Ryan McMaken makes a convincing case on Mises Wire for abolishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). But DHS is not the only executive branch cabinet department that has been occasionally mentioned as a candidate for elimination. Aside from the US cabinet departments of State, Treasury, and Defense that date back to the earliest years of the nation, the names of other departments—Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs—do not typically roll off the tips of Americans’ tongues. Many of these departments and agencies could easily be considered candidates for elimination or consolidation.One embarrassingly unforgettable example of a proposed cabinet

A quick internet search for “climate anxiety,” which is also often referred to as “eco-anxiety,” “eco-grief,” or “climate doom,” produces numerous links to the psychological and psychiatric literature on the topic. The Program on Climate Change Communication within the Yale School of the Environment appears to be a major contributor to this research. Mental health professionals and mass trauma researchers report seeing more patients with symptoms of this anxiety, but they’re not always sure how to treat it.Climate Anxiety Isn’t a Medical DiagnosisReputable medical establishments such as the Cleveland Clinic clarify that, although this psychological condition isn’t a medical diagnosis, it is a commonly-accepted popular term used to describe a collection of symptoms triggered by long-term

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Kamala Harris on November 5, millions of American women—especially those of Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, currently aged from 12 to 27—are despondent and dismayed that Democrats’ campaign focus on abortion policy did not convince more voters to choose Harris. They are convinced that their “my body, my choice” freedom has been stolen from them by the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and that they may now be unable to obtain abortion on-demand everywhere across the nation.The Democrats’ crude, single-theme campaign focus on abortion completely ignored the reality that the Dobbs decision relegated abortion policy back to the fifty states—where it had historically resided—and that

There is plenty of commentary today about continuing large annual US federal budget deficits and the large federal debt that keeps mounting as a result of these relentless deficits. The budget deficit for federal fiscal year 2024 clocked in at $1.8 trillion, representing about 5 percent of US GDP, and the federal debt is now $35.5 trillion, approximately 100 percent of GDP.The Congressional Budget Office projects that annual budget deficits and the outstanding debt are on a trajectory to rise further into the indefinite future at current taxation and spending levels. The US Congress has the “power of the purse,” representing its constituents and designated by the Constitution as the body responsible for legislation governing federal taxation and spending.Americans’ Dependence on Transfer

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

Seemingly defying logic and common sense, many fashionistas vie to pay $12,000 (and even up to as much as $100,000 for versions made of exotic skins such as snake or alligator), for a women’s leather purse known as the “Birkin bag.” Handmade by the French firm Hermes, and named after British pop star Jane Birkin, who popularized the bag several decades ago, these bags today grace the arms of celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian.Anna Shnaidman nicely explains this backstory in her Mises Wire contribution “The Secret Economic Theory Behind the $100,000 Birkin Bag.” As she explains, both Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises revealed why prices of highly desirable products like Birkin bags can reach such lofty levels.Not only do Birkin bags fetch these initial prices, but over

Immigration, particularly by illegal aliens at the southern US border, is a contentious issue in 21st century America. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has expressed concern about immigration’s probable impact on the unemployment rate. Homebuyers and renters are concerned about its impact on house prices and rents. Law enforcement questions its impact on crime rates. School districts are concerned about increased immigrant student enrollment and their academic progress. And Americans generally are concerned about immigration-related issues such as birthright citizenship and immigrant assimilation into the nation’s culture.Now comes a lawsuit contending that President Biden’s immigration executive orders, signed on his first day in office in 2021, violated the provisions of the

Immigration, particularly by illegal aliens at the southern US border, is a contentious issue in 21st century America. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has expressed concern about immigration’s probable impact on the unemployment rate. Homebuyers and renters are concerned about its impact on house prices and rents. Law enforcement questions its impact on crime rates. School districts are concerned about increased immigrant student enrollment and their academic progress. And Americans generally are concerned about immigration-related issues such as birthright citizenship and immigrant assimilation into the nation’s culture.Now comes a lawsuit contending that President Biden’s immigration executive orders, signed on his first day in office in 2021, violated the provisions of the

