Monthly Archive: May 2025

“Our Marx”: The Great Herbert Spencer

2025-05-31

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2025-05-31

Herbert Spencer is best known for the term, “Social Darwinism,” but his writings on free markets and law remain brilliantly relevant today. While not included in the Pantheon of Austrian economists, nonetheless his work influenced Austrian scholars.

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The Southern Cause: What Led to Secession

2025-05-31

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2025-05-31

The simple narrative today of the southern secession in 1860 and 1861 is that the southern states believed that the institution of slavery was being threatened, so they left the union. However, the real causes are more complex and do not fit any preconceived narrative.

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June 2025 Monthly

2025-05-31

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2025-05-31

Navigating the global economy and managing capital market volatility has always posed challenges, but the uncertainties emanating from Washington make this task exceptionally treacherous. The so-called reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2 were postponed for 90 days just one week later, ostensibly to usher in a period of intensive negotiations. Yet a few weeks into …

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The Narratives Change. Markets Don’t.

2025-05-31

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2025-05-31

Inside This Week's Bull Bear Report A Successful Test Last week, we discussed how this seems to be an "unstoppable" bull market. However, that doesn't mean markets won't pause before attempting to move higher. As we noted last week, the consolidation was expected. "Even with Bessent's comments, that market remains overbought in the short term, …

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Bitcoin causes 98 million tonnes of CO2 per year

2025-05-31

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2025-05-31

The Bitcoin network currently has a carbon footprint more than twice as large as that of Switzerland. This is shown by figures from the crypto portal Digiconomist. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Calculated on an annual basis, the network of the popular cryptocurrency currently generates 98 million tonnes of CO2. …

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Impressed at Vicksburg

2025-05-31

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2025-05-31

Mark Thornton discusses a lesser-known factor in the American Civil War: the Confederate “impressment” policy and its impact at Vicksburg.

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The Tobacco Standard in Colonial America

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

MMT and chartalism claims that money is a creature of the state and is valued because of state action. The fact that tobacco acted as colonial money independently of the state demonstrates this to be false.

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Comrade Aristotle?

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

In today‘s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon looks back upon the ethical views of the late Alasdair MacIntyre. While praising MacIntyre‘s work, Dr. Gordon points out that he never abandoned his Marxist views of economics, making much of his philosophical thinking crucially deficient.

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On-Again Off-Again US Tariffs are Back

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

Overview: The on-again, off-again US tariffs are back on, but the judicial process is not over. On top of that, US Treasury Secretary Bessent acknowledged what many have suspected:  US-Chinese talks have stalled. The dollar, which was offered yesterday, has come back bid today. It is up against nearly all the G10 currencies. The yen …

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Ray Dalio Is Predicting A Financial Crisis…Again.

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

Ray Dalio, the former head of Bridgewater Associates, is back in the media, trying to stay relevant by claiming the "deficit has become critical." " “It’s like ... I’m a doctor, and I’m looking at the patient, and I’ve said, you’re having this accumulation, and I can tell you that this is very, very serious, and …

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Judges Trump Trump’s Tariffs

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

On Wednesday afternoon, the judges from the US Court of International Trade struck down some of President Trump's tariffs. Notably, the judge's actions included an injunction on the "Liberation Day" tariffs and specific tariffs targeting China, Mexico, and Canada. The court's three judges found that Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers …

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DOGE Disappointment, Keynesian Degeneracy, and Cutting Off Harvard

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

On Power & Market, the group looks at the political legacy of Elon Musk, the moral costs of Keynesianism, and the absurdity of Harvard and NPR as public goods.

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The Crucial Principle and Data At Stake in the SoHo Immigration Debate

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

Bob breaks down the recent Soho Forum immigration debate between Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh, clarifying the critical libertarian questions around property rights, open borders, and government authority.

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The Economics of Obamacare—Next Round

2025-05-30

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2025-05-30

Enrollment in government-subsidized “Obamacare” health insurance programs is expanding—and that is not a good thing. As more people place demands on the medical system, that system is increasingly unable to handle the growing demand.

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Did the Fed Achieve Independence During the Korean War?

2025-05-29

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2025-05-29

Rumor has it that the Federal Reserve was able to resist the president‘s demands to enable funding of the Korean War. However, a look at the record demonstrates conclusively that the Fed bowed to Harry Truman‘s wishes to do what it has done for a century: finance America‘s wars.

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The One Bloated Brobdingnagian Bill

2025-05-29

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2025-05-29

President Trump's so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill” is more of the same: big and bloated. It adds billions to the federal deficit and does nothing to deal with the government‘s ruinous debt. Naturally, the Republicans support it.

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The Immorality of Keynesian Economics

2025-05-29

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2025-05-29

Keynesian “economics” is not just wrong; its precepts are not just based upon fallacies but also on lies. Since Keynes self-described as an “immoralist,” we shouldn‘t be surprised that his economics is immoral, too.

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Ludwig von Mises on Peace and Social Cooperation

2025-05-29

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2025-05-29

The free market replaces the struggle for survival found in the animal world with social cooperation in which everybody benefits. Capitalism is a system of peace, not war.

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The “Magic Coin” and Renewing Interest in Monetary Policy

2025-05-29

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2025-05-29

David Brady, Jr. reviews Jonathan Newman's latest children‘s book that explains money in a way that even modern adults can understand.

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The “Magic Coin” and Renewing Interest in Monetary Policy

2025-05-29

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2025-05-29

David Brady, Jr. reviews The Magic Coin by Dr. Jonathan Newman, a children‘s book that explains money in a way that even modern adults can understand.

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