Category Archive: 6b.) Mises.org

The Rise of the Medical Security State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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Looming Bank Failures Point to More Price Inflation as Real Wages Fall Again

Even if Powell is sincere in this stated desire to slay inflation with more rate hikes, recent bank failures will put the Fed under enormous pressure to end its rate hikes and to once again embrace easy money to save the banks and Wall Street.  Original Article: "Looming Bank Failures Point to More Price Inflation as Real Wages Fall Again" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Did Colonialism Impoverish Africa and Asia? Perhaps Not

Revisiting the legacies of colonialism to indict Western imperialism has become a fashionable pastime for leading academics. Many argue that colonialism erected permanent roadblocks to thwart the progress of ex-colonies. Western colonialism is so vilified that any attempt to present a balanced overview is deemed improper. Bruce Gilley’s controversial essay, “The Case for Colonialism,” spawned a firestorm of criticisms that led the journal, Third...

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Mises Club Carolinas

Escape the summer heat for a cool weekend in the beautiful mountains of Banner Elk, NC. Tentative plans are to meet for dinner on Friday, July 21 at the Sugar Mountain Ski Resort. Guest speakers will be Franklin Sanders and his son, Justin, who will discuss their decades long effort to protect the precious metal trading industry from government intervention. Saturday, July 22 will begin with breakfast with the owners of Sugar Mountain while they...

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Mises Club Carolinas

Join Mises Club Carolinas for their next meetup in Fort Mill, SC, on Saturday, April 22. We'll tour Southpoint Solutions, and industrial lighting company from Club Member Jared Wall. After the tour, we'll have dinner and discussion at Farmhaus Butcher and Beer Garden. The speaker will be a new Club Member, Trey Carson, owner of Happy Mining, a bitcoin mining company in central North Carolina.  For more information or to register for this event,...

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The Theory and Practice of Conspiracy

Collusion was a way of life with state-chartered enterprises. Little has changed, as firms with political connections still gain profits from their collusion with the state. Original Article: "The Theory and Practice of Conspiracy" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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The Outbreak of World War I: A Libertarian Realist Rebuttal

As you may have noticed, those dreaded “forces” seem to have rematerialized—in the headlines, in the journals, in the pages of bestsellers: those historical, material, political, or ideological forces that supposedly make conflict between some set of groups, classes, or states “inevitable.” But as the great libertarian historian Ralph Raico never tired of telling, such collectivist narratives are often little more than convenient scapegoats or...

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