Currently, the big show in Washington, DC, centers around raising the debt ceiling. Congress began setting this ceiling in 1917 so that the Treasury could independently issue debt. The debt ceiling is like the limit on your credit card, except the federal government sets the limit on itself. When President Nixon took us off the gold standard in
Here is a link to an interview of James Grant and James Rickards on the return to the gold standard. I love the response line to the bogey about returning to the gold standard is going backwards. Rickards responds that if you are headed in the direction of going over a cliff, than going backwards is a good thing. ht:
The movie is good. Take a look at the trailer here . It seems like an accurate history of J. Edgar Hoover’s life, from what I know. He was clearly a fascist and a psychotic of various sorts. His use of drugs late in his life reminded me of Hitler. He was constantly plotting to get more money, power, and authority for the FBI. He was also
Paