-why-socialism-fails" "Slavery: The ""Broken Window"" of American Economic History","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","December 3, 2020","The New Historians of Capitalism have unleashed a renaissance in the study of slavery as foundational to American progress. Unlike conservative economists who declaim that slavery impeded industrial development these intellectuals argue that it created multiple economic linkages and fueled the prosperity of Northern states. Such is the thesis proffered by Sven Beckert in an enticing essay...","https://mises.org/wire/slavery-broken-window-american-economic-history" "Larry Summers Reminds Us That Federal ""Stimulus"" Mostly Exists to Help Wall Street ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 30, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Over the past two weeks in Washington, the battle has raged over whether or not the latest so-called stimulus bill should include direct payments to Americans. This would be the second round of direct payments, which were sent out back in April as part of a $2 trillion spending package. The first stimulus checks were $1,200 per individual or...","https://mises.org/wire/larry-summers-reminds-us-federal-stimulus-mostly-exists-help-wall-street" "What the Literature Actually Reveals about Raising the Minimum Wage","Power & Market","Joseph Solis-Mullen","","January 12, 2021","Despite economist Thomas Sowell’s laconically phrased observation that the real minimum wage is zero, progressive elements within the Democratic coalition are likely to push for increasing the federal minimum wage once Biden takes office. While whether or not to raise the minimum wage is therefore ultimately a political question, a school of thought has gained purchase within mainstream economic...","https://mises.org/power-market/what-literature-actually-reveals-about-raising-minimum-wage" "Lo que la bibliografía realmente revela sobre aumentar el salario mínimo ","Power & Market","Joseph Solis-Mullen","","January 12, 2021","A pesar de la observación lacónica del economista Thomas Sowell de que el salario mínimo real es cero, es probable que los elementos progresistas de la coalición demócrata presionen para que se aumente el salario mínimo federal una vez que Biden asuma el cargo. Si bien la cuestión de aumentar o no el salario mínimo es, por lo tanto, en última instancia una cuestión política, en los últimos...","https://mises.org/node/53516" "The New Right Is All about the Left","Wire","Joakim Book","","February 8, 2021","The ironic thing about Michael Malice's book The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics is that it mostly deals with the Left. What unites the Right, argues Malice, is that they all hate the Left. His definition of the New Right reads: a loosely connected group of individuals united by their opposition to progressivism, which they perceive to be a thinly veiled fundamentalist...","https://mises.org/wire/new-right-all-about-left" "Class Harmony, Not Class War","Power & Market","George Reisman","","March 8, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The discontent and unrest that followed the 2020 presidential election was, at least in major part, one of the innumerable destructive consequences of an almost 250-year-old error in economic theory made by Adam Smith: namely, the belief that profits are a deduction from wages. (See the first eight paragraphs of chap. 8 , bk. I of The Wealth...","https://mises.org/power-market/class-harmony-not-class-war" "The Tyranny of the ""Enlightened"" Experts","Wire","Gregory Gordon","","April 5, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. If you were to stroll through any typical upper-middle-income American neighborhood in 2021, the odds are very high that you’d observe at least one yard sign exuberantly proclaiming something like this: “In this house, we believe that science is real, love is love, no human is illegal … ” and other banal tautologies. There are usually six or...","https://mises.org/wire/tyranny-enlightened-experts" "Can the Lightning Network Lead to ""Hyperbitcoinization""?","Wire","Peter St. Onge","","July 2, 2021","I spent the last week at the Bitcoin Lounge nestled cozily amid the Free State Project’s annual Porcfest in New Hampshire—named for the Porcupine, the libertarian mascot, and located just 7 miles from the infamous Bretton Woods as the crow flies. As we enjoyed the mild New Hampshire summer, people wandered over to buy $2 sodas with Bitcoin, paying instantly and with zero transaction fee. I...","https://mises.org/wire/can-lightning-network-lead-hyperbitcoinization" "How to Cheat with Cost-Benefit Analysis: Double Count the Benefits","Wire","Gary Galles","","September 9, 2021","Because my economics courses focus on public policy, I often deal with benefit-cost analyses (BCA) in them. While little discussed, the central idea is simply to identify and include all the relevant benefits and costs of a decision, do our best to estimate their values, then choose the option that provides the greatest net benefits. Hardly a radical idea. It can be useful in disciplining our...","https://mises.org/wire/how-cheat-cost-benefit-analysis-double-count-benefits" "Defaulting on the Debt Is the Moral Thing to Do","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","September 30, 2021","The US is in the midst of yet another “debate” over the debt ceiling. In the twenty-first century, this is a ritual that Washington politicos and journalists go through every few years when the prospect of default and government shutdown is used as a way to hold Americans hostage until they cave to a debt-ceiling hike. I won’t bore you with the details of which politicians are voting against a...","https://mises.org/wire/defaulting-debt-moral-thing-do" """Idle Resources"" Are Problems Caused by the Central Bank","Wire","Frank Shostak","","October 18, 2021","Resources that are utilized to promote economic prosperity in normal times become underutilized during recessions. Some experts are of the view that what is required are policies which will increase the availability of credit to make greater use of underutilized resources. On this Ludwig von Mises wrote, Here, they say, are plants and farms whose capacity to produce is either not used at all or...","https://mises.org/wire/idle-resources-are-problems-caused-central-bank" "Welcome to a New Chapter in the Latest Boom-Bust Cycle","Wire","Thorsten Polleit","","December 21, 2021","What lies ahead is undoubtedly a rather sensitive chapter in the boom-and-bust-cycle drama caused by US monetary policy: the US Federal Reserve System (Fed) is about to end its ultraeasy course. The reason: after many years of exceptionally low interest rates—with most real, i.e., inflation-adjusted, interest rates even in the negative territory—and a huge inflow of newly created money to the...","https://mises.org/wire/welcome-new-chapter-latest-boom-bust-cycle" "What Happens When Central Banks Attempt to Tighten? Even More Resource Misallocation","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 13, 2022","After a prolonged period of easy monetary policy, the US Federal Reserve has embarked on a tighter monetary stance. On May 4, 2022, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.50 percent, to a target range between 0.75 percent and 1.00 percent. The hike is the largest since 2000 and follows a 0.25 percent increase in March this year, the first increase since December 2018. Various...","https://mises.org/wire/what-happens-when-central-banks-attempt-tighten-even-more-resource-misallocation" "The Federal Reserve Policies Promote Crony Socialism","Power & Market","James Anthony","","May 28, 2022","Criminals seriously harm people here and there, but to systematically harm people everywhere takes governments. Organized Predation The Fed disincentivizes working. It enables banks to create money, lend out the money, and transfer losses to taxpayers. As a result, over time the same nominal amount of pay buys less and less. People work less. The Fed disincentivizes saving. Its new money reduces...","https://mises.org/power-market/federal-reserve-policies-promote-crony-socialism" "Debt-Fueled Demand and Oil Price Inflation Brings Airfares Roaring Back ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","June 3, 2022","If you’ve purchased any airline tickets lately, you’ve probably noticed that prices are up. It’s quite a reversal from the days of covid lockdowns, when airline tickets could be had for half the price of 2019 fares. Or even lower, in many cases. But those days are apparently over, and as Yahoo Finance notes this week: Airline fares soared 18.6% in April, according to the latest Consumer Price...","https://mises.org/wire/debt-fueled-demand-and-oil-price-inflation-brings-airfares-roaring-back" "La automaticidad de los progresistas mata (y mata y mata)","Power & Market","James Anthony","","July 26, 2022"," Los protoprogresistas no se quedaron atrás y dejaron que una frontera porosa emancipase a los esclavos para que aumentase la prosperidad. En cambio, los protoprogresistas utilizaron la nueva industrialización, los ferrocarriles y los telégrafos para impulsar el reclutamiento, la matanza, la mutilación y la destrucción a escala industrial. Los progresistas no se quedaron de brazos cruzados y...","https://mises.org/node/59765" "How the Public Lost Trust in the Federal Reserve (Which Should Never Have Been Trusted in the First Place)","Wire","Matthew Pan","","August 17, 2022","In a presentation last month, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president James Bullard remarked, “The current U.S. macroeconomic situation is straining the Fed’s credibility with respect to its inflation target.” It’s easy to understand why this might be the case. Statistics revealed that the annual inflation rate has shot to 9.1 percent, the highest since November 1981, while the month-over-month...","https://mises.org/wire/how-public-lost-trust-federal-reserve-which-should-never-have-been-trusted-first-place" "New York City Subways: The Woes of Socialist Enterprises","Wire","Gregory Bresiger","","September 1, 2022","History matters, especially as the New York City today faces still another subway crisis. The New York subway system’s history illustrates the failures of state enterprise. The subways have been bad for so long that few know when the subways were “an engineering marvel.” That was when subway private management companies made money, about a century ago. Today there’s consensus the red-ink...","https://mises.org/wire/new-york-city-subways-woes-socialist-enterprises" "Blame the Fed for Both the Inflationary Boom and the Inevitable Bust","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","September 1, 2022","Last week, Jerome Powell insisted that he’s not going to change his mind on allowing interest rates to rise while allowing the assets on the Fed’s portfolio to (very slowly) roll off the balance sheet. At the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference, Powell’s speech lasted only ten minutes. Powell had a fairly simple message. He admitted that “high inflation has continued to spread...","https://mises.org/wire/blame-fed-both-inflationary-boom-and-inevitable-bust" "Current State and Federal Schemes to Bribe Voters are Totally out of Hand","Power & Market","Liam Cosgrove","","September 6, 2022","Men are not infallible; they err very often. It is not true that the masses are always right and know the means for attaining the ends aimed at. “Belief in the common man” is no better founded than was belief in the supernatural gifts of kings, priests, and noblemen. Democracy guarantees a system of government in accordance with the wishes and plans of the majority. But it cannot prevent...","https://mises.org/power-market/current-state-and-federal-schemes-bribe-voters-are-totally-out-hand" "Central Bankers Are Poor Archers: The Problems and Failures of Inflation Targeting and Price Stability","Wire","Josh L. Ascough","","January 3, 2023","The famous quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” is usually attributed to Albert Einstein. While intended as a parable for quantum insanity, such a quote could equally be a parable for inflation policy. With the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve seeking to maintain target rates of 2 percent, the UK inflation rate has only fallen to 10...","https://mises.org/wire/central-bankers-are-poor-archers-problems-and-failures-inflation-targeting-and-price-stability" "Stop Trying to Turn Economics into a Branch of Psychology","Wire","Frank Shostak","","January 20, 2022","Recently, a relatively new economics called behavioral economics (BE) has started to gain popularity. Its practitioners, such as Daniel Kahneman, Vernon Smith, and Richard Thaler, were awarded Nobel Prizes for their contribution in the field of BE. The BE framework emerged because of dissatisfaction with the neoclassical theory regarding consumer choices. In the neoclassical theory, individuals...","https://mises.org/wire/stop-trying-turn-economics-branch-psychology" "How Fast Should the Money Supply Grow?","Wire","Stephen Apolito","","January 30, 2023","Some economists have suggested that inflation results when the money supply expands faster than the rate at which goods and services are produced. They correctly point out that this expansion of the money supply will generally lead to rising prices. But what most economists fail to mention is that inflation can exist even when prices are stable. Stable prices can mask underlying inflation in...","https://mises.org/wire/how-fast-should-money-supply-grow" "Fighting Inflation Really Means Fighting the Federal Reserve","Wire","George Ford Smith","","January 31, 2023","There are surely other worlds than this—other thoughts than the thoughts of the multitude—other speculations than the speculations of the sophist. —Edgar Allan Poe, “The Assignation” Nothing brings out misleading or false narratives like the subject of money. Prices over the last twenty-five months have shot up, and this development is roundly called inflation. Why? Because prices have shot up....","https://mises.org/wire/fighting-inflation-really-means-fighting-federal-reserve" "Social Security Taxes Aren't ""Your"" Money ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","February 1, 2023","After French protestors took the street to complain about the increase in the retirement age, I read quite a few jokes in social media about how protesting in France is the local pastime. protests.jpg That may be true, but let it not be said that Americans don't feel very, very strongly about their own national pension program. I say this because in...","https://mises.org/wire/social-security-taxes-arent-your-money" "Is the Japanese Low Inflation–Low Interest Rate Model at an End?","Wire","Gunther Schnabl, Thomas Mayer","","February 1, 2023","The macroeconomic situation in Japan seems to be coming to a head. When the Bank of Japan, under its President Haruhiko Kuroda, announced on December 20, 2022, that it would raise its interest rate ceiling on ten-year Japanese government bonds from 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent, share prices in Tokyo plummeted and the Japanese yen appreciated sharply. The “Kuroda shock,” which in the eyes of some...","https://mises.org/wire/japanese-low-inflation-low-interest-rate-model-end" "Money and Savings Are Not the Same Thing","Wire","Frank Shostak","","February 16, 2022","In the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), savings are established as the difference between disposable money income and monetary outlays. Disposable income is defined as the summation of all personal money income less tax payments to the government. Personal income includes wages and salaries, transfer payments, income from interest and dividends, and rental income. The NIPA framework...","https://mises.org/wire/money-and-savings-are-not-same-thing" "Rothbard’s Button Doesn’t Exist, but It Needs to Be Invented","Wire","George Ford Smith","","May 10, 2023","With totalitarianism accelerating on a global scale and having kicked off in earnest with government attacks on their own populations during the still-running ruse of the covid vaccine, the state as a necessary feature of civilization stands before us shamelessly as a blood-dripping monster. And acting as tyranny’s bulldog is the state’s handmaiden and echo chamber, the legacy media. Are future...","https://mises.org/wire/rothbards-button-doesnt-exist-it-needs-be-invented" "Environmentalism and the Immoral Low Ground","Wire","Connor O'Keeffe","","June 6, 2023","Last month, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency proposed new power plant regulations that would put harsh limits on the amount of carbon dioxide released while producing electricity. This comes from the same administration pushing to electrify all parts of daily life, from driving to cooking. As if slamming the power grid with artificial demand is not enough, now the...","https://mises.org/wire/environmentalism-and-immoral-low-ground" "The Argentinian Zombie Currency","Wire","Octavio Bermudez","","June 16, 2023","Argentina makes press headlines worldwide and tops the inflation world rankings. People are becoming desperate—living in Argentina is extremely tough—and people are beginning to immigrate to foreign countries. The Argentinian peso is, to the world and the Argentinian citizens, a relentless zombie, rejected by the people but supported by the government, which is desperate to snatch whatever money...","https://mises.org/wire/argentinian-zombie-currency" "The Road to a Single Fiat World Currency","Library Item","Thorsten Polleit","The Austrian, Institute Publications","July 10, 2023","[This article is a selection from the March-April issue of The Austrian.] What if the world’s states were to come together and create a single world currency? From a purely economic point of view, there would be significant advantages if every nation didn’t operate with its own money but with the same currency. Not only for an individual economy, but for the world economy as a whole, the optimal...","https://mises.org/library/road-single-fiat-world-currency" "Family Flourishing and State Denigration ","Wire","Samuel Peterson","","August 15, 2023","There is little doubt that the institution of the family in the West is in crisis. Birth rates have been declining in the USA, and most Western countries have fertility rates below replacement level. Abortions number over five hundred thousand per year, most of which are concentrated among low-income individuals. Famously, around half of all marriages in the USA end in divorce. Rather than...","https://mises.org/wire/family-flourishing-and-state-denigration" "Globalization: The Long-Run Big Picture","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","November 18, 2006","SummaryIntroductionThe Economic World Today and in a Hundred Years (Table 1)Ricardo to the Rescue: ""Value and Riches, Their Distinctive Properties""The Contributions of Globalization: Extending the Division of LaborGlobalization and Capital AccumulationRicardo on Capital Accumulation: An Answer to the Fears of Capital Transfer (Table 2)The Anti-Globalization Arguments of Gomory and...","https://mises.org/library/globalization-long-run-big-picture" "Show Trials with Capitalist Defendants in Shackles","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","February 8, 2009","Maureen DowdNew York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has written a column (January 28, 2009) full of withering hatred and contempt for many of today's most prominent businessmen, first and foremost the heads of the Wall Street Banks. She singles out Citigroup and Merrill Lynch in particular, denouncing the first for going ahead with taking delivery of a $50 million luxury jet at the very time the...","https://mises.org/library/show-trials-capitalist-defendants-shackles" "Economics, Philosophy, and Politics","Library Item","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","Mises Daily Articles","February 25, 2004","Interviewed by Emrah Akkurt, Turkey-Association for Liberal Thinking. To be published in a forthcoming special issue of the economic journal Piyasa on socialism.Akkurt: How did you come to be a libertarian and which thinkers were most important in shaping your ideas?Hoppe: As a young man, a 'Gymnasiast' in Germany, I was a Marxist. Then, as a student at the University of Frankfurt, I encountered...","https://mises.org/library/economics-philosophy-and-politics" "Thoughts on Capital-Based Macroeconomics","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","January 3, 2013","Part I.In 1979 the Cato Institute published a collection of Hayek’s post-Nobel-laureate contributions to Austrian monetary theory, policy, and macroeconomics titled, Unemployment and Monetary Policy: Government as Generator of the Business Cycle. The monograph made more available to an American audience material originally published by The Institute of Economic Affairs in London in 1975,...","https://mises.org/library/thoughts-capital-based-macroeconomics" "Hayek on the Business Cycle","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Mises Daily Articles","October 8, 2008","Friedrich A. Hayek was barely out of his twenties in 1929 when he published the German versions of the first two works in this collection, Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle and ""The Paradox of Saving."" The latter article was a long essay that was to become the core of his celebrated book and the third work in this volume, Prices and Production, the publication of which two years later made him...","https://mises.org/library/hayek-business-cycle" "What Is Liberalism?","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","February 2, 2011","[The Introduction to Mises's Liberalism (1927).] Liberalism The philosophers, sociologists, and economists of the 18th and the early part of the 19th century formulated a political program that served as a guide to social policy first in England and the United States, then on the European continent, and finally in the other parts of the inhabited world as well. Nowhere was this program ever...","https://mises.org/library/what-liberalism" "Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XX","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 2, 2008","[This Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XX is also available in PDF.]CHAPTER XX. INTEREST, CREDIT EXPANSION, AND THE TRADE CYCLECHAPTER SUMMARY1. The ProblemsThe neutral rate of interest is the hypothetical, single rate of originary interest — i.e., the rate of markup on consumer goods compared to their factors of production — that would prevail in the imaginary construction of the evenly...","https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-chapter-xx" "My Reply to Krugman on Austrian Business-Cycle Theory","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 24, 2011","As many readers already know, last week Paul Krugman linked to one of my Mises Daily articles explaining the importance of capital theory in any discussion of the business cycle. Although Krugman graciously described my fable about sushi-eating islanders as ""the best exposition I've seen yet of the Austrian view that's sweeping the GOP,"" naturally he derided the approach as a ""great leap backward...","https://mises.org/library/my-reply-krugman-austrian-business-cycle-theory" "The Cone of Production","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","December 11, 2002","Finally, the mainstream has come to recognise--albeit dimly--that the phenomenology of this cycle is not like the ones to which it has been introduced by its teachers. It is not about insufficient demand or money, nor it is a result of a technology shock. It is a story of malinvestment--resources misapplied due to bad interest-rate signalling from the Federal Reserve itself. The mainstream still...","https://mises.org/library/cone-production" "Real Bills, Phony Wealth","Library Item","Robert Blumen","Mises Daily Articles","June 8, 2005","""The masses are misled by the assertions of the pseudo-experts,” wrote Mises, “that cheap money can make them prosperous at no expense whatever.” The damage that this inflationary fallacy has done to our monetary institutions cannot be over-estimated. In spite of efforts by classical and Austrian economists to refute it, it refuses to die. It has been resurrected under many guises, but all with...","https://mises.org/library/real-bills-phony-wealth" "ACTA: The War on Progress, Freedom, and Human Civilization","Library Item","Gennady Stolyarov II","Mises Daily Articles","August 3, 2010","[An MP3 audio file of this article, read by the author, is available for download.] A clandestine international treaty is currently being negotiated among parties including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, and Morocco. It can justly be called the greatest threat of our time to the advancement of human civilization. Considering the magnitude of the...","https://mises.org/library/acta-war-progress-freedom-and-human-civilization" "2. Socialism and Utopia","Online Text Page","Hans-Hermann Hoppe","Books, Books","February 18, 2015","Marxism sees the coming of socialism as an inescapable necessity. Even if one were willing to grant the correctness of this opinion, one still would by no means be bound to embrace socialism. It may be that despite everything we cannot escape socialism, yet whoever considers it an evil must not wish it onward for that reason and seek to hasten its arrival; on the contrary, he would have the moral...","https://mises.org/2-socialism-and-utopia" "6. The Realm of Entrepreneurship in the Market: Capital Theory, Production, and Change by Per L. Bylund","Online Text Page","Per Bylund, David Howden","Books","March 16, 2015","Modern* economic theory tends to treat production, the process of generating valued consumption in a market, as a function carried out within firms and so out of reach for the general market (Coase 1937). Firms are seen as “black box” generators of output from inputs in accordance with a calculable and formalized “production function,” and both inputs and outputs are exchanged at competitive...","https://mises.org/6-realm-entrepreneurship-market-capital-theory-production-and-change-l-bylund" "Chapter 9: Exchange and the Division of Labor","Online Text Chapter","Joseph T. Salerno, Matthew McCaffrey","Books","March 1, 2016","It is now time to bring other men into our Robinsonian idyll—to extend our analysis to interpersonal relations. The problem for our analysis is not simply more people: after all, we could simply postulate a world of a million Crusoes on a million isolated islands, and our analysis would not need to be expanded by one iota. The problem is to analyze the interaction of these people. Friday, for...","https://mises.org/chapter-9-exchange-and-division-labor" "Chapter 11 Time and Time Preference","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 20, 2016","Human Action11. Perspective in the Valuation of Time PeriodsActing man distinguishes the time before satisfaction of a want is attained and the time for which the satisfaction continues.Action always aims at the removal of future uneasiness, be it only the future of the impending instant. Between the setting in of action and the attainment of the end sought there always elapses a fraction of time...","https://mises.org/chapter-11-time-and-time-preference" "Chapter 25: Summary and Conclusion: End the Fed","Online Text Chapter","Mark Thornton","Books, Books","July 10, 2018","What this book has established is that the central bank causes a variety of economic problems and that Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) shines a scientific light on what otherwise is a highly complex phenomenon. I have shown that the Skyscraper Index has predicted most of the important economic crises for over a century. I have also shown that Austrian economists have predicted those crises...","https://mises.org/chapter-25-summary-and-conclusion-end-fed" "The Division of Labor Is at the Very Core of Economic Growth","Wire","Per Bylund","","February 9, 2019","[From Chapter 6, ""The Realm of Entrepreneurship in the Market: Capital Theory, Production, and Change"" in The Next Generation of Austrian Economics: Essays in Honor of Joseph T. Salerno.] Modern economic theory tends to treat production, the process of generating valued consumption in a market, as a function carried out within firms and so out of reach for the general market (Coase 1937). Firms...","https://mises.org/wire/division-labor-very-core-economic-growth" "From the Malthusian Trap to the Keynesian Trap: The British Economy from 1810 to 2019","Wire","Neema Parvini","","August 17, 2019","Since Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes were writing in the 1930s, there have been two prevailing orthodoxies in mainstream economics: 1. That deflation is an unalloyed negative.12. That consumer-led economic growth must be our top economic priority.2 In this article, using British macroeconomic data from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries as well as praxeological reasoning...","https://mises.org/wire/malthusian-trap-keynesian-trap-british-economy-1810-2019" "Socialists Have Never Shown How They Could Increase the Standard of Living","Wire","Ludwig von Mises","","November 3, 2020","[A selection from Nation, State, and Economy. Editor's note: When Mises refers to ""liberals"" or ""liberalism"" he means the ideology of laissez-faire, sometimes now called ""classical liberalism.""] Marxism sees the coming of socialism as an inescapable necessity. Even if one were willing to grant the correctness of this opinion, one still would by no means be bound to embrace socialism. It may be...","https://mises.org/wire/socialists-have-never-shown-how-they-could-increase-standard-living" "Sí, Paul Krugman, los auges son insostenibles","Wire","William L. Anderson","","May 15, 2021","Que los austriacos y los keynesianos no comparten muchos puntos de vista sobre la economía (o probablemente sobre cualquier otra cosa) es obvio, por lo que una diferencia de opinión entre ambos no debería sorprender a nadie. Sin embargo, sigue siendo importante señalar las diferencias entre ambos bandos, especialmente en el momento actual en el que los keynesianos están de moda en Washington (¿...","https://mises.org/node/55073" "Classical Economics vs. The Exploitation Theory","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","March 21, 2019","For more than a century, one of the most popular economic doctrines in the world has been the exploitation theory. According to this theory, capitalism is a system of virtual slavery, serving the narrow interests of a comparative handful of businessmen and capitalists, who, driven by insatiable greed and power lust, exist as parasites upon the labor of the masses. This view of capitalism has not...","https://mises.org/library/classical-economics-vs-exploitation-theory" "Krugman contra Hayek","Library Item","Jonathan M. Finegold Catalan","Mises Daily Articles","July 29, 2010"," The current recession has brought back discussion on the merits of countercyclical fiscal and monetary policy. Broadly speaking, the economics profession is divided into two camps. One side is made up of ""liquidationists"" and ""deficit hawks,"" supporting tight monetary policy and low — or no — government spending. The other group is composed of those fearing a fall in prices, who support easy...","https://mises.org/library/krugman-contra-hayek" "Old and New Development Economics: A Reassessment of Objectives","Library Item","Victor Espinosa, Óscar Carreiro","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","August 10, 2021","ABSTRACT: The “new development economics” (also called behavioral development economics) consists of microeconomic experimentation based on behavioral economics and randomized controlled trials. This approach would illuminate the close relationships between preferences, culture, and institutions and point to new political opportunities. This paper describes and analyzes the new development...","https://mises.org/library/old-and-new-development-economics-reassessment-objectives" "Profit and Loss","Library Item","Ludwig von Mises","Mises Daily Articles","October 7, 2006","A. The Economic Nature of Profit and LossThe Emergence of Profit and LossThe Distinction Between Profits and Other ProceedsNon-Profit Conduct of AffairThe Ballot of the MarketThe Social Function of Profit and LossProfit and Loss in the Progressing and in the Retrogressing EconomyThe Computation of Profit and LossB. The Condemnation of ProfitEconomics and the Abolition of ProfitThe Consequences of...","https://mises.org/library/profit-and-loss" "Chapter 8 Profit and Loss","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 20, 2016","Planning for Freedom and Other Essays and Addresses1“Profit and Loss”1. The Emergence of Profit and LossIn the capitalist system of society’s economic organization the entrepreneurs determine the course of production. In the performance of this function they are unconditionally and totally subject to the sovereignty of the buying public, the consumers. If they fail to produce in the cheapest and...","https://mises.org/chapter-8-profit-and-loss" "The Cultural and Spiritual Legacy of Fiat Inflation","Library Item","Jörg Guido Hülsmann","Mises Daily Articles","February 10, 2022","The notion that inflation is harmful is a staple of economic science. But most textbooks underrate the extent of the harm, because they define inflation much too narrowly as a lasting decrease of the purchasing power of money (PPM), and also because they pay scant attention to the concrete forms of inflation. To appreciate the disruptive nature of inflation in its full extent we must keep in mind...","https://mises.org/library/cultural-and-spiritual-legacy-fiat-inflation" "The Great, Mighty, Brilliant A.R.J. Turgot","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","June 7, 2011","[Introduction to The Turgot Collection: Writings, Speeches, and Letters of Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune (2011)] Anne Robert Jacques Turgot's career in economics was brief but brilliant, and in every way remarkable. In the first place, he died rather young, and second, the time and energy he devoted to economics was comparatively little. He was a busy man of affairs, born in Paris to...","https://mises.org/library/great-mighty-brilliant-arj-turgot" "The Hayek-Keynes Debate, 1931-1971","Library Item","Sudha R. Shenoy","Mises Daily Articles","April 23, 2009","Challenge to KeynesThe Approach to an Income Policy""Micro"" Dimensions AcknowledgedIs There a Price ""Level""?Further Implications of Hayekian AnalysisNotes[This article is excerpted from A Tiger by the Tail: The Keynesian Legacy of Inflation. An MP3 audio version of this article, read by Floy Liley, is available as a free download.] The roots of current economic ideas and of those guiding wage...","https://mises.org/library/hayek-keynes-debate-1931-1971" "Biography of A.R.J. Turgot (1727-1781): Brief, Lucid, and Brilliant","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Articles of Interest, Journals, Other Journals","August 1, 2007","""To suppose all consumers to be dupes, and all merchants and manufacturers to be cheats, has the effect of authorizing them to be so, and of degrading all the working members of the community.""Anne Robert Jacques Turgot's career in economics was brief but brilliant, and in every way remarkable. In the first place, he died rather young, and second, the time and energy he devoted to economics was...","https://mises.org/library/biography-arj-turgot-1727-1781-brief-lucid-and-brilliant" "Chapter 14 Labor Productivity, Wages, and Unemployment","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 20, 2016","Planning for Freedom and Sixteen Other Essays and Addresses1“Wages, Unemployment and Inflation”Our economic system — the market economy or capitalism — is a system of consumers’ supremacy. The customer is sovereign; he is, says a popular slogan, “always right.” Businessmen are under the necessity of turning out what the consumers ask for and they must sell their wares at prices which the...","https://mises.org/chapter-14-labor-productivity-wages-and-unemployment" "War by Faith Alone","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","April 2, 2008","[Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism: A Call to Action. By George Weigel. Doubleday, 2007. 195 pages.] The key to George Weigel's thought lies in his earlier massive volume Tranquillitas Ordinis (Oxford University Press, 1987). St. Augustine beautifully defined peace as the tranquility of order. Weigel twists Augustine's dictum for his own bellicose purposes. In standard just war theory,...","https://mises.org/library/war-faith-alone" "Nazi Economic Policy","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","January 2, 2009","[This article originally appeared on LewRockwell.com.]Nearly every day brings new reports of the collapse of a large financial institution or the impending bankruptcy of a major company. Plans for bailouts and government intervention are in the air. Even those who profess devotion to free enterprise have wavered. Are we not faced with an emergency that calls for immediate action to ""save""...","https://mises.org/library/nazi-economic-policy" "Judaism, Capitalism, and Marx","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Daily Articles","February 12, 2013","Part 1 of ""Judaism and Capitalism: Friends or Enemies?"" The Lou Church Memorial Lecture in Religion and Economics, presented at the 2012 Austrian Scholars ConferenceThe subject “Judaism and Capitalism” needs to be addressed in two related but separate parts. In one of these, the question up for discussion is, what is the relation between Judaism, taken as a body of religious doctrine, and...","https://mises.org/library/judaism-capitalism-and-marx" "What Samuel Said about Solomon","Library Item","Frank Chodorov","Mises Daily Articles","July 29, 2009","""The Judgment of Solomon""Gustave Doré (1832–1883)""In those days,"" we are told in Judges 17:6, ""there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes."" To be able to do that which is right in one's own eyes is to be free, and freedom was the way of life among the Israelites before the coming of the kings. Yet, they were not without government; they were not...","https://mises.org/library/what-samuel-said-about-solomon" "How and Why the State Destroys Society","Library Item","Frank Chodorov","Mises Daily Articles","August 1, 2018","[From The Rise and Fall of Society] It is not incumbent on a diagnostician to prescribe a remedy, and it would be quackery for him to do so when he has misgivings as to its curative value. It may be that the struggle between Society and the State is inevitable; it may be in the nature of things for the struggle to continue until mutual destruction clears the ground for the emergence of a new...","https://mises.org/library/how-and-why-state-destroys-society" "Plenty by Competition","Library Item","Frank Chodorov","Mises Daily Articles","April 13, 2012","[The Rise and Fall of Society (1959)]The techniques of the market place evolve from man's unceasing drive toward a richer and fuller life. One technique that plays a most important part in this general purpose is competition, or the vying among the specialists for the favor of the community. Although the competitors are motivated by self-interest, each one seeking the custom of his fellow men,...","https://mises.org/library/plenty-competition" "When Will the U.S. Economy Recover?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","October 23, 2001","Recent releases of key economic indicators paint a gloomy economic picture. Year-on-year industrial production fell by 5.8 percent in September, after a fall of 4.6 percent in the previous month. This is the twelfth consecutive decline. The yearly rate of growth in retail sales fell to 0.2 percent in September from 3.7 percent in August. Furthermore, non-farm employment was down by almost 200,000...","https://mises.org/library/when-will-us-economy-recover" "How Healthy Are the Banks?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","March 29, 2004","In his speech before the Independent Community of Bankers of America on March 17, 2004, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan, concluded that the US banking system is in healthy shape. According to the Fed Chairman, the weakness in credit quality that accompanied the recent recession has clearly been mild for the banking system as a whole, and the system remains strong and...","https://mises.org/library/how-healthy-are-banks" "Is Something Out of Nothing Possible?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","February 22, 2008","In his testimony to the House of Representatives Budget Committee on January 17, 2008, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave strong support for President Bush's fiscal stimulus package to strengthen the economy. Among various tax measures the package also offers a direct tax relief for low- and moderate-income individuals. According to Bernanke there is good evidence that cash that goes to...","https://mises.org/library/something-out-nothing-possible" "The Rescue Package Will Delay Recovery","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","September 29, 2008","In his testimony to the Congress on September 24, Fed Chairman Bernanke urged the legislators to quickly approve the bailout of the financial sector with a package of $700 billion. Bernanke echoed Treasury Secretary Paulson's view that the bailout expense, while hefty, is needed to remove from banks' balance sheets the mortgage-linked assets, which are paralyzing the flow of credit.I think it's...","https://mises.org/library/rescue-package-will-delay-recovery" "Does a Liquidity Trap Pose a Threat?