Category Archive: 6b.) Mises.org

Modern Portfolio Theory Is Mistaken: Diversification Is Not Investment

While the creator of modern portfolio theory was awarded a Nobel Prize, that doesn't mean the theory isn’t flawed. In fact, it explains very little about investments. Original Article: Modern Portfolio Theory Is Mistaken: Diversification Is Not Investment

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Jamaica Still Struggles Economically, But There Is Hope for the Future

Jamaica is a small island in the British West Indies, but despite its stature, this tiny nation has elicited the attention of global elites. In politics, Jamaica’s voting behavior at the United Nations is closely monitored by her neighbors in the Caribbean and the global community because she commands influence. Due to historical and cultural complexities, Jamaica is a magnet for academic research, and writing about the country has manifested into...

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The “Great Replacement” on the Frontier: When Anglo Immigrants Replaced Hispanics

The phrase "great replacement" has been increasingly thrown around by both conservatives and progressives in recent years. Conservatives claim the "great replacement theory" explains deliberate efforts by regime operatives to replace non-Hispanic whites with various groups of Hispanics and non-whites. Progressives, on the other hand, claim it is all a racist conspiracy theory.  I won't bore you with the details of the present...

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Yemen: The Forgotten Neoconservative-Supported War in the Middle East

In response to the Israeli assault on Gaza, the Houthis (Ansarallah) of Yemen have retaliated by launching at least six drone attacks directed at Israel and attacking Western ships passing through the Red Sea. By the looks of it, their attacks have been quite successful thus far: Israel’s Eilat port alone has seen an 85 percent drop in shipping activity. To the United States, these actions of resistance and support of the Palestinian cause only...

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The Problem with Open Borders

On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop discuss immigration. While many libertarians have adopted an absolutist open borders position on immigration, there are a number of other factors that should be considered. Ryan and Tho look at the case of small states and the issues raised by government intervention. "Why Open Borders Don't Work for Small Countries" by Ryan McMaken: Mises.org/RR_168_A "Mises on...

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Can an Easy Money Policy Increase Employment of “Idle Resources”?

Whenever an economy falls into a recession, many economists point out that the economic slump means there will be idle capital and labor. Resources that could be employed are now unemployed because the economic slump has softened aggregate demand for goods and services. So-called experts believe the government must increase the overall demand in the economy since stronger demand will permit idle resources to be employed again. Hence, many...

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History vs Economics: Explaining the Causes of the Great Depression

“Who controls the past now, controls the future. Who controls the present now, controls the past.” That is from “Testify,” a song by newly minted rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Famers Rage against the Machine. I don’t know if Phillip W. Magness of the American Institute for Economic Research is fan enough to be familiar with that, but I bet he knows the original source: George Orwell’s 1984. Whether or not it informed a recent study he coauthored is...

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The Establishment Is Unmasking Itself

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article laying out the political class’s struggle to preserve its legitimacy by fighting to regain control over the digital information space. The piece built on Martin Gurri’s thesis that the wide adoption of the internet has caused an information revolution that, similar to the adoption of the printing press, has allowed dissent to grow and spread beyond the control of the ruling classes. The results have been political...

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Immigration and Geopolitics: Should Latvia Have an Open Border with Russia?

In the debate over immigration among laissez-faire liberals and libertarians, one aspect of the open-borders side becomes quickly apparent: the debate generally ignores problems related to geopolitics such as international conflict, ethnic strife, and expansionist states. Rather, the libertarian advocates of open borders tend to focus overwhelmingly on why rich countries should open their borders to migrants from lower-income countries. These...

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Authorities in Jamaica Endorse Cancel Culture

Jamaicans are willing to accept authoritarian behavior from the state in the name of rejecting colonialism. Original Article: Authorities in Jamaica Endorse Cancel Culture

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The Economic Wisdom of Antony C. Sutton’s The War on Gold

Economist Antony C. Sutton understood one of the most fundamental economic truths: gold is money. Thorsten Polleit reviews Sutton’s classic book, The War on Gold. Original Article: The Economic Wisdom of Antony C. Sutton’s The War on Gold

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A Free and Open Internet Is a Threat to the Establishment

Using the rhetoric of “protecting democracy,” American ruling elites have tried to censor the internet because they don’t like the results of democracy when information no longer is filtered by the political classes. Original Article: A Free and Open Internet Is a Threat to the Establishment

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Government Prohibitions on Raw Milk Are Ignorant and Dangerous

Since government regulates nearly everything, it is not surprising that regulations often prohibit the sale and consumption of raw milk. Like many other regulations, these prohibitions reflect political favoritism, not health science. Original Article: Government Prohibitions on Raw Milk Are Ignorant and Dangerous

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America’s Fiat Money Gestapo: The Untold History of the Secret Service

There is an untold story in American monetary history. Some are reluctant even to discuss it. I’m referring to the US Secret Service’s very own role in the destruction of sound money in America. As constitutional, sound money in the form of physical gold and silver coins—whether minted privately or not—became an annoying impediment to expanding the size and power of the federal government, central planners began circulating unbacked paper proxies...

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Negative Leverage: The Fed’s Latest “Gift” to Apartment Investors

The Federal Reserve’s inflation of the money supply and interest rate manipulation distort capital markets through, among other things, the creation of asset bubbles. As the cost of borrowing decreases and cheap money floods an economy, speculation in capital markets increases, leading to prices unmoored from fundamentals. Underlying these asset bubbles is a certain investor psychology—one based on expectations, encouraged by Fed actions over the...

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Wonka: A Tale of Evil Businessmen and Cronyism

Wonka (2023) is a prequel film to the beloved story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Wonka tells the story of a young Willy Wonka, an up-and-coming chocolate salesman and magician, who challenges a chocolate cartel’s dominance. As one could imagine, the film is full of scenes that cast private enterprise in a negative light. The main villains are stereotypical movie businessmen who will do anything, even murder, to achieve their...

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Headline Math, Women’s Wages, and a Very Bad Deal in Higher Education

Headline math is a simple percentage expressed as a fact without context. Its design is to create an emotional response, support an opinion, or generate a click past the paywall. Once articulated, it exists in speech as a noun. W. Brian Arthur’s paper “Economics in Nouns and Verbs” explains the use of nouns to express a conclusion as fact, excluding further discussion. Student loan statistics for women are presented as facts, needing no further...

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It Began with Carl Menger: The Austrian Intellectual Triumph

Near the end of the nineteenth century, the European intellectual scene witnessed a remarkable theoretical contest known as the “battle of methods,” or in German, Methodenstreit. This intellectual clash stood out due to the confrontation between the precepts of methodological and subjective individualization, equipped with a subjectivist and individualizing worldview of the method. It was represented by figures such as Carl Menger (considered the...

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Do Destroyed Monuments Represent a Past Not Worth Defending?

Many cities and states in this country have been tearing down or destroying monuments because they represent part of a past that progressives and leftists believe should not have existed. Yet each time we tear down something, we potentially lose part of an important heritage. Original Article: Do Destroyed Monuments Represent a Past Not Worth Defending?

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Biden’s “AI Bill of Rights” May Just Be Another Censorship Plan

President Joe Biden is promoting his “AI Bill of Rights,” which looks to be an attempt to censor political opposition. Naturally, political and media elites are enthusiastically endorsing it. Original Article: Biden's ""AI Bill of Rights"" May Just Be Another Censorship Plan

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