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

P.T. Barnum purportedly proclaimed that “There’s a sucker born every minute”, though there is no proof that he actually said it. Whether true in Barnum’s time or in today’s social-media era, however, the phrase describes those gullible enough to believe anything, even when their better judgment (if they possess any of that) tells them otherwise.Now comes a story about TikTok, where 40 percent of young adults get their news these days. Recent news sources report TikTok videos portraying people believing they could get “free” cash from Chase Bank ATMs. These videos showed people depositing checks for large sums of money at Chase ATMs, and then making withdrawals for smaller yet substantial amounts, leading them to believe they had discovered a computer glitch to take advantage of. One video

P.T. Barnum purportedly proclaimed that “There’s a sucker born every minute”, though there is no proof that he actually said it. Whether true in Barnum’s time or in today’s social-media era, however, the phrase describes those gullible enough to believe anything, even when their better judgment (if they possess any of that) tells them otherwise.Now comes a story about TikTok, where 40 percent of young adults get their news these days. Recent news sources report TikTok videos portraying people believing they could get “free” cash from Chase Bank ATMs. These videos showed people depositing checks for large sums of money at Chase ATMs, and then making withdrawals for smaller yet substantial amounts, leading them to believe they had discovered a computer glitch to take advantage of. One video

Disclaimer: The following is a parody of a “leaked” transcript of a recent telephone conversation between Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.Powell (answering phone): Powell here.Yellen: Jay, how you doing, Janet here, been meaning to call you one of these days.Powell: What’s on your mind over there at Treasury?Yellen: Well, I see that you’re lowering interest rates, so I just wanted to tell you that’s great news for us over here at Treasury. We’re always looking for ways to save money, what with all this debt we’re trying to manage and pay interest on. When I was in your job, we were able to keep interest rates historically low, barely above zero, and no one much talked about the size of the federal debt or paying interest on it. Now it’s

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

The phrase “Paper or plastic?” became part of the language after states and localities, beginning near the mid-2010s, began banning single-use plastic bags. San Francisco was the first US city to ban plastic bags completely, passing an ordinance in 2007. But elsewhere before that, Bangladesh had become the first country in the world to ban plastic bags in 2002, because thin bags there were clogging drains and causing floods.In 2014, California—with Senate Bill SB 270—was the first US state to implement a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags distributed at point of sale in grocery and other stores, and a requirement that stores sell more substantial reusable plastic bags made of recycled content or recycled paper bags, for which customers are charged ten cents each. Single-Use Plastic

Conventional wisdom has it that the Federal Reserve system (the “Fed”) and the US Treasury Department are two separate entities. Congress created the Fed in 1913 as a legally and financially independent federal agency, privately owned by its member banks, with no funding from the federal budget. The US Treasury, on the other hand, is an Executive-branch cabinet-level department reporting directly to the President, with funding appropriated in the federal budget.Conventional wisdom also tells us that the Fed’s monetary policy (managing the money supply and interest rates, directed by the Fed’s Chair and Board of Governors) is separate from Treasury’s fiscal policy (collecting taxes and implementing federal spending) at the behest of Congress and the Executive branch).The modern-day

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

No American politician running for office wants to talk about taxes—unless, of course, it’s to promise a tax cut. No Misesian views taxes with anything but suspicion, and Mises himself held some principled views on taxes: Taxes are necessary.

Imagine an American college or university president making the following public statement:“I regret that my institution, along with many others, has contributed to burdensome federal student loan debt and to rising college tuition levels, allowing our institutions to profit from the existence of student loan monies. At the same time, we have failed to offer our students adequate skills and knowledge required to compete in today’s world.”If collegiate presidents struggled with questions about antisemitism on their campuses — as they did during recent Congressional testimony — they would surely be unable to speak frankly on student loan burdens, high and rising tuition levels, institutional profiteering from student loans, and whether students benefit academically from attending college.But