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","September 23, 2009"," The latest data for lending in the eurozone, the United Kingdom, and the United States display a visible weakening. In the eurozone, the yearly rate of growth of bank lending to the private sector fell to 0.6% this July from 9.3% in July last year. In the United Kingdom, the yearly rate of growth of lending to the private sector fell to 2.2% in July 2009 from 10.1% in July 2008. In the United...","https://mises.org/library/does-liquidity-trap-pose-threat" "Does It Make Sense to Resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act?","Library Item","Frank Shostak","Mises Daily Articles","February 16, 2010","June 16, 1933. President Roosevelt signs Banking Act of 1933. To FDR's immediate right and left are Sen. Carter Glass of Virginia and Rep. Henry Steagall of Alabama.At the end of January, President Barack Obama announced that he is planning to introduce new regulations for the banking industry, to prevent excessive speculation. According to the president, no bank or financial institution that...","https://mises.org/library/does-it-make-sense-resurrect-glass-steagall-act" "Theory vs. Practice","Library Item","Claude Frédéric Bastiat","Mises Daily Articles","October 8, 2012","[Included in The Bastiat Collection (2011), this article appeared in Economic Sophisms (1845).]As advocates of free trade, we are accused of being theorists, and of not taking practice sufficiently into account. ""What fearful prejudices were entertained against Mr. Say,"" says Mr. Ferrier,by that long train of distinguished administrators, and that imposing phalanx of authors who dissented from...","https://mises.org/library/theory-vs-practice" "Investment that Raises the Demand for Capital","Library Item","Friedrich A. Hayek","Mises Daily Articles","February 16, 2007","[This article first appeared in The Review of Economic Statistics, November, 1937.]The purpose of this article is to state a proposition which underlies the modern ""monetary over-investment theories"" of the trade cycle in a form in which, as far as I know, it has never before been expressed but which seems to make this particular proposition so obvious as to put its logical correctness beyond...","https://mises.org/library/investment-raises-demand-capital" "Substitute for Foreign Aid","Library Item","Friedrich A. Hayek","Mises Daily Articles","August 4, 2009","For the time being financing for rearmament has in a large measure taken the place of other forms of capital movement to Europe. But this provides only a partial and temporary solution to the problem with which in recent years this country has tried to cope through large-scale governmental loans and grants. These may have been the most appropriate ways of dealing with the acute transition and...","https://mises.org/library/substitute-foreign-aid" "Misrepresenting Inequality","Library Item","Gary Galles","Mises Daily Articles","February 2, 2012","Sir William Thompson, Lord Kelvin, once said, When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind. Kelvin's statement is an important reminder that when magnitudes of certain variables or their relationships are in...","https://mises.org/library/misrepresenting-inequality" "WorldCom as Piker: Profit Inflation by the U.S. Government","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","August 10, 2002","News reports now indicate that WorldCom's overstatement of its profits in the last few years may exceed the $3.8 billion initially reported, perhaps by as much as an additional $3.3 billion, maybe even more. But whatever the ultimate figure may be—$7.1 billion or even $10 billion—it pales into insignificance in comparison with the overstatement of profits regularly engineered by the U.S....","https://mises.org/library/worldcom-piker-profit-inflation-us-government" "Envy Unleashed at the New York Times","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","June 6, 2005","In a front page editorial (Sunday June 5), thinly disguised as its lead news story, The New York Times has unknowingly provided a case study in envy and ignorance.The “article” is titled “Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind,” subtitled “Tax Laws Help to Widen Gap at Very Top.” It breathlessly informs readers that “The people at the top of America's money pyramid have so prospered in...","https://mises.org/library/envy-unleashed-new-york-times" "Where Would General Motors Be Without the United Automobile Workers Union?","Library Item","George Reisman","Mises Daily Articles","April 19, 2006","This is a question that no one seems to be asking. And so I've asked it. And here, in essence, is what I think is the answer. (The answer, of course, applies to Ford and Chrysler, as well as to General Motors. I've singled out General Motors because it's still the largest of the three and its problems are the most pronounced.)First, the company would be without so-called Monday-morning...","https://mises.org/library/where-would-general-motors-be-without-united-automobile-workers-union" "The Non-Issue that Should Be an Issue","Library Item","Gregory Bresiger","Mises Daily Articles","July 3, 2008","[An MP3 audio file of this article, read by Ron Jennings, is available for download.]It's the spending, stupid!When was the last time you heard Senator Obama or Senator McCain give a speech on the bloated public sector? Did Senator Clinton, in her recently concluded presidential bid, ever scold voters who constantly want the government to ""give"" them more and more services?These are rhetorical...","https://mises.org/library/non-issue-should-be-issue" "Under the Shadow of Inflationomics","Library Item","Hans F. Sennholz","Mises Daily Articles","June 1, 2006","Inflationomics, in popular terminology, indicates the sway of inflation thought in education and the affairs of government. It permeates political life and behavior, especially when economic policies are discussed and decided. It usually speaks well of an increase in the amount of money by a central bank and of deliberate expansion of bank credit in order to finance government deficits and...","https://mises.org/library/under-shadow-inflationomics" "Man vs. the Welfare State","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","Mises Daily Articles","October 27, 2006","[This article is excerpted from the first two chapters of Man vs. The Welfare State, published in 1969. The entire book is available in PDF as a free download.]Instant UtopiaSalvation Through Government Spending""We Owe It To Ourselves""Consequences of Dollar DebasementThe High Cost of Wage HikesPrice ControlsMore on Price ControlsWho Protects the Consumer?Famines Are Government-MadeRunaway Relief...","https://mises.org/library/man-vs-welfare-state" "One Lesson","Library Item","Henry Hazlitt","Mises Daily Articles","June 5, 2008","Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. This is no accident. The inherent difficulties of the subject would be great enough in any case, but they are multiplied a thousandfold by a factor that is insignificant in, say, physics, mathematics, or medicine — the special pleading of selfish interests. While every group has certain economic interests identical with...","https://mises.org/library/one-lesson" "The Trouble With Child Labor Laws","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","February 11, 2008","Let's say you want your computer fixed or your software explained. You can shell out big bucks to the Geek Squad, or you can ask — but you can't hire — a typical teenager, or even a preteen. Their experience with computers and the online world is vastly superior to that of most people over the age of 30. From the point of view of online technology, it is the young who rule. And yet they are...","https://mises.org/library/trouble-child-labor-laws" "Halloween and Its Candy Economy","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","October 31, 2009","Dale Steinreich once wrote that Halloween has a ""socialist tenor"" because ""menacing figures arrive at your door uninvited, demand your property, and threaten to perform an unspecified 'trick' if you don't fork over. That's the way the government works in a nutshell.""And yet, for overall kid excitement, Halloween seems to surpass Christmas, at least from what I can observe. The kids spend months...","https://mises.org/library/halloween-and-its-candy-economy" "When Capital Is Nowhere in View","Library Item","Jeffrey A. Tucker","Mises Daily Articles","May 10, 2011","""With the focus on food and cooking, we can see what it is that drives daily life among the Haitian multitudes.""A Travel Channel episode of No Reservations, a cooking-focused show narrated by Anthony Bourdain, took viewers to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I had heard that the show offered unique insight into the country and its troubles. I couldn't imagine how. But it turns out to be true. Through the...","https://mises.org/library/when-capital-nowhere-view" "How Measuring GDP Encourages Government Meddling","Library Item","John P. Cochran","Mises Daily Articles","March 18, 2014","In a review of Diane Coyle’s GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History, aptly titled “Measuring the Unmeasurable,” James Grant highlights many of the difficulties involved in aggregate statistical attempts to measure economic activity. Grant summarizes critical problems in one succinct sentence, “Imagine deciding which nation produces what in a global supply chain. Or correcting price for quality...","https://mises.org/library/how-measuring-gdp-encourages-government-meddling" "Testimony Before the US House Committee on Financial Services","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Mises Daily Articles","March 18, 2011","Since it began operations in 1914 the Federal Reserve System (""the Fed"") has presided over a relentless decline in the value of the US dollar. Prices increased in 83 of the 97 years of the Fed's existence. Over the last 60 years, beginning in 1950, prices rose in 58 of them. As a result the cumulative loss of the dollar's buying power during the Fed's existence has been staggering. For example,...","https://mises.org/library/testimony-us-house-committee-financial-services" "Jean-Baptiste Colbert","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","May 20, 2010","[This article is excerpted from An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, vol. 1, Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. An audio version of this Mises Daily, read by Jeff Riggenbach, is available as a free download.] In France — which was to become in the 17th century the home par excellence of the despotic nation-state — the promising cloth trade and other commerce and industry...","https://mises.org/library/jean-baptiste-colbert" "Thomas Jefferson's Free-Market Economics","Library Item","Murray N. Rothbard","Mises Daily Articles","November 29, 2011","[An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, vol. 2, Classical Economics (1995)]""The ideologues — Cabanis, DuPont, Volney, Say, and de Tracy — all sent Jefferson their manuscripts and received encouragement in return.""The leadership of the French Smithians was quickly gained by Jean-Baptiste Say, when the first edition of his great Traité d'Économie Politique was published in 1803...","https://mises.org/library/thomas-jeffersons-free-market-economics" "The Errors of Keynes","Library Item","Philipp Bagus","Mises Daily Articles","February 7, 2013","[Los Errores de la Vieja Economía • Juan Ramón Rallo • UNIÓN EDITORIAL, S.A.; 1st edition]The Austrian School of economics has provided the world with devastating critics of Keynes's magnum opus The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (TGT) for a long time. Friedrich A. von Hayek, Jacques Rueff, Henry Hazlitt, Murray Rothbard, Ludwig Lachmann, Ludwig von Mises, and William Hutt have...","https://mises.org/library/errors-keynes" "On the Problem of Business Cycles","Library Item","Richard von Strigl","Mises Daily Articles","September 20, 2011","There are as many causes for fluctuations in economic life as there are external conditions of economizing. Each of these conditions can change and thereby effect a change in the course of the economic process. If the economy is affected to a greater extent, if farther reaching changes prove necessary and, in particular, if a lasting change in an external determinant of the economy causes...","https://mises.org/library/problem-business-cycles" "An Austrian in Grad School: Confronting the Mainstream","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","July 28, 2003","Because of their minority status, most budding Austrian economists must endure graduate training in the mainstream orthodoxy before earning their Ph.D.s. As a recent graduate of New York University, I thought it might be useful to highlight some of the major differences I perceived between Austrian economics and the neoclassical, New Keynesian paradigm. The following list is by no means...","https://mises.org/library/austrian-grad-school-confronting-mainstream" "Keep Your Eye on the Assumptions","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","January 25, 2005","I love to read economist Steven Landsburg, even though I almost always disagree with him. In the present article, I’ll focus on a chapter from Landsburg’s forthcoming book entitled “More Sex Is Safer Sex,” which could pass as a parody of economic analysis worthy of Swift.As I will explain more carefully in a moment, Landsburg argues that the way to slow the spread of AIDS is to encourage certain...","https://mises.org/library/keep-your-eye-assumptions" "Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter VIII","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","December 12, 2007","[This Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter VIII is also available in PDF.]CHAPTER VIII. HUMAN SOCIETYChapter Summary1. Human CooperationSociety is the combination of individuals for cooperative effort. People collaborate — form social bonds — because they perceive the greater productivity afforded by the division of labor. This doesn't mean that people set about to ""form"" society, but rather that...","https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-chapter-viii" "Inventories Don't Kill Growth — People Kill Growth","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","March 1, 2010","The most destructive ideas in academia are those that are technically defensible but nonetheless encourage erroneous intuitions. In economic science, a prime example of such a destructive idea is GDP accounting. As the recent punditry on the ""inventory blip"" of the fourth-quarter growth figures perfectly illustrates, the mainstream macro framework leads us into absolute absurdity.The GDP Hall of...","https://mises.org/library/inventories-dont-kill-growth-people-kill-growth" "Can Gold Cause the Boom-Bust Cycle?","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","June 28, 2010","At the Mises Academy we are just wrapping up the inaugural class, on the Austrian theory of the business cycle. During the class, one issue that came up repeatedly was whether the Mises/Hayek story of the trade cycle could occur on a completely free market, using gold as money and a banking system that operated on 100 percent reserves.As any good (and annoying) teacher would, I avoided giving a...","https://mises.org/library/can-gold-cause-boom-bust-cycle" "The ""Crime"" of Private Money","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","April 7, 2011","Bernard von NotHaus was convicted last month in federal court on conspiracy and counterfeiting charges for his development of silver ""Liberty Dollars."" He faces up to 25 years in prison. Earlier this week the feds moved to seize about $7 million of precious metals from the operation as well.Besides the government's dubious legal maneuvers, its broader message here is clear: ""Don't try to provide...","https://mises.org/library/crime-private-money" "End This Agony","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","August 10, 2011","In the wake of the stock-market plunge and S&P downgrade, economic pundits of all stripes are rushing to explain events. But as so often happens in economics, ""believing is seeing."" Keynesians, monetarists, and Austrians can all look at the slow-motion train wreck and feel vindicated by the data.Naturally, I agree with Jeffrey Tucker that of the major schools of economic thought, the...","https://mises.org/library/end-agony" "Rothbard on Land Prices","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","October 18, 2011","This year in the online Mises Academy I have been leading students through Murray Rothbard's classic treatise, Man, Economy, and State. (For details on the current class, covering the final third of the book, see here.) In the previous class we covered Rothbard's analysis