Category Archive: 6b.) Mises.org

Taking Notes out of Rothbard’s Taiwan Playbook

Writing pseudonymously in a series of articles for Faith and Freedom in the 1950s, Murray Rothbard took on the question of whether or not the United States should defend Formosa (Taiwan) from attack by mainland China. While his conclusions will surprise no one familiar with his work (that war is the health of the state, that individuals concerned with the fate of Taiwan should do as they will privately, but that their lives and property are not for...

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Washington Has No Moral Authority to Ban Guns

Another mass shooting, another call for gun control. However, when it comes to mass killings, Washington sets the sorry example. Original Article: "Washington Has No Moral Authority to Ban Guns"

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Committing Domestic Violence against Men . . . Just for a Giggle

Decades ago, Hollywood brought the neglected problem of domestic violence (DV) against women into the spotlight and helped to create cultural change. Today, Hollywood encourages people to dismiss or laugh at the neglected problem of DV against men. After all, the man must have had it coming; either that or he is too weak to stand up for himself and so deserves no sympathy. A general acceptance of women beating up men continues. A recent episode...

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Shedding Light on the Law of Unintended Consequences

It is the right of the consumer, not the regime, to determine what lighting sources work best for them. Original Article: "Shedding Light on the Law of Unintended Consequences"

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The Drug War: An Irrational Crusade

It’s been over five decades since the war on drugs began in the United States, and billions of dollars coerced from taxpayers have been spent on this frivolous operation. The General Accounting Office’s report found that the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program did not deter youth from drug abuse. How exactly has this war benefited taxpayers when drug use has increased, and more potent drugs are being consumed? Even the diabolical Charles...

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Is Social Justice Just? A Review

Modern Western culture is dominated by demands for "social justice." But how does one even define this term, and does social justice even produce justice in the end? Original Article: "Is Social Justice Just? A Review"

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The Dominion Lawsuit against Fox News Is Part of the War against Free Speech

Taxpayer-funded company Dominion is suing private parties for saying things the company doesn't like. These lawsuits illustrate how defamation laws can be used to destroy free speech. Original Article: "The Dominion Lawsuit against Fox News Is Part of the War against Free Speech"

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Will a New BRICS Currency Change Anything? Maybe

As the US government debases the dollar, other nations take notice and possibilities increase that another currency based on sound principles might emerge. Original Article: "Will a New BRICS Currency Change Anything? Maybe"

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Dividing the Housing Market

In this week's episode, Mark explains why the market for existing homes has been diverging from the market for new houses. The Fed ZIRP, QE and Covid bailouts have locked Americans into their mortgages and low payments, reducing the supply of existing homes. This keeps them off the market and home prices high in an economy that is headed for a recession or crisis. Buyers have been diverted to newly constructed homes where builders have more...

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Rothbard: Essentials of Money and Inflation

Money is a crucial command post of any economy, and therefore of any society. Society rests upon a network of voluntary exchanges, also known as the “free-market economy”; these exchanges imply a division of labor in society, in which producers of eggs, nails, horses, lumber, and immaterial services such as teaching, medical care, and concerts, exchange their goods for the goods of others. At each step of the way, every participant in exchange...

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Crowding Out: The Fed May Be Killing the Private Sector to Save the Government

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet reached its all-time high in May 2022. Since then, it was supposed to drop at a steady pace and shed three trillion US dollars by 2024. The normalization of monetary policy was built on the idea of a soft landing for the economy. However, the Fed may be killing the private sector to save the government. Curbing inflation requires a significant reduction in the money supply and aggregate demand. However, if...

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The Five Stages of Bank Failure Grief

The talking heads on financial TV ask everyday where we are in the banking crisis. Is it over yet? After scooping up First Republic, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon said, “This part of the crisis is over.” After he said that, however, the shares of regional banks such as PacWest, Zions, and Western Alliance were cut in half. The market doesn’t believe Mr. Dimon. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression,...

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Thanks to Sanctions, The US Is Losing Its Grip on the Middle East

On Friday, members of the Arab League welcomed the Syrian regime back to the organization. Representatives from several Arab member states shook Syrian leader Assad's hand and gave him, a "warm" reception according to several news outlets. Syria was suspended from the league in 2011, but on May 7 in Cairo the league agreed to reinstate the Assad regime.  This represents a reversal from years of isolation placed on the regime, and a break...

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You Don’t Like It? Leave! The Telling Sophistry of Tax Apologists

Contrary to the worldview of progressives, taxation and the coercion it brings are not part of a "social contract." Instead, they are implemented by force. Original Article: "You Don’t Like It? Leave! The Telling Sophistry of Tax Apologists"

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Government Redistribution Is the REAL Trickle-Down Economics

On April 6, 2023, President Joe Biden’s Twitter account sent the following message: “Trickle-down economics doesn’t work.” Trickle-down economics is a phrase that is often thrown around negatively to ridicule those who believe that the free-market system is the best way to regulate the economy. “Trickle-down theory” was never coined by economists, and the term has two possible origins, both of which were meant to discredit those who wanted less...

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There’s No Place like Noam

Illegitimate Authority: Facing the Challenges of Our Timeby Noam Chomsky, edited by C.J. PolychroniouHaymarket Books, 2023; x + 330 pp. Noam Chomsky is universally respected for his contributions to linguistics and to the philosophy of mind, but he is a “public intellectual” as well, and it is in the public arena that opinion about him is divided. Illegitimate Authority is a collection of thirty-four interviews of him by C.J. Polychroniou, the...

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Durham Report Exposes the FBI

Veteran investigative journalist James Bovard joins Ryan and Tho to talk about the Durham Report and what it tells us about the media and the FBI. [embedded content] New Radio Rothbard mugs are now available at the Mises Store. Get yours at Mises.org/RothMug  PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off Recommended Reading "Durham proves that Hillary and the FBI tried to rig the 2016 election" by Jim Bovard (New York...

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Remembering the Contributions of Lucas and Alchian

Bob originally invited Brian Albrecht (Chief Economist of the International Center for Law & Economics) to discuss the work of Armen Alchian, but on the day of recording, Robert Lucas happened to die. Bob and Brian discuss rational expectations, real business cycle theory, and how Alchian cracked the military's top secrets. Brian on Alchian's famous "Costs and Outputs" paper: Mises.org/HAP396a [embedded content]

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Libertarian Law by Democratic Means: The Power of Ideologies and Public Opinion

Mises had hoped that democracy would lead to free societies after World War II ended. He did not foresee the illiberal turn in the West in the last decade. Original Article: "Libertarian Law by Democratic Means: The Power of Ideologies and Public Opinion"

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Bank of England Economist: Britons Need to Accept That They’re Poorer

Speaking on a Columbia University Law School podcast, the chief economist of the Bank of England, Huw Pill, said Britons “need to accept” that they have been made poorer by the inflation perpetrated by the central bank. Price inflation today is a result of the record money creation by central banks, especially in the West, from 2020 onward. This was rationalized and justified by the mainstream narrative on covid. The following are choice comments...

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