Since the 1930s New Deal and the 1960s Great Society, the US federal budget has shifted from providing pubic goods to distributing transfers (in the form of both spending and lending) to favored groups, a continually metastasizing shift that has now created a federal budgetary and debt crisis. It has also allowed politicians to perfect the fine art of buying votes by awarding federal transfers to select voter groups as a means to winning elections.What are Public Goods and Who Pays for Them?Genuine “public goods” are those that are simultaneously “non-excludable” (available to all), and are “non-rival” (can be enjoyed over and over again by anyone without diminishing the benefits they deliver to others). Examples include national defense, police protection and enforcement of property

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

Americans’ daily lives are governed by both laws and regulations, the former enacted by Congress and the latter issued by the numerous regulatory agencies in the federal government’s executive branch. These agencies are collectively known as the administration state, the deep state, or pejoratively, “the swamp.”Few Americans realize the extent of federal regulations and the costs they impose on everyone. The United States Constitution makes no mention of regulatory agencies, nor did the Founders ever anticipate the growth of what might be considered the fourth branch of the federal government.Regulatory growth, moreover, has flourished with major bursts of government statutory expansion during the 1930s’ New Deal, 1960s’ Great Society, mid-2000s’ financial crisis, and the early 2020s’

Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1960), an Austrian political economist who emigrated to the United States in 1932 to become a professor at Harvard University, is known for his theories on business cycles and entrepreneurship.He is perhaps best known for advancing the concept of “creative destruction,” which he defined as the natural process of business firms failing at some point, freeing up resources (land, labor, and capital) that can then become more productive in some other use under different management who can bring innovation to manufacturing processes.Creative Destruction in US Higher EducationToday, Schumpeter’s creative destruction occurs in real time among start-up firms in many industries, especially technology. The phenomenon is not confined to technology, however, but applies widely

One hears little today of the US “twin deficits,” a phrase familiar during the 1980s when the US had consistently run both federal budget deficits and international trade deficits. Economists hypothesized at that time that there was a theoretical and/or empirical relationship assuring the two deficits’ increasing or decreasing together.How Do Federal Budget Deficits Arise?Annual federal budget deficits exist whenever federal spending exceeds annual tax revenue. The US has consistently run these deficits in most of the postwar period, except during the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Fiscal year 2001 was the last time the US federal budget was in surplus.The fiscal year 2023 budget deficit was $1.7 trillion, with tax revenue at $4.4 trillion and federal spending at $6.1 trillion. The

Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito

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Banks are highly regulated businesses, as expected of entities to which we entrust our money, and from which we may expect to borrow someday to buy a home or start a business. Bankers interact with regulators daily. Investors wishing to establish a bank must first obtain capital pledges from future shareowners and apply for a bank charter from either federal or state government regulators. Once in business, a bank is overseen by one or more of the following state and federal regulators: a state banking commission if a state-chartered bank, Office of the Controller of the Currency if federally-chartered, the Federal Reserve if a member of that system and/or a one-bank holding company, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) if a credit union, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Utility bills—for electricity, natural gas, water, and garbage—have by long-standing tradition been based on customer usage, measured in kilowatt-hours of electricity, therms or Btu of natural gas, hundred cubic feet of water, or number of garbage cans. Every residence and business has electric, gas, and water meters that measure utility usage.But changes are afoot in the utility business as federal and state governments urge Americans to convert from fossil fuels to electricity for home heating, appliances, and transportation. From this transition will undoubtedly follow changes in utility rate-setting models.Fixed Fees Coupled with Usage-Based Electricity RatesSome electric utilities currently charge customers a flat, fixed fee as well as usage-based charges, both on the same monthly

The Federal Reserve system, including its twelve regional district banks that issue our US currency, is a creature of Congress, which passed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 to create our central bank. The Fed is neither part of the executive branch of the federal government, nor is it an independent federal agency within the government, although members of the Fed’s Board of Governors are appointed by the Presidential and confirmed by Congress.The Fed’s unique independence has two features: 1) the regional Federal Reserve district banks are privately owned by their member commercial banks, and 2) the FR system receives no funding through the federal government budget. Thus, the Fed is arguably the most independent of the world’s central banks, a uniquely designed US institution.The basis

President Biden needs an economics lesson. Demonstrating his ignorance of economics, his recent State of the Union speech regaled us with a laundry list of legal business pricing strategies that he wants to see restricted or banned by federal agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

Stephen Anderson, in his Mises Wire essays of February 1 (“Are Bankruptcies of Some US States in the Future?”) and February 23 (“US States Have a Long History of Defaulting”), worries that some US states may be on the precipice of bankruptcy.

