Category Archive: 6b.) Mises.org

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Do Human Emotions Better Help Us Understand Economic Analysis?

2024-02-22

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2024-02-22

According to behavioral economics (BE), emotions play an important role in an individual’s decision-making process. For example, if consumers become more optimistic regarding the future, then this is going to send a message to businesses regarding investment decisions. According to BE followers, whether consumers are generally patient or impatient determines whether or not they are inclined to spend or save today. Behavioral economists emphasize...

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The Homo Economicus Myth

2024-02-22

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2024-02-22

Among the larger albatrosses burdening the economics profession is the idea of Homo economicus. To this day, most economics undergraduates hear about it in the context of neoclassical economics. Homo economicus, we are told, is the ideal economic man who always seeks to maximize profits and minimize costs. He only acts “rationally,” and rationalism is defined as, well, always seeking to maximize profits and minimize costs. Even worse, “profit” is...

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The Failure of Conservatism

2024-02-22

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2024-02-22

The Failure of American Conservatism and the Road Not TakenBy Claes G. RynRepublic Book Publishers, 2023; 468 pp. Claes Ryn, a leading conservative intellectual who taught politics for many years at the Catholic University of America, is by no means a libertarian, but readers of The Misesian can learn much from this book. I’d like to discuss two topics: first, the criticism of Harry Jaffa and his mentor, Leo Strauss; and second, the full-scale...

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The Last Conservative

2024-02-22

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2024-02-22

Milton Friedman: The Last ConservativeBy Jennifer BurnsFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023; x + 587 pp. Imagine that you come across this about the “education premium” on someone’s blog: “By going to college, you are more than tripling your chances for success in after life.” The statement is buttressed by a calculation of the extra lifetime earnings that a college degree will provide. Wouldn’t you think that the author is an economist? In fact, the...

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From the Editor—January/February 2024

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

Welcome to the first issue of The Misesian. We’ve decided to rename The Austrian magazine The Misesian to emphasize how Ludwig von Mises remains at the center of everything that that is today called the Austrian School of economics. When the Mises Institute was founded more than forty years ago, most of our supporters were directly connected to Mises. First and foremost was Mises’s widow, Margit, whose tireless work in preserving Mises’s legacy...

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Understanding the True Meaning of Charity

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

The Misesian (TM): The economics behind gift giving and charity have long been a neglected topic among researchers and economists. What prompted you to launch your own investigation into the topic? Jörg Guido Hülsmann (JGH): The economic literature on gifts is actually quite massive, but it’s true that these writings don’t make it into standard micro- and macroeconomics. My initial interest was sparked by Benedict XVI’s 2009 encyclical letter...

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The Importance of Hülsmann’s Groundbreaking book Abundance, Generosity, and the State

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

Guido Hülsmann’s Abundance, Generosity, and the State provides readers with an explanation of the nature and causes of gratuitous goods. Hülsmann demonstrates how free markets are infused with both intentional and unintentional gratuity, and how the repressive and permissive interventions of the modern state lead to their destruction. This work is desperately needed and represents a remarkable achievement by one of the Austrian School’s leading...

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The Death of Easy Money Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

Reports on the death of the present cycle of politically motivated monetary easing, in the words of Mark Twain, grossly exaggerated. Contemporary market analyses are full of how the Fed and ECB are dialing back on previous hints of Spring 2024 rate cuts. In tune with this, commentators are lauding the central banks, especially the Fed, for a show of political independence as elections approach. The bigger picture though suggests otherwise. In the...

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Living Free in an Unfree World

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

The State knows no limits when it comes to intervening in the economy and our lives. From the value of our hard-earned income to the flow of water in our showerheads, nothing is out of reach for meddling bureaucrats. Ludwig von Mises explained, "The ultimate basis of an all around bureaucratic system is violence." Yet we advocate and hope for a world of peaceful cooperation and flourishing markets.  It's doubtful that politics holds all...

