Category Archive: 6b.) Mises.org

Can Congress Cancel Biden’s Endless Wars?

Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop look at how the regime's narrative on foreign policy is failing, and how some in Congress are finally standing up to the warfare state. Yet, the regime wants more US wars in Syria, Ukraine, and now even Mexico. And you will pay for it all. Will the voters demand a more sane foreign policy in 2024? [embedded content] Recommended Reading "The Costs of War in Syria" by Ryan McMaken (2013):...

Read More »

The Censored Generation

The Censored Generation Incredulity. Astonishment. Disgust. Anger. It is these feelings—amongst others—that describe the general reaction to the revelations of the Twitter Files and other egregious episodes of Big Tech censorship of the electronic public square. The implicit deal with companies like Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. is very simple: we will look at your ads if you give us a service for free. The deal did not include censorship. But...

Read More »

Saudi Arabia’s Quandary: The End of the Petrodollar

As the Biden administration continues to inflate the dollar, other nations are questioning the existence of the petrodollar. Original Article: "Saudi Arabia’s Quandary: The End of the Petrodollar" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »

Fiscal Illusion and Entitlements

As the State of the Union address and subsequent pronouncements have made clear, American politics is in the firm grip of fiscal illusion. One example is President Biden’s bragging that “In the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion—the largest deficit reduction in American history,” which implied that we should only look at a short run effect which had little, if anything, to do with the policies he...

Read More »

Money Supply Growth Went Negative for the Third Month in a Row, and Is Near a 35-Year Low

Money supply growth fell again in January, falling even further into negative territory after turning negative in November 2022 for the first time in twenty-eight years. January's drop continues a steep downward trend from the unprecedented highs experienced during much of the past two years. Since April 2021, money supply growth has slowed quickly, and since November, we've been seeing the money supply contract for the first time since the 1990s....

Read More »

The Attack of the Subversive Elites

We can be sure that the "natural elites" of which Hans Hoppe wrote are not among the Davos crowd. That group of "elites" has an agenda, and it is not liberty and free markets. Original Article: "The Attack of the Subversive Elites" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »

A Permanent Wartime Economy

“Governments create money all the time. We do that for war.” “This whole notion that you run government like you run a household…is a complete myth”Economist Prof Mariana Mazzucato tells #Newsnight Government’s should address social issues through taxhttps://t.co/P0zxS1DNGF pic.twitter.com/I6NLtXgDqN— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) March 6, 2023This is the argument for more money printing, and perhaps unlimited money printing, recently advanced by...

Read More »

What Would Happen If American Elites Told the Truth?

What if America’s elite told the truth? It seems a ridiculous question to ask. It’s obvious to most of us here that our politicians, bureaucratic managers, and state-associated business leaders hardly ever tell the truth. What use is it for us to ask, “What if?” There seems to be a considerable amount of social pressure urging us to abandon our better judgment, not for the sake of reason, but for cooperation. If we don’t, the uncritical mob will...

Read More »

Secession Is Inevitable. War to Prevent It Is Optional.

The answer lies not in doubling down on political unity, maintained through endless violence or threats of violence. Rather, the answer lies in peaceful separation.  Original Article: "Secession Is Inevitable. War to Prevent It Is Optional." This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »

Odds Are Rising That the Fed Will Trigger the Next Bust

From March 17, 2022, to the end of January 2023, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) increased its federal funds rate from practically zero to 4.50–4.75 percent. The rise in lending rates came in response to skyrocketing consumer goods price inflation: US inflation rose from 2.5 percent in January 2022 to 9.1 percent in June. Notwithstanding inflation falling to 6.4 percent in January 2023, the Fed continues to signal to markets that it will continue to...

Read More »

Real Estate Markets Are Addicted to Easy Money

On Friday, residential real estate brokerage firm Redfin released new data on home prices, showing that prices fell 0.6 percent in February, year over year. According to Redfin's numbers, this was the first time that home prices actually fell since 2012. The year-over-year drop was pulled down by especially large declines in five markets: Austin (-11%), San Jose, California (-10.9%), Oakland (-10.4%), Sacramento (-7.7%), and Phoenix (-7.3%)....

Read More »

Making Nonsense from Sense: Debunking Neo-Calvinist Economic Thought

Neo-Calvinist economic thought claims that prices and private property cause scarcity. However, they provide no methodology for their claims. Original Article: "Making Nonsense from Sense: Debunking Neo-Calvinist Economic Thought" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »

Are Large Hospitals the Problem with US Healthcare?

Is the main problem with the US healthcare system that hospitals have gotten too large since the 1990s? That seems to be the remarkable conclusion of two of the nation’s most distinguished health-policy analysts, David Dranove and Lawton R. Burns. Dranove is an economist and Walter J. McNerney Distinguished Professor of Health Industry Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Burns is a sociologist and James...

Read More »

The “Meritocracy” Was Created by and for the Progressive Ruling Class

The American Left has decided that the so-called meritocracy is a bad thing. In a typical example from the Los Angeles Times this week, Nicholas Goldberg points to a number of issues exploring how merit is not actually the key to power and riches in America: The United States is supposed to be a meritocracy. The story goes that if you work hard and play by the rules, especially with regard to education, you can compete, rise and succeed here. . . ....

Read More »

The New Racism of the Elect

In the name of "fighting racism," a number of writers and pundits are making social relationships between people of different races and ethnic groups more contentious. Original Article: "The New Racism of the Elect" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »

We Are All Counterfeiters Now

Intellectuals and politicians often try to verbally summarize or justify conventional thinking in pithy ways. Milton Friedman (in 1965) and Richard Nixon (in 1971) both said different versions of the phrase “we are all Keynesians now.” . . . Friedman and Nixon were describing the thoughts behind the implementation of Great Society redistribution programs and an inflationary monetary policy designed to offset the cost of those programs. —Brian...

Read More »

Gustave de Molinari, First Anarcho-Capitalist

Of all the leading libertarian French economists of the mid- and late nineteenth centuries, the most unusual was the Belgian-born Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912). Born in Liege, the son of a Belgian physician and a baron who had been an officer in the Napoleonic army, Molinari spent most of his life in France, where he became a prolific and indefatigable author and editor in lifelong support of pure laissez-faire, of international peace, and in...

Read More »

Roald Dahl and James Bond Books Are Getting Woke Rewrites. Copyright Law Ensures You Can’t Stop Them.

Thanks to copyright laws, the estate of Roald Dahl can not only rewrite his books, but can also essentially outlaw the old versions. Only books in the public domain are safe from this. Original Article: "Roald Dahl and James Bond Books Are Getting Woke Rewrites. Copyright Law Ensures You Can't Stop Them." This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »

Slavery in the Americas: Separating Fact from Fiction

The history of transatlantic slavery is riddled with fables and errors. Erroneous claims have been propagated in the media because history is currently perceived as a political project that must justify present sensibilities. History has become so politicized that rigorous research is unable to disabuse activists of inaccuracies. Due to the rampant politicization of academia, noted scholars are usually cajoled into apologizing for defending...

Read More »

Is Democracy under Attack in Canada? No, but It Should Be

Canadian political, academic, and media elites "worry" that democracy in that country may be under attack. Actually, democracy works all too well there. Original Article: "Is Democracy under Attack in Canada? No, but It Should Be" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

Read More »