US fiscal realities are well known. Total federal debt outstanding has now reached $34 trillion, up from $98 billion in 1981, $5.67 trillion in 2000, $13.56 trillion in 2010, and $26.95 trillion in 2020. And at 120 percent of the US economy’s productive capacity (gross domestic product), the federal debt matches that at the end of World War II.
That $34 trillion, when spelled out, is the number thirty-four followed by twelve (count ’em) zeros separated by four commas. So it looks like this, a lot of digits and commas for the human brain to comprehend: $34,000,000,000,000.
These official debt figures do not even include the large unfunded liabilities inherent in the largest federal entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid, and several others that comprise about

Whenever governing elites create a new crisis, they insist that “we’re all in this together.” It’s time to ignore their lies altogether.
Original Article: Are We Really All in This Together?

Race-based affirmative action began with President John Kennedy’s 1961 creation of a Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC). Following that, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Then in 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 that prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin by organizations that received federal contracts. 
In what is considered the first legal challenge to race-based affirmative action policies in university admissions, Defunis v. Odegaard reached the Supreme Court in 1974. The plaintiff was a Sephardic Jew who had been rejected by the University of Washington law school while the school admitted racial minorities with inferior credentials. The Court ruled the case moot because the law

There is a lack of buyers for US Treasury debt. Rating agencies have recently downgraded the US debt, and entitlement benefits’ “trust funds” will go into the red in a few years. The classical economists offer few answers to the depth of this problem. 
Original Article: Can Classical Economics Explain the Approaching Fiscal Disaster?

Acronyms—LOL, PIN, ASAP, CAPTCHA, RADAR, LASAR, SCUBA, and others that combine the initial letters of other words, the whole being pronounced as a single word—have become part of the English language. Let’s coin another one: WAITT (no, that’s not a misspelling of WAIT), an acronym for “We’re All in This Together.”
The five-word phrase itself appeared in the early weeks of the pandemic that began in early 2020. Although the pandemic has officially ended—at least until the next contagious bug may arrive on our shores—some Americans still behave as if it continues, and WAITT may lurk somewhere in the weeds awaiting its resurgence. If you have never seen or heard it before, just wait as it may reappear at some point.
As a double-edged relic that may appear appealing at first blush, the WAITT

Today’s US fiscal predicament includes unprecedentedly high federal spending financed by inadequate tax revenue and high federal budget deficits. There is a lack of sufficient buyers of US Treasury debt. Rating agencies have recently downgraded the US debt, and entitlement benefits are forecast to outstrip their trust funds in a few years. How might a nineteenth-century English economist be relevant to this predicament?
Might this fiscal predicament be resolved naturally by rational consumers following their own instincts, thus precluding mandated top-down austerity or other harsh measures? Does our constitutional structure allow sufficient legislative and executive branch compromise to improve our fiscal trajectory? Or perhaps the only resolution is a bipartisan fiscal commission to

Like every other government program designed to make something “more affordable,” the student loan program has managed to drive college tuition to atmospheric levels and saddle students with massive levels of debt.
Original Article: Federal Student Loans Drive Up College Tuition Levels

Mises Wire contributor Kevin Van Elswyk, in his November 29 article “Student Loans: The Continuing Crisis That Is Getting Worse,” nicely summarizes the current confusion and scandal of federal student loan programs, which at this point appear a miasma that will likely turn into an outright student grant program as more and more of these loan balances are forgiven.
It is most unfortunate that the US government, with good intentions to increase college attendance, ever became mired in this student loan morass. The effort originally began in the 1960s when economists observed that college graduates typically earn higher lifetime incomes than those who ended their formal education with high school. Thus Congress included in the Higher Education Act of 1965 a federal policy to encourage as many

Today, the Fed takes a short break from robbing us via inflation and, instead, delivers huge amounts of cash to banks to service Black Friday purchases. The large cash infusions often make banks vulnerable to robberies.
Original Article: Today Is the Best Day of the Year to Rob a Bank

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her friends had to worry about wild animals and wicked witches. Today, Americans face a much more formidable foe: their own free-spending government.
Original Article: Millions and Billions and Trillions—Oh My!