of the pricing of land. This is an illuminating topic because it involves capitalization and entrepreneurship, two areas where...","https://mises.org/library/rothbard-land-prices" "Man, Economy, and State at 50","Library Item","Robert P. Murphy","Mises Daily Articles","September 11, 2012","[This review originally appeared in the Freeman, September 2012.] Based on art by Tim Kelly done for TheFreemanOnline.orgThis year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1962 publication of Murray Rothbard's grand treatise, Man, Economy, and State (MES). I was humbled when asked to write an appreciation of this indispensable work of Austrian economics. Rather than discussing the book's obvious role in...","https://mises.org/library/man-economy-and-state-50" "The Revolutionary War and the Destruction of the Continental","Library Item","Thomas E. Woods, Jr.","Mises Daily Articles","October 11, 2006","[This article is based on a talk given at the Mises Circle in Manhattan: The Fed and War Finance, September 16, 2006, available for audio download.]Certain historical cases of inflation have become sufficiently notorious to become textbook examples of government printing presses run riot. In the twentieth century the classic episode was the German hyperinflation of 1923.The eighteenth century...","https://mises.org/library/revolutionary-war-and-destruction-continental" "Two Very Fashionable Frauds","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Daily Articles","October 20, 2004","Two years ago I was on a faculty committee to choose the one book that incoming freshman would be asked to read and discuss in discussion groups during freshman orientation. It was the school of business’s turn to choose the book, so I thought it would be valuable, for once, for the freshman to read a book that was not the latest popular left-wing polemic, as seemed to be the practice.Academic...","https://mises.org/library/two-very-fashionable-frauds" "The Trojan Horse of ""Happiness Research""","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Daily Articles","June 9, 2011"," A very large literature has built up over the past several decades in the area of so-called ""happiness research."" Such research is based on several very dubious assumptions: namely, that utility is cardinal and measurable after all; that interpersonal utility comparisons can therefore be made; and that the great unicorn of economic theory — the ""social welfare function"" — has finally been...","https://mises.org/library/trojan-horse-happiness-research" "Redeeming the Industrial Revolution","Library Item","Wendy McElroy","Mises Daily Articles","August 10, 2018","A destructive myth has wrapped itself around laissez-faire capitalism. It is the erroneous notion that the free market harms the ""vulnerable"" within society; specifically, it is said to harm women and children by cruelly exploiting their labor. The opposite is true. Laissez-faire capitalism offers the one element that the vulnerable need most to survive and to advance: choice. The most liberating...","https://mises.org/library/redeeming-industrial-revolution" "Free Economy and Social Order","Library Item","Wilhelm Röpke","Mises Daily Articles","January 26, 2022","Most of us, and all of us most of the time, deal with the market economy as a definite type of economic order, a sort of ""economic technique"" as opposed to the socialist ""technique."" For this view, it is significant that we call its constructional principle the ""price mechanism."" Here we move in the world of prices, of markets, of supply and demand, of competition, of wage rates, of interest...","https://mises.org/library/free-economy-and-social-order" "The Income Inequality Hoax","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","March 10, 2000","A pestilence stalks the land. It threatens to undo the current economic expansion. It may undo any social good that has been accomplished this past decade and may even result in blood in the streets.What is this unspeakable horror, this evil genie that, if fully unleashed, could mean the downfall of us all? What is this scourge that causes increases in heart disease, cancer, depression, and even...","https://mises.org/library/income-inequality-hoax" "The Oil Follies","Library Item","William L. Anderson","Mises Daily Articles","June 24, 2008","A recent poll taken by CNN found that US drivers fear the possibilities of shortages more than they fear higher prices:A CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday shows that 55% of those surveyed are more worried about long lines at gas stations and rationing than about the high prices that drivers have paid in recent months. The poll shows 40% of the respondents are more concerned about the...","https://mises.org/library/oil-follies" "The Twin Deficits: Myths and Truths","Library Item","Sean Corrigan","Mises Daily Articles","September 2, 2004","Open the business section of a newspaper today and you are likely to find some mention of (a) America’s wide trade gap; (b) the increasing Federal budget deficit; and often (c) the two of these, yoked together as ‘The Twin Deficit"" problem.Indeed, such is the current focus that listed in the NY Times non-fiction best sellers list for much of the past month or so has been Peter G. Petersen’s ""...","https://mises.org/library/twin-deficits-myths-and-truths" "How to Fix the Housing Crisis","Library Item","Doug French","Mises Daily Articles","November 4, 2011","The foreclosure crisis has crawled on for going on four years now with no end in sight. The S&P/Case-Shiller index for August fell 3.8 percent from a year ago. The index includes home prices for 20 US cities.""Continued house price declines could lead to even more defaults, foreclosures and distress sales, undermining wealth, confidence and spending,"" William Dudley, president of the Federal...","https://mises.org/library/how-fix-housing-crisis" "Liberty versus Democracy","Library Item","Rose Wilder Lane","Mises Daily Articles","July 4, 2007","Introduction by Jörg Guido Hülsmann The war years had brought economic hardship to Mises, and if he ever had any illusions about the state of the American mind before he came to the United States in 1940, he had certainly lost them by the end of the war. American public opinion was already entirely under the sway of statism. And as a consequence the old American liberties were at an all-time low....","https://mises.org/library/liberty-versus-democracy" "Bimetallic Nightmare","Library Item","Garet Garrett","Mises Daily Articles","February 19, 2010","[Excerpted from chapter 4 of The Driver (1922). An MP3 audio version of this article, excerpted from the audiobook by Jeff Riggenbach, is available as a free download.] You may define a mass delusion; you cannot explain it really. It is a malady of the imagination, incurable by reason, that apparently must run its course. If it does not lead people to self-destruction in a wild dilemma between...","https://mises.org/library/bimetallic-nightmare" "Police Forces","Library Item","Jarret B. Wollstein","Mises Daily Articles","February 9, 2010","[This article is excerpted from Society Without Coercion.]Today there is the commonly accepted, but completely fallacious idea that somehow police protection, access to courts, and even legal counsel is a ""right"" of citizenship in the United States. However, there is no more justification for such services being provided ""free"" (i.e., through taxation) than there is for color TV sets to be...","https://mises.org/library/police-forces" "Police Forces","Library Item","Jarret B. Wollstein","Mises Daily Articles","March 18, 2010","[This article is excerpted from Society Without Coercion.]Today there is the commonly accepted, but completely fallacious idea that somehow police protection, access to courts, and even legal counsel is a ""right"" of citizenship in the United States. However, there is no more justification for such services being provided ""free"" (i.e., through taxation) than there is for color TV sets to be...","https://mises.org/library/police-forces-0" "A Message of Hope from the Dismal Science","Library Item","Art Carden","Mises Daily Articles","December 24, 2010","People have spilled a lot of ink both digital and real about the state of the world, kids these years, and the apparent moral and cultural poverty of modernity. We are facing, we are told, an economic crisis unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes, with this indicator or that indicator appearing in various outlets alongside the descriptor ""worst since the Great Depression."" Perhaps...","https://mises.org/library/message-hope-dismal-science" "Will The Federal Reserve Create The New Socialist Man?","Library Item","Karen De Coster, CPA, Eric Englund","Mises Daily Articles","June 26, 2006","""Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer."" – Ludwig von MisesPersonal character and money are linked. No, we are not implying that a person of great wealth is necessarily an individual with high character. All one needs to do is look at the moral sewer known as Wall Street in order to comprehend how a whole host of elites have traded their souls for mind-boggling sums of...","https://mises.org/library/will-federal-reserve-create-new-socialist-man" "Payday Lending: Serving the Unbanked","Library Item","Mike Foley","Mises Daily Articles","February 10, 2004","The last few decades have witnessed many innovations in the consumer finance industry. Consumers enjoy a myriad of credit programs tailored to their particular needs: credit cards, home equity lines of credit, payday cash advances, etc. Unfortunately, all these options create problems too, as the attendant responsibility of money management has left many individuals struggling to service their...","https://mises.org/library/payday-lending-serving-unbanked" "The Chinese Boom Can't Last","Library Item","Nicolas Bouzou","Mises Daily Articles","July 23, 2004","The Chinese economy has undergone extremely substantial growth rates over the past few years. According to official data, real GDP has increased at annual rates constantly in excess of 7% since 1996. Of course, no one is totally obliged to believe these statistics which are rendered unreliable due to a lack of means and political pressure1. However, the inspection of corporate accounts and...","https://mises.org/library/chinese-boom-cant-last" "Bastiat Does Not Go Far Enough","Library Item","Louis E. Carabini","Mises Daily Articles","December 25, 2009","[Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter 2007)]""The Broken Window,"" an essay written by Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850), was the first of a dozen short essays compiled under the heading, What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen. In these essays, Bastiat cautions us by saying that to accurately evaluate the full outcome of an event, we must account for all effects of that event, namely, the...","https://mises.org/library/bastiat-does-not-go-far-enough" "The Federal Home Loan Banks to the Rescue!","Library Item","John Paul Koning","Mises Daily Articles","November 19, 2007","For those who have been speculating on how the government might bail out participants in the collapsing US subprime mortgage market, an unlikely savior has stepped forward: the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB).Compared to their limelight-hogging cousins — the Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae — the FHL Banks don't get much press. But from March to September, the amount of loans these...","https://mises.org/library/federal-home-loan-banks-rescue" "Rothbard Revises the History of the Great Depression","Library Item","Paul Johnson","Mises Daily Articles","October 14, 2011","[Introduction to Rothbard's America's Great Depression, December 1999]The Great Depression was a failure not of capitalism but of the hyperactive state.""The Wall Street collapse of September–October 1929 and the Great Depression which followed it were among the most important events of the 20th century. They made the Second World War possible, though not inevitable, and by undermining confidence...","https://mises.org/library/rothbard-revises-history-great-depression" "Economic Crisis and Paradigm Shift","Library Item","Juan Ramón Rallo Julián","Mises Daily Articles","January 6, 2009","Convento de San Esteban, Salamanca, SpainNeoclassical economists usually explain their disdain for the Austrian School by saying that, although their theories may seem to be logically and correctly constructed, they lack predictive power; that is why, according to the positivist view, they must be ruled out as ""nonscientific.""The current global financial crisis, described in an incomplete manner...","https://mises.org/library/economic-crisis-and-paradigm-shift" "The Crisis in 10 Points","Library Item","Robert Stewart","Mises Daily Articles","December 31, 2008","The 2007–2008 financial crisis had its genesis in the United States housing markets, but it rapidly spread to other economies, first to the United Kingdom, but then almost everywhere else, including such unlikely spots as Iceland whose banking system collapsed.