Category Archive: 6b.) Mises.org

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Influencers and Subjective Value: They Have Something to Teach Us

2023-03-25

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2023-03-25

The latest from the world of social media is the role of "influencers." There is a perfectly good economic explanation for their popularity. Original Article: "Influencers and Subjective Value: They Have Something to Teach Us" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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How Banking Could Work

2023-03-25

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2023-03-25

With commercial banks exposed by the recent bailouts, Americans question whether “their money” is truly safe despite the promises of FDIC insurance. Jeff and Bob walk through the mechanics of how a full reserve bank could work in a truly free market based on the concepts and taxonomy of Mises’s Theory of Money and Credit. Mises's A Theory of Money and Credit: Mises.org/TMC Bob's study guide to A Theory of Money and Credit: Mises.org/HAP388a John...

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Inflation Can Get Much Worse

2023-03-25

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2023-03-25

In this episode, Mark looks at the far away minor issue of the impact of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe. Even though they have switched from Zim dollars to US dollars, ordinary people are still suffering. Their government and its inflationary monetary policy is manifesting itself in some interesting ways. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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The Myth of “Economic Power”

2023-03-25

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2023-03-25

A very common criticism of the libertarian position runs as follows: Of course we do not like violence, and libertarians perform a useful service in stressing its dangers. But you are very simpliste because you ignore the other significant forms of coercion exercised in society—private coercive power, apart from the violence wielded by the State or the criminal. The government should stand ready to employ its coercion to check or offset this...

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Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System

2023-03-25

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2023-03-25

The provision of private healthcare in Canada is contingent on the ability of private actors to satisfy all of the conditions embedded within government legislation. However, the severity of these conditions means that most aspects of private healthcare are essentially outlawed, as they have been for many decades. Perhaps that wouldn’t matter if the government kept the promise it made to Canadians when it arbitrarily imposed universal healthcare...

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Climate Activism: The Second Children’s Crusade

2023-03-24

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2023-03-24

Modern secular society embraces a new religion complete with prophets, crusaders, commandments, contrition, and even a holy land: East Anglia, United Kingdom. These congregants will behave idiosyncratically in the economy. The activist green movement increasingly parallels Western religious structure, even generating a modern version of the medieval Children’s Crusade. Motivated by hope, the first Children’s Crusade assembled in 1212 under the...

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The Rise of the Medical Security State

2023-03-24

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2023-03-24

The New Abnormal: The Rise of the Biomedical Security Stateby Aaron KheriatyRegnery Publishing, 2022; xxv + 278 pp. Aaron Kheriaty is a medical doctor who taught for many years at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and headed the school’s medical ethics program. Though highly regarded as a teacher, he became a “nonperson” when he challenged the university’s compulsory covid vaccination policy and was fired from his position: “In...

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Karl Marx Was Not an Economist

2023-03-24

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2023-03-24

Despite the massive intellectual feat that Marx’s Capital represents, the Marxian contribution to economics can be readily summarized as virtually zero. Professional economics as it exists today reflects no indication that Karl Marx ever existed. —Thomas Sowell If socialists understood economics they wouldn’t be socialists. —F.A. Hayek Karl Marx is a very popular name in social sciences. As a scholar of the nineteenth century, he is still a part of...

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The Political Response to our Banking Crisis

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

This week on Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop are joined by Peter St. Onge, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a regular contributor to the Mises Wire. This episode looks at the political response to the recent turmoil in the banking system and how the Austrian position looks today relative to 2008. St. Onge makes a case for optimism. [embedded content] Recommended Reading "It Turns Out That Hundreds of Banks Are at...

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Libertarian Law by Democratic Means: Utilitarianism and the Demythologization of Authority

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

Mises saw essentialist values as fallacies because they were unverifiable and saw metaphysical ideas as a key component of authoritarianism. His solution was utilitarianism. Original Article: "Libertarian Law by Democratic Means: Utilitarianism and the Demythologization of Authority" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Statism Is Destroying Real Wages

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

When we read about the US economy, we often get wage growth as a signal of a strong labor market. It is hardly a strong market when the labor participation rate and the employment to population ratio are both below the February 2020 level and have been stagnant for months. Additionally, the headline figure of 4.6 percent annualized wage growth is misleading, as it shows a nominal and average figure that disguises a much tougher environment....

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Don’t Take Liberties with Liberty

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

Have you ever thought about the relationship between the words liberty and freedom? Frequently, the words are used interchangeably, but I have always preferred liberty. Perhaps my preference goes back to Thomas Jefferson’s reference to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps it traces to Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death.” Perhaps it is because “with liberty and justice for all” is...

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Reparations Are a Statist Cudgel for Bludgeoning Property Owners

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

San Francisco, as well as the government of California, is calling for millions in "reparations" for black people in that state. Reparations, unfortunately, are fast becoming another anti-property-owner racket. Original Article: "Reparations Are a Statist Cudgel for Bludgeoning Property Owners" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Nonmeasure for Nonmeasure

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

How do people in a pluralistic society live peacefully with each other? In his review of Kenneth McIntyre's book, David Gordon points to negative liberty as the best way to preserve values. Original Article: "Nonmeasure for Nonmeasure" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Silicon Valley Bank and the Failure of Fractional Reserve Banking

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

The story of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank is the story of nearly every bank failure. Fractional reserve banking invites the risky behavior that brings down the banking system. Original Article: "Silicon Valley Bank and the Failure of Fractional Reserve Banking" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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How Politicians Use Regulations to Deflect Blame

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

The pro-life activist Randall Terry has a famous quote that anyone who cares about politics should be familiar with: “He who frames the question wins the debate.” Politicians are well aware of this fact, which is why they spend much of their time directing the political conversation into frameworks that benefit them. If they can get us arguing over how best to “reform” the education system, for instance, there will be little discussion about the...

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The Fear of Mass Unemployment Due to Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Is Unfounded

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

Ever since the Luddites rampaged through British textile factories in the early 1800s, people have feared that technology will result in mass unemployment. They were wrong then and are wrong now. Original Article: "The Fear of Mass Unemployment Due to Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Is Unfounded" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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The Fed Backtracks on Future Rate Hikes as Bank Failures Loom Large

2023-03-23

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2023-03-23

The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday raised the target policy interest rate (the federal funds rate) to 5.00 percent, an increase of 25 basis points. With this latest increase, the target has increased 4.75 percent since February 2022. However, with an increase of only 25 basis points, the March meeting is the second month in a row during which the Fed has pulled back from its more substantial rate hikes of 2022....

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Whither Goest the Entrepreneur

2023-03-22

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2023-03-22

The Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture, sponsored by Yousif Almoayyed. Recorded at the 2023 Austrian Economics Research Conference hosted at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, March 16–18, 2023. [embedded content] The Austrian Economics Research Conference is the international, interdisciplinary meeting of the Austrian School, bringing together leading scholars doing research in this vibrant and influential intellectual tradition. The...

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The Other Covid Crisis: Prospects for Recovery from Pandemic Policies

2023-03-22

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2023-03-22

The F.A. Hayek Memorial Lecture, sponsored by Greg and Joy Morin. Recorded at the 2023 Austrian Economics Research Conference hosted at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, March 16–18, 2023. [embedded content] The Austrian Economics Research Conference is the international, interdisciplinary meeting of the Austrian School, bringing together leading scholars doing research in this vibrant and influential intellectual tradition. The...

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