Dorothy and her companions in the movie The Wizard of Oz feared lions and tigers and bears as they journeyed through the woods to visit the wizard. But real people living today might fear frighteningly large numbers more than large wild animals.
We live today with some very large numbers that contain many zeros and commas, figures so large that the human brain can barely comprehend them. With so many zeros to count, it is often easier to express these figures simply in words, such as a billion or a trillion. But expressing them with their many zeros and commas more aptly conveys their enormity.
How Much Is a Million?
We used to think that a million dollars was a very large sum of money. Now, depending on the context, it seems that a million dollars is chicken feed or a rounding error, and

The new problem we now face arises from the fact that huge deficits are only manageable so long as interest rates remain very, very low. 
Original Article: The Federal Reserve is Running Losses. Does This Cost Anyone Anything?

Depression-era bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks, replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” By “money,” he meant United States currency. He never indicated how he scheduled his robberies, but some days of the year may be more profitable for bank robberies than others.
Disclaimer: Neither I nor the Mises Wire in any way endorses bank robbery, which is a federal crime.
First, here are some facts about US “folding money,” Federal Reserve notes in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. The Fed no longer issues $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills, but they are still legal tender and may still be in circulation.
This currency is printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing division of the US Treasury, then supplied to Federal Reserve banks for

Financial statements of the US Federal Reserve, which consists of the board of governors in Washington and twelve district reserve banks across the country, indicate that the consolidated system has generated both capital and operating losses for the past couple of years. The Fed was created in 1913 to issue and circulate an “elastic currency” that could respond to consumers’ demand for cash, end bank runs known then as “money panics,” and serve as a “lender of last resort” to the nation’s commercial banks. How is it possible that the Fed could be losing money after one hundred years of operation?
The debate has raged in the banking and finance communities. Two investigators, Paul Kupiec at the American Enterprise Institute and Alex Pollock at the Mises Institute, have analyzed Fed

Residential electricity sources are becoming yet another form of “virtue signaling.”
Original Article: Can Electricity Providers Promise 100 Percent Green Energy? Probably Not.

We expect the lights to come on when we flip a switch, unconcerned with how the electricity is produced or how it reaches our homes. We are aware of telephone poles, wires overhead, and transmission towers, solar panels, and windmills across the countryside. But as long as we pay our electric bills, we trust electric utilities to provide our power somehow.
Who produces the electricity we use? Where does it come from? How does it reach us when we flip that light switch? And is electricity as “green” as we are often told it is?
Residential and business electric customers across the country are served by three different types of energy providers: the traditional monopoly known as an investor-owned utility (IOU), the public power utility owned by a municipality, and the community choice

Climate alarmism dominates the news cycle, but perhaps people be more alarmed by massive federal budget deficits and runaway entitlement spending.

Original Article: It’s Time for Some Debt and Entitlement Alarmism

Polls consistently show that climate change is a leading issue for young Americans. Millennials and Generation Z have been coached on climate arguments—and in most cases outright climate alarmism—in school and by the media, leaving them convinced that carbon-based energy has ruined their future on the planet.
It appears that children are being organized to advance adults’ political goals. Greta from Sweden addresses the United Nations, apparently coached by her parents and other adults, scolding us “How dare you” for allowing the planet to burn up in a few years. Twenty-somethings glue their hands to valuable works of art in major museums to protest the use of fossil fuels.
Young plaintiffs in Montana won a lawsuit claiming that the state has failed to uphold its constitutional