[1] Because events in the United States triggered the crisis, this essay will concentrate on the US causes although they had their many...","https://mises.org/library/crisis-10-points" "I, Pencil","Library Item","Leonard E. Read","Mises Daily Articles","November 18, 2017","[From Anything That's Peaceful: The Case for the Free Market, 1964] As I sat contemplating the miraculous make-up of an ordinary lead pencil, the thought flashed in mind: I'll bet there isn't a person on earth who knows how to make even so simple a thing as a pencil. If this could be demonstrated, it would dramatically portray the miracle of the market and would help to make clear that all...","https://mises.org/library/i-pencil" "Origin and Rise of Compulsory Medicine","Library Item","Melchior Palyi","Mises Daily Articles","March 31, 2010","[Excerpted from chapter 2 of Compulsory Medical Care and the Welfare State (1950)]Obligatory health insurance started moderately enough — in Prussia. Compulsion under a law of 1845 was left in the hands of municipal administrations, with no government subsidy involved and no contributions from employers. The antisocialist law of 1878 suppressed many of labor's voluntary associations for sickness...","https://mises.org/library/origin-and-rise-compulsory-medicine" "The Blessing and Curse of Banking","Library Item","Richard Cantillon","Mises Daily Articles","May 12, 2011","[An Essay on Economic Theory, (1755; 2010)]It is of little importance to examine why the Bank of Venice and that of Amsterdam keep their books in moneys of account different from current (i.e., silver coin) money, and why there is always a fee for converting these book credits into currency. It is not a point of any usefulness for circulation. The Bank of London has not followed them in this...","https://mises.org/library/blessing-and-curse-banking" "The Moral Issues of Money","Library Item","Gabriel M. Mueller","Mises Daily Articles","April 22, 2011"," I would not have been able to write this piece without having first read Professor Jörg Guido Hülsmann's book, The Ethics of Money Production. From this book the reader can get many things, but the most important aspect is the realization that, unlike almost every other ""political"" issue, the subject of money — that is, what is money? where did it come from? how is it made? who controls it? — is...","https://mises.org/library/moral-issues-money" "Why Libertarians Should Reject Positive Rights","Library Item","Joshua Katz","Libertarian Papers, Journals, Other Journals","February 4, 2009","Introduction In “Why Libertarians Should Believe in Positive Rights” (presented at the Austrian Scholars Conference 2006)1 Nico Maloberti offers a reformulation of libertarianism that does not preclude the possibility, in principle, of a legitimate state. This is done through the introduction of “Samaritan rights,” the right to be saved from a dire situation when someone is able to do so at a...","https://mises.org/library/why-libertarians-should-reject-positive-rights" "I, Pencil","Library Item","Leonard E. Read","Articles of Interest, Journals, Other Journals","August 31, 2010","I am a lead pencil — the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write. Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that's all I do. You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery — more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by...","https://mises.org/library/i-pencil-0" "Government Fuels the Drive to Outsource","Library Item","Ivan Pongracic","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","June 1, 2004","The Free Market 24, no. 6 (June 2004) Outsourcing, offshoring, what- ever the name, has become a hot issue in this election year. (As I write these lines, the government has announced that 2,400,000 manufacturing jobs have disappeared in the last three years, currently leaving more than 9,000,000 Americans without jobs.)Blaming free trade for the present predicament of so many workers is...","https://mises.org/library/government-fuels-drive-outsource" "Marx Lite","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","The Free Market, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 2004","The Free Market 24, no. 12 (December 2004) Two years ago I was on a faculty committee to choose the one book that incoming freshmen would be asked to read and discuss in discussion groups during freshman orientation. It was the School of Business’s turn to choose the book, so I thought it would be valuable, for once, for the freshmen to read a book that was not the latest popular left-wing...","https://mises.org/library/marx-lite" "What It Means To Be A Libertarian: A Personal Interpretation by Charles Murray","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","July 1, 1997","Nationalize Education and Other Libertarian IdeasMises Review 3, No. 2 (Summer 1997)WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A LIBERTARIAN: A PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONCharles MurrayBroadway Books, 1997, xiii + 178 pgs.Unless you agree with Emerson that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, you will find little in this ill- thought-out book to like. Ostensibly a brief introduction to libertarianism,...","https://mises.org/library/what-it-means-be-libertarian-personal-interpretation-charles-murray" "Max Lerner: Pilgrim in the Promised Land, by Sanford Lakoff","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","October 1, 1999","Saint MaxMises Review 5, No. 3 (Fall 1999)MAX LERNER: PILGRIM IN THE PROMISED LANDSanford LakoffUniversity of Chicago Press, 1998, xxi + 323 pgs. Sanford Lakoff admires Max Lerner greatly. As a student of Lerner's at Brandeis University in 1949, his ""adulation soon became obvious and made me the butt of jokes"" (p. xiv). Our author's hero worship for Max the Great has never flagged in the ensuing...","https://mises.org/library/max-lerner-pilgrim-promised-land-sanford-lakoff" "Social Security: False Consciousness and Crisis, by John Attarian","Library Item","David Gordon","Mises Review, Journals, Institute Publications","December 1, 2003","Insurance FraudMises Review 9, No. 3 (Winter 2003)SOCIAL SECURITY: FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS AND CRISISJohn AttarianTransaction Publishers, 2002, xvii + 393 pgs.Nearly everyone knows that the Social Security system faces eventual collapse, but John Attarian remarkably claims that semantics lies at the root of the crisis. He follows the great literary scholar Richard Weaver in emphasis on calling things...","https://mises.org/library/social-security-false-consciousness-and-crisis-john-attarian" "A Critique of MacKenzie, Not an Endorsement of Hoover: Reply to Vedder and Gallaway","Library Item","Daniel Kuehn","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 15, no. 1 (Spring 2013)ABSTRACT: Vedder and Gallaway's (2011) rejoinder to my comment on MacKenzie (2010) seems to fundamentally misunderstand both my comment's argument and the contribution of Rose (2010). They interpreted my comment as an attempt at proving MacKenzie ""wrong,"" when I said nothing of the sort. It was simply an application of my view that Austrian scholarship on the...","https://mises.org/library/critique-mackenzie-not-endorsement-hoover-reply-vedder-and-gallaway" "Los Errores de la Vieja Economía, by Juan Ramón Rallo","Library Item","Philipp Bagus","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Journals, Institute Publications","July 30, 2014","Volume 16, No.1 (Spring 2013)The Austrian School of economics has provided the world with devastating critics of Keynes’s magnum opus The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (TGT) for a long time. Friedrich A. von Hayek, Jacques Rueff, Henry Hazlitt, Murray Rothbard, Ludwig Lachmann, Ludwig von Mises, and William Hutt have already provided important arguments against Keynes and...","https://mises.org/library/los-errores-de-la-vieja-economia-juan-ramon-rallo" "The Neo-Mercantilist Hysteria Over US Trade Deficits","Library Item","Joseph T. Salerno","Mises Daily Articles","July 17, 2014","This article is also available as an Audio Mises Daily One of the worst effects of modern Keynesian economics is that its total spending (“aggregate demand”) approach to output and employment provides a pseudo-scientific justification for the central error of mercantilism — an error that dates back to the sixteenth century. According to this ancient fallacy, a deficit in a nation's balance of...","https://mises.org/library/neo-mercantilist-hysteria-over-us-trade-deficits" "Inflated Rhetoric","Wire","Sean Corrigan","","February 25, 2004","In a recent TV debate I enjoyed with a prominent member of the East Coast Internationalist establishment, the usual complacency about the continuation of low inflation (read: published indices of price rises) was combined by my opponent with high words of praise for Alan Greenspan’s sound leadership and a panegyric to the US productivity revolution. Notwithstanding what should therefore be an...","https://mises.org/wire/inflated-rhetoric" "We are all Right-Wing Social Democrats Now","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","September 15, 2004","Here is Kerry's most elaborate attempt to explain why his central plan is better than Bush's central plan. Not that words matter to these people in the slightest (Bush famously called for big and smaller government in the same speech at the GOP convention), but it is still interesting to see a Democrat, the party of the public sector (as verses the contracted-out sector that the GOP serves)...","https://mises.org/wire/we-are-all-right-wing-social-democrats-now" "Suze Orman Councils Clients on the Perfect Time to Steal $70K","Wire","David J. Heinrich","","October 25, 2004","Well, you can praise someone one minute, and have to harshly criticize them the next. On the Suze Orman show, Suze advised a highly indebted guest to declare bankruptcy on approximately $70K of credit-card debt. Telling him about the legal benefits of declaring bankruptcy, she went a step further and asked him to tell at least 10 of his friend's that he was declaring bankruptcy, and to be proud...","https://mises.org/wire/suze-orman-councils-clients-perfect-time-steal-70k" "The Candy Economy","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","November 1, 2004","Dale Steinreich once wrote that Halloween has a ""socialist tenor"" because ""menacing figures arrive at your door uninvited, demand your property, and threaten to perform an unspecified 'trick' if you don't fork over. That's the way the government works in a nutshell."" And yet, for overall kid excitement, Halloween seems to surpass Christmas, at least from what I can observe. The kids spend months...","https://mises.org/wire/candy-economy" "After the Hideous Light Bulbs","Wire","George Reisman","","May 8, 2007","In my last article, I urged everyone to say no to the hideous looking fluorescent light bulbs the environmentalists plan to force on us in the name of fighting global warming and ""saving the planet."" I described the light bulbs as an entering wedge for further demands adding up to the sacrifice of our entire standard of living.Here's the kind of demands the environmentalists have in store to...","https://mises.org/wire/after-hideous-light-bulbs" "Environmentalism in the Light of Menger and Mises","Wire","George Reisman","","May 28, 2007","IEnvironmentalism is the product of the collapse of socialism in a world that is ignorant of the contributions of von Mises—a world that does not know what he has said that would logically explain the collapse of socialism and, even more importantly, the success of capitalism.Because of ignorance of the contributions of von Mises, the great majority of the intellectuals, and of the general public...","https://mises.org/wire/environmentalism-light-menger-and-mises" "12. The Agony of the Welfare State","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","For about a hundred years the Communists and interventionists of all shades have been indefatigable in predicting the impending final collapse of capitalism. While their prophecies have not come true, the world today has to face the agony of the much glorified policies of the Welfare State.The Welfare StateThe guiding principles of the Welfare State were best laid down by Ferdinand Lassalle (1825...","https://mises.org/12-agony-welfare-state" "16. Full Employment and Monetary Policy ","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","At the price determined in an unhampered market all those who consider it satisfactory can sell and all those who are prepared to pay it can buy. if commodities remain unsold, this is not due to their ""unsalability"" but to speculation on the part of their owners; they hold out because they expect that they will be able to sell later at a higher price. It is different when the authorities try to...","https://mises.org/16-full-employment-and-monetary-policy" "5. Destruction Resulting from Intervention","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","The history of the last decades can be understood only with a comprehension of the consequences of such intervention in the economic operations of the private property order. Since the demise of classical liberalism, interventionism has been the gist of politics in all countries in Europe and America. The economic layman only observes that “interested parties” succeed again and again in...","https://mises.org/5-destruction-resulting-intervention" "1. The Influence of the Past on Production","Online Text Page","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","Suppose that, making use of our entire store of technological skill and our present-day knowledge of geography, we were to undertake to resettle the earth's surface in such a way that we should afterwards be in a position to take maximum advantage of the natural distribution of raw materials. And suppose further that for this purpose the entire capital wealth of the present were at our disposal...","https://mises.org/1-influence-past-production" "Introduction by Percy L. Greaves, Jr.","Online Text Chapter","Ludwig von Mises","Books","February 18, 2015","""Every boom must one day come to an end."" —Ludwig von Mises (1928)""The crisis from which we are now suffering is also the outcome of a credit expansion."" —Ludwig von Mises (1931)In the 1912 edition The Theory of Money and Credit, Ludwig von Mises foresaw the revival of inflation at a time when his contemporaries believed that no great nation would ever again resort to irredeemable paper money....","https://mises.org/introduction-percy-l-greaves-jr" "The ""Natural Interest Rate"" Is Always Positive and Cannot Be Negative","Library Item","Thorsten Polleit","Mises Daily Articles","March 21, 2015","Some economists have been arguing that the “equilibrium real interest rate” (that is the “natural interest rate” or the “originary interest rate”) has become negative, as a “secular stagnation” has allegedly caused a “savings glut.”1The idea is that savings exceed investment, and that a negative real interest rate is required for bringing savings in line with investment. From the viewpoint of the...","https://mises.org/library/natural-interest-rate-always-positive-and-cannot-be-negative" "Rand Paul, Democracy, and the Ghost of Reagan ","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","April 7, 2015","Once upon a time, it would have been shocking and stunning for a politician to mention any Austrian economist. Then, Ronald Reagan started mentioning Hayek a lot, and as time progressed, Hayek became a ""safe"" economist who many self-proclaimed ""free market"" invoked when wanting to prove their intellectual chops. Mentions of more ""hard-core"" free market thinkers were rare indeed, but then...","https://mises.org/wire/rand-paul-democracy-and-ghost-reagan" "Objectivists: “All Property is Intellectual Property”","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","December 9, 2009","So says Adam Mossoff, Objectivist law professor, here:Just FYI, I am just about to complete my first draft of my article, tentatively titled, “A Value-Based Theory of Intellectual Property,” in which I explain why intellectual property rights are a fundamental property right. In fact, my thesis can be summed up as: All