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The Outrageous Persecution of Julian Assange

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

Today marks the second and final day in what could very well be Julian Assange’s last extradition trial in front of the British High Court. For almost five years now, the United States government has been working to get the Wikileaks founder extradited to the US to face charges that he violated the Espionage Act. Inspired by Daniel Ellsberg’s release of the Pentagon Papers back in 1971, Julian Assange founded Wikileaks in 2006. Assange’s vision was...

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The Right Is Wrong to Pursue Term Limits

2024-02-21

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2024-02-21

Americans across the board have routinely spoken for term limits. Recently, however, this has been most common among Republican politicians. On January 29, Ron DeSantis announced his legislative priorities over social media as he found himself no longer focused on a presidential campaign, and his very first item on the list was enforcing term limits. Additionally, perhaps the most right-wing politician in America, Anthony Sabatini, routinely calls...

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Forget Being the World’s Policeman; the Federal Government Can’t Even Keep DC Safe

2024-02-20

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2024-02-20

While US taxpayers pay billions for military missions around the world in the name of “keeping us safe,” the federal government fails to keep residents of the nation’s capital safe from violent crime. Original Article: Forget Being the World's Policeman; the Federal Government Can't Even Keep DC Safe

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How Carl Menger and the Austrians Helped to Steer Economic Theory in the Right Direction

2024-02-20

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2024-02-20

When Adam Smith and the English classicals promoted division of labor as the most important ingredient in economic development, it took Carl Menger and his Austrian successors to point out that error and promote the proper economic theory of production. Original Article: How Carl Menger and the Austrians Helped to Steer Economic Theory in the Right Direction

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Social Insecurity: It’s Not Wrong to be Concerned about Facts

2024-02-20

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2024-02-20

Social Security is headed for reduced benefits, and no amount of political rhetoric or even tax increases will solve that problem. The numbers do not lie. Original Article: Social Insecurity: It’s Not Wrong to be Concerned about Facts

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Why Americans Do Not See a Strong Economy

2024-02-20

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2024-02-20

The euphoria with the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure makes no sense. The headline champions say that real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Bureau of Economic Statistics (BES). An increase in real GDP of $1.5 trillion with an increase in public debt of more than $2 trillion is not a strong economy. It is a bloated economy. Furthermore, there is nothing positive in consumption...

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No, “Science” Has Not Proven Mises Wrong on Socialism

2024-02-20

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2024-02-20

In response to the many shortcomings of the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong’s China, and Venezuela, the refrain, “It wasn’t real socialism,” has emerged as a rallying cry among apologists of socialism. Some readily admit the failures of these regimes and attribute the failures to capitalism rather than socialism. Some refuse to recognize the failure whatsoever; they see these experiments as genuine instances of “real socialism” and perceive them to be...

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The Awesome Verbal Punching Power of Thomas Paine

2024-02-20

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2024-02-20

Most public-school graduates have heard that Thomas Paine wrote something that convinced the colonies to declare their independence—though if they’re older than twenty-one their memory probably needs jogging. A few can even name what he wrote: Common Sense. And some can even incorrectly attribute a famous line to that pamphlet: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” With rare exceptions, most people don’t give a whit about Paine or what he...

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Hyperinflation and the Destruction of Human Personality

2024-02-19

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2024-02-19

Includes an introduction by Tho Bishop. Recorded in Tampa, Florida, on February 17, 2024. Special thanks to Liberty Villages and the Shrader family for sponsoring this event.

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The Redistributive Effects on Monetary Policy

2024-02-19

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2024-02-19

Recorded in Tampa, Florida, on February 17, 2024. Special thanks to Liberty Villages and the Shrader family for sponsoring this event.

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Who Benefits from Inflation?

2024-02-19

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2024-02-19

Recorded in Tampa, Florida, on February 17, 2024. Special thanks to Liberty Villages and the Shrader family for sponsoring this event.

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