Property is Intellectual Property. As far as I’m aware, this will be the first...","https://mises.org/wire/objectivists-all-property-intellectual-property" "Capitalism, Competition, Collaboration, and Kindness","Wire","Dan Sanchez","","November 28, 2009","This post is one in a series entitled Posthumous Refutations.Back in 2005, Rainbough Phillips at Distributed Republic had the splendid idea of a Capitalism Appreciation Day. She walked the reader through her day expressing her appreciation for every for-profit entity that made her life more pleasant. It inspired me to do the same back then, when, at the time, I was working at a law office in Los...","https://mises.org/wire/capitalism-competition-collaboration-and-kindness" "Did Real Bills Enable the Growth of Trade?","Wire","Robert Blumen","","October 17, 2010","After having written several pieces (1 2 3 4 5 6) on Antal Fekete’s neo-Real Bills Doctrine (RBD) I had not intended to address the issue again. (I endorse Sean Corrigan’s critiques of Fekete 1 2 3 4 5.) While Fekete has accused me of being impolite by calling him a monetary crank (guilty) and has invoked the argument from the authority of Adam Smith (a thinker whom many Austrians do not like),...","https://mises.org/wire/did-real-bills-enable-growth-trade" "The Third Morning in Salamanca","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","October 24, 2009","Live blog indexThe third day of the Salamanca conference gave a fresh start, but I sure had the sense when we gathered for coffee that some folks had been out rather late the night before. In Salamanca, there seems to be a funny habit at work. You go to dinner between 8 and 9pm, but you don't eat and run. You stay and stay, and the service reflects that expectation. You stay for desert. Then you...","https://mises.org/wire/third-morning-salamanca" "The first full day in Salamanca","Wire","Jeffrey A. Tucker","","October 22, 2009","Live blog indexDoug French introduced the conference, in a room in the St. Esteban Convent in Salamanca, Spain, that just overwhelms you with its history and meaning. Our coffee was served in a hall said to be the place where Columbus actually waited to meet with Queen Isabella to find out the fate of his proposed exploration of the new world.Our talks today were in the Chapter room where...","https://mises.org/wire/first-full-day-salamanca" "7. The Myth of the Importance of the Producers’ Loan Market","Online Text Page","Murray N. Rothbard","Book Chapters, Books, Books, Online Texts","June 19, 2015","We have completed our analysis of the determination of the pure rate of interest as it would be in the evenly rotating economy—a rate that the market tends to approach in the real world. We have shown how it is determined by time preferences on the time market and have seen the various components of that time market. This statement will undoubtedly be extremely puzzling to many readers. Where is...","https://mises.org/7-myth-importance-producers-loan-market" "Replies to Readers of My Article on the Real Right to Medical Care","Wire","George Reisman","","August 8, 2009","From a reader in Cambridge, ON, Canada:RE:The Real Right To Medical Care….[T]hanks for the fantastic article on real medical care vs. socialized medicine. I am writing this email because I am a young Canadian who has a socialized medical system. While I cannot argue your logic for a true free market medical care system, I did finish your piece feeling like there is one hole. Not to say the idea...","https://mises.org/wire/replies-readers-my-article-real-right-medical-care" "Intellectual Property Advocates Hate Competition","Wire","Stephan Kinsella","","July 19, 2011","On a recent Mises blog thread, a commenter noted repeated a common argument that IP rights are needed to protect inventors and innovators. The reasoning is that without IP, some large company can just “knock off” your products and outcompete you.Think about what he is saying: it’s too risky to go into a given business because someone else might compete with you. It is no surprise that the more...","https://mises.org/wire/intellectual-property-advocates-hate-competition" "Gun Control: Fashionable Prohibition for Modern Lawmakers ","Library Item","Ryan McMaken","Mises Wire","October 9, 2015","With the latest school shooting, all humane people are expected to jump up and do something to stop the next shooting. The most popular response among media pundits and national policymakers right now is an expansion of the various prohibitions now in place against guns.For anyone familiar with the history of prohibitions on inanimate objects, however, these appeals to prohibition as a “common...","https://mises.org/library/gun-control-fashionable-prohibition-modern-lawmakers" "We Are Headed Toward a Cashless Society?","Library Item","Thomas J. DiLorenzo","Mises Wire","March 14, 2016","In this article, Claudio Grass, Managing Director at Global Gold Switzerland, talks to economist and Mises Institute Senior Fellow Thomas DiLorenzo. This exclusive interview covers central bank monetary policies, Keynesian economics, the economic“recovery,“ political correctness, and much more.Claudio Grass: Thomas, it is an honor to have this opportunity to talk to you. I am also pleased to...","https://mises.org/library/we-are-headed-toward-cashless-society" "Chapter 13 Labor Productivity, Wages, and Unemployment","Online Text Chapter","Shawn Ritenour","Books, Books","December 22, 2016","Planning for Freedom and Sixteen Other Essays and Addresses1“Wages, Unemployment and Inflation”Our economic system — the market economy or capitalism — is a system of consumers’ supremacy. The customer is sovereign; he is, says a popular slogan, “always right.” Businessmen are under the necessity of turning out what the consumers ask for and they must sell their wares at prices which the...","https://mises.org/chapter-13-labor-productivity-wages-and-unemployment" "1917: How Woodrow Wilson Finally Got His War","Wire","T. Hunt Tooley","","April 7, 2017","[Editor's Note: This is part 5 of a multi-part series.]On April 6 — a hundred years ago — the United States declared war on Germany.The history of America's entry into the Great War is complex and profound. It has intrinsic drama, no matter what one's attitude about the rights and wrongs of U.S. participation in the war--and there have been many.Wartime Allied propaganda had Americans believing...","https://mises.org/wire/1917-how-woodrow-wilson-finally-got-his-war" "A Mixed Hero: A Libertarian Reassessment of Elon Musk","Wire","Konrad Graf","","July 23, 2017","Many libertarians seem to love to hate Elon Musk these days. His crime is to live off the public purse. His companies would be bankrupt without green subsidies and cheap government loans and contracts. He seeks out favorable terms from governments and angles to capture subsidies and cheap loans with no reservation and with vast success at doing so. This situation, along with certain financing...","https://mises.org/wire/mixed-hero-libertarian-reassessment-elon-musk" "The First Economics Lesson ","Wire","Henry Hazlitt","","January 1, 2022","Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. This is no accident. The inherent difficulties of the subject would be great enough in any case, but they are multiplied a thousandfold by a factor that is insignificant in, say, physics, mathematics, or medicine—the special pleading of selfish interests. While every group has certain economic interests identical with those...","https://mises.org/wire/first-economics-lesson" "Is Behavioral Economics Good Economics? ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","November 17, 2017","Recently, a relatively new economics called Behavioral Economics (BE) has started to gain popularity. Its practitioners such as Daniel Kahneman, Vernon Smith, and Richard Thaler were awarded Nobel prizes for their contribution in the field of BE.The BE framework emerged on account of dissatisfaction with the neo-classical theory regarding consumer choices. A major problem with the neo-classical...","https://mises.org/wire/behavioral-economics-good-economics" "I Have Doubts About Bitcoin","Wire","Joakim Book","","December 2, 2017","Bitcoin and the blockchain technology are wonderful inventions; its anonymity, decentralised technology and speed of transactions just to mention a few features that have aroused supporters. The extension of competition into the domain of money that it represents is perhaps even more welcomed, coming as it does after almost a century of completely dominant fiat currency regimes (or feeble gold...","https://mises.org/wire/i-have-doubts-about-bitcoin" "Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster: Lessons in Local Entrepreneurship","Library Item","Michael Montgomery","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","February 3, 2018","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 20, no. 3 (Fall 2017)Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster: Lessons in Local Entrepreneurship by Virgil Henry Storr, Stefanie Haeffele-Balch, and Laura E. Grube, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015When a community is hit by a disaster, how can it recover? What choices of that community enhance (or hamper) revival? These are some of the interesting questions...","https://mises.org/library/community-revival-wake-disaster-lessons-local-entrepreneurship" "Against Trump's Tariffs","Wire","The Editors","","March 4, 2018","The Trump administration has announced it plans to raise taxes on Americans in the form of tariffs. On Thursday, the president promised steel and aluminum executives that he would protect them against foreign competition by levying tariffs on both metals in the coming weeks: 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. The effect of tariffs will be to impose a higher tax burden on Americans,...","https://mises.org/wire/against-trumps-tariffs-0" "How To Calculate the Money Supply","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","May 7, 2018","This interview was originally published in the March 2018 issue of the Lara-Murphy Report. Lara-Murphy Report: We ultimately want to ask you about the latest readings on the “true money supply” calculation, but before we do that, can you first explain to our readers why there are different concepts about “the money supply” in the first place? We don’t even mean what the Austrians say. Right now,...","https://mises.org/wire/how-calculate-money-supply" "The UN's Absurd Measure of US Poverty","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","June 26, 2018","The United Nations is at it again with yet another report on how bad poverty is in the United States — and how things would improve greatly if the US raised taxes. This time, the UN denunciation of the US has raised the ire of US ambassador Nikki Haley who has called the report ""patently ridiculous."" Specifically, Haley was responding to a June 18 report by UN bureaucrat Philip Alston. Alston...","https://mises.org/wire/uns-absurd-measure-us-poverty" "A BCT is not ABCT: A Rejoinder to Brian Simpson","Library Item","Shawn Ritenour","Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Institute Publications","July 11, 2018","Brian Simpson (2017) in responding to my lengthy review of his two volume Money, Banking, and the Business Cycle, provides a welcome opportunity to identify the main distinctions between Simpson’s business cycle theory and Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT). Simpson’s earnest pleas to the contrary, I nevertheless remain unmoved that he advances our understanding of ABCT. In his response,...","https://mises.org/library/bct-not-abct-rejoinder-brian-simpson" "La ""escalada de precios"" envía señales importantes sobre el riesgo","Wire","Justin Murray","","September 14, 2018","Con el huracán Florence tocando tierra en el este de los Estados Unidos, los informes usuales de los ""males"" de los precios del sector privado que sacuden a los pobres y desesperados en la zona del desastre tienden a surgir. Los argumentos económicos sobre por qué este problema reclamado realmente no es un problema se han cubierto ampliamente. Sin embargo, las leyes gubernamentales sobre el...","https://mises.org/node/44151" "La cansina campaña de Ebenezer Scrooge contra el “consumismo”","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 25, 2018","Aunque algunos capitalistas y defensores del mercado libre creen que Ebenezer Scrooge tiene mucho que enseñarnos acerca de una buena economía, a mí me parece desde hace mucho que es poco inspirador a este respecto. Por ejemplo, Scrooge demuestra una comprensión lamentablemente mala de la naturaleza subjetiva del valor y tampoco entiende el concepto de ganancias psicológicas. En la cabeza de...","https://mises.org/node/45204" "The Power of Mises's The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality","Wire","Andy Duncan","","January 26, 2019","Back in 1998, I was working in the filthy world of trade. I’d received this book from Mises.org one morning and had to wait until lunchtime before I could read it. I then sat in my car in a dreary supermarket car park and opened it up. It took less than an hour to get through. However, the clarity, the penetration, the directness, the sheer thrill of all those dense scales falling from my eyes...","https://mises.org/wire/power-misess-anti-capitalistic-mentality" "Philadelphia's Soda Tax Was a Win for Politicians, A Loss for Everyone Else","Power & Market","Daniel J. Mitchell","","January 29, 2019","I’ve periodically opined about why politicians should not try to control people’s behavior with discriminatory taxes, such as the ones being imposed on soda. And I’ve cited some examples of how these taxes backfire. The big drop in soda purchases after a tax on sugary drinks was imposed in Berkeley. The big drop in soda sales after a big tax on sugary products in Mexico. The big drop in soda...","https://mises.org/power-market/philadelphias-soda-tax-was-win-politicians-loss-everyone-else" "Study Shows Government Social Programs Create Dependence, Idleness","Power & Market","Daniel J. Mitchell","","February 11, 2019","When I write about Social Security, I normally focus on the program’s huge fiscal imbalance ($44 trillion and climbing). But it’s not just a fiscal crisis. Social Security is also an increasingly bad deal for workers. Especially minorities with lower average lifespans. When compared to what they would get from a private retirement system, people are paying in too much and getting out too little....","https://mises.org/power-market/study-shows-government-social-programs-create-dependence-idleness" "Misesian Insight: Cantillon Effects among Trading Nations","Wire","Carmen Elena Dorobăț","","March 28, 2019","[This article is Part 3 of a series. See Part 1 and Part 2.] Mises’s insight into the importance of Cantillon effects — which we discussed in detail in Part 2 — can help illuminate not only income and wealth inequalities among individuals, but also some of the reasons for the economic disparities among national economies around the globe. Most of the economics profession has argued for the past...","https://mises.org/wire/misesian-insight-cantillon-effects-among-trading-nations" "The Fed Has Given Up: Get Ready for More QE","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","March 21, 2019","The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to keep the federal funds rate unchanged. Overall, the FOMC signaled it has made a dovish turn away from the promised normalization of monetary policy which the Fed has promised will be implemented ""some day"" for a decade. Although the Fed began to slowly raise rates in late 2016 — after nearly a decade of near-...","https://mises.org/wire/fed-has-given-get-ready-more-qe" "Hoppe and the Art of Economic Controversy","Wire","Joseph T. Salerno","","March 29, 2019","[Presented at the ""Panel on the Significance of Hans Hermann-Hoppe"" at the 2019 Austrian Economics Research Conference.] I will recount a single episode which epitomizes Hans Hoppe’s singular approach to economic controversy. On May 14, 2009, a Mises Daily piece appeared by Hoppe entitled ""The Yield from Money Held’ Reconsidered"". It was the text of a lecture which had been presented as The Franz...","https://mises.org/wire/hoppe-and-art-economic-controversy" "Eric Mack on Libertarianism","Power & Market","David Gordon","","April 22, 2019","Libertarianism. By Eric Mack. Polity Press, 2018. Vi + 167 pages. + online bonus chapter http://politybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mack-Libertarian-FINAL-Online-Chapter-pdf.pdf Eric Mack, for many years a philosophy professor at Tulane University, has a well-deserved reputation as a critic of philosophical arguments, and that talent is on abundant display in Libertarianism. In what...","https://mises.org/power-market/eric-mack-libertarianism" "The Fed Fears Rising Market Interest Rates","Power & Market","Kristoffer Mousten Hansen","","June 24, 2019","Donald Trump has not had an easy, straight-forward relation with the Federal Reserve. He has both claimed to be a low-interest rate person and accused the Fed of keeping interest rates too low for political reasons. He has also expressed regret at appointing Jerome Powell and the White House has even explored the possibility of firing or demoting the Fed chairman . Apparently,...","https://mises.org/power-market/fed-fears-rising-market-interest-rates" "Homelessness and the Problem of Public Space","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","June 26, 2019","Last month, 82 percent of Denver voters voted down Initiative 300, which would have overturned the city ban on camping in public spaces. In other words, Initiative 300 sought to make it legal for homeless people to live in public parks, medians, greenbelts, and similar locations. Faced with the prospect of tent cities along every bike path and softball field, a lopsided majority of voters...","https://mises.org/wire/homelessness-and-problem-public-space" "Central Banks May Be Driving Us Toward More Waste, More Carbon Emissions","Wire","Gunther Schnabl, Tim Sepp","","December 10, 2019","Christine Lagarde, the new president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has added a new green dimension to monetary policymaking. The charming Frenchwoman signaled that the ECB could buy green bonds, possibly as part of the reanimated bond purchase program (a form of QE). This could reduce the financing costs of green investment projects. If interest rates were negative, the green bond purchases...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-may-be-driving-us-toward-more-waste-more-carbon-emissions" "Where's the Inflation? It's in Stocks, Real Estate, and Higher Ed","Wire","Ryan McMaken","","December 16, 2019","In my days before I worked for the Mises Institute, I had a colleague who knew I associated with Austrian school economists. In the wake of the bailouts and quantitative easing that followed the 2008 financial crisis, he'd sometimes crack, ""Where's all that inflation you Austrians keep talking about?"" But then, in the very same conversation, he'd remark with dismay on how much housing-price...","https://mises.org/wire/wheres-inflation-its-stocks-real-estate-and-higher-ed" "The Green Fatal Conceit: Why Physical Science Can’t Tell Us Proper Policy Goals","Wire","Robert P. Murphy","","February 19, 2020","The Committee on Energy and Commerce recently released more details of the so-called CLEAN Future Act, which “formally adopts the goal of achieving of a 100 percent clean economy by 2050.” Besides the manipulative name, the proposal (a) doesn’t even bother trying to justify its central goal and (b) includes a grab bag of proposals that progressive Democrats have always favored, regardless of...","https://mises.org/wire/green-fatal-conceit-why-physical-science-cant-tell-us-proper-policy-goals" "Don't Forget About the Trade War","Wire","Christopher P. Casey","","February 27, 2020","Before coronavirus and impeachment, the Sino-American trade war stubbornly remained on the mainstream news circuit while largely governing the direction of financial markets. With each rumor of concession or tweet of condemnation, stocks gyrated and bonds jittered. Each round of negotiation was matched by salvos of tariffs, export controls, lawsuits, complaints, declarations, and threats. At its...","https://mises.org/wire/dont-forget-about-trade-war" "How Government Spending Destroys Wealth","Wire","Frank Shostak","","March 2, 2020","The US budget had a deficit of $32.6 billion in January compared with a deficit of $13.3 billion in December and a surplus of $8.7 billion in January 2019. The yearly growth rate of government outlays rose by 22.2 percent in January from 7 percent in the month before and 6.7 percent in January of last year. The yearly growth rate of government revenues climbed to 9.5 percent last month from 7.4...","https://mises.org/wire/how-government-spending-destroys-wealth" "Money Pumping Won’t Fix What’s Wrong with the Economy","Wire","Frank Shostak","","May 2, 2020","To counter the likely severe side effects of the lockdowns on the economy—introduced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus—the Federal Reserve has embarked on massive expansion of its balance sheet. The size of the Fed’s assets jumped to $6.2 trillion in April this year from $3.9 trillion in April last year—an increase of 58.9 percent. In response to this pumping, the momentum of the money...","https://mises.org/wire/money-pumping-wont-fix-whats-wrong-economy" "How Government Spending Can Make the Debt Burden Look Smaller than It Really Is","Wire","Francesco Brunamonti","","May 7, 2020","In economics, numbers without context are often difficult to understand. The price of apples can only be understood when compared to the price of oranges, or to your salary, or to yesterday’s price. This is especially true with astronomically high numbers, such as $23 trillion. As of April 16, 2020, the US national debt1 stands at this amount. If we split it evenly among the working-age US...","https://mises.org/wire/how-government-spending-can-make-debt-burden-look-smaller-it-really" "After the Lockdowns, Government ""Fixes"" for the Economy Will Make Things Even Worse","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","June 20, 2020","While it is relatively easy to predict that the postcorona economy will suffer from high unemployment, the outlook for price inflation is not so certain. On the one hand, there will be high government deficits and more public debt; on the other hand, given the weak economy, consumers and companies may refrain from taking on new debt and could begin to lower their debt burden. Monetary Expansion...","https://mises.org/wire/after-lockdowns-government-fixes-economy-will-make-things-even-worse" "Who Profits from Militarizing the Police?","Wire","William D. Hartung","","August 3, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Ever since images of the police deploying armored vehicles against peaceful demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri, hit the national airwaves in 2014, the Pentagon’s program for supplying “surplus” military equipment to local police departments has been a news item. It’s also gotten intermittent attention in Congress and the executive branch....","https://mises.org/wire/who-profits-militarizing-police" "The True Costs of Zombie Companies and Easy Money","Wire","Ali Mecklai","","August 31, 2020","Recent data published by Yardeni Research Inc., Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Institute of International Finance (IIF), and in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Data (FRED) database offers an insight into the true extent of central banking practices before and during the covid-19 pandemic. The wide-ranging implications of this can be seen through several critical...","https://mises.org/wire/true-costs-zombie-companies-and-easy-money" "Massachusetts Is Back with More ""Right to Repair"" Nonsense","Wire","James Ketler","","November 2, 2020","Momentum behind the right-to-repair movement with its call to force manufacturers to make repair information open and accessible to consumers and independent repair shops has built up over the past decade. Right-to-repair laws have already passed in a number of states, always underlaid by the claim that manufacturers in every industry from automobiles to smartphones seek to hide and obfuscate...","https://mises.org/wire/massachusetts-back-more-right-repair-nonsense" "The United Nations and the Origins of ""The Great Reset""","Wire","Antony P. Mueller","","November 18, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. About twenty-four hundred years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato came up with the idea constructing the state and society according to an elaborate plan. Plato wanted “wise men” (philosophers) at the helm of the government, but he made it also clear that his kind of state would need a transformation of the humans. In modern times, the...","https://mises.org/wire/united-nations-and-origins-great-reset" "Greece Is Setting Itself Up for Another Financial Crisis","Wire","Antonis Giannakopoulos","","December 9, 2020","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. The Greek economy shrunk by a record 14 percent in the second quarter of 2020 while at the same time government efforts to ‘’cure’’ the economy have set the country on the road to cross the 200 percent debt-to-GDP ratio as the IMF forecasts. In the meantime, government budget deficits have reached new heights (around 7 percent). The...","https://mises.org/wire/greece-setting-itself-another-financial-crisis" "The Economics and Ethics of Government Default, Part II","Wire","Kristoffer Mousten Hansen","","March 2, 2021","Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. In the first installment of this series on government default, we examined the ethical status of the public debt and debt repudiation. Since the debt represents an unjust imposition on the taxpayers, we concluded that the moral thing to do would be to repudiate it and refuse to pay even one cent more to the state's creditors. In this...","https://mises.org/wire/economics-and-ethics-government-default-part-ii" "La tiranía de los expertos «ilustrados»","Wire","Gregory Gordon","","April 5, 2021","Si uno se pasea por cualquier barrio típico americano de renta media-alta en 2021, las probabilidades de que observe al menos un cartel en el jardín que proclame exuberantemente algo así son: «En esta casa, creemos que la ciencia es real, el amor es amor, ningún ser humano es ilegal...» y otras tautologías banales. Suele haber seis o siete ejemplos en esta letanía, pero en realidad, uno de los...","https://mises.org/node/54611" "When Measured by Real-World Outcomes, Capitalism Delivers","Wire","Lipton Matthews","","April 14, 2021","Nathan Robinson is an erudite socialist who frequently argues for the superiority of socialism over capitalism. He is the editor of Current Affairs and is the author of Why You Should Be a Socialist (All Points Books, 2019). He’s made quite a lucrative career out of pushing for socialism. More specifically, he argues that socialism outperforms markets by nearly every measure, most especially...","https://mises.org/wire/when-measured-real-world-outcomes-capitalism-delivers" "Printing Money Can't Replace Real Savings","Wire","Frank Shostak","","April 13, 2021","Between January 1970 and December 2020 on average changes in money supply preceded changes in real economic activity by fourteen months, as depicted by real gross domestic product (GDP). Based on this it is tempting to suggest that a strengthening in the growth rate of money supply will result in the strengthening of real economic growth. Conversely, a weakening in the growth rate of money supply...","https://mises.org/wire/printing-money-cant-replace-real-savings" "Central Banks See No Way out of the Low Interest Rate Trap","Wire","Thomas Mayer, Gunther Schnabl","","June 21, 2021","Since the 1980s, slower economic growth in the industrial countries has been accompanied by declining interest rates. They have even turned negative in more recent years. At the same time, investment, productivity, and real GDP growth all have slowed. Recession caused by lockdowns of the economy to fight the corona pandemic in 2020/21 has accelerated the demise of interest. Even as the world...","https://mises.org/wire/central-banks-see-no-way-out-low-interest-rate-trap" "People Change Their Minds. That Doesn't Make Them Irrational. ","Wire","Frank Shostak","","June 16, 2021","According to a relatively new field of economics called behavioral economics (BE), emotions play an important role in an individual’s decision-making process. On this the Nobel laureate Vernon Smith writes, People like to believe that good decision making is a consequence of the use of reason, and that any influence that the emotions might have is antithetical to good decisions. What is not...","https://mises.org/wire/people-change-their-minds-doesnt-make-them-irrational" "This Is How Savings and Investment Pave the Way for an Advanced Economy","Wire","Frank Shostak","","August 14, 2021","To maintain his life and well-being, an individual must have at his disposal an adequate amount of consumer goods. These goods, however, are not readily available. Without tools at his disposal and by means of his bare hands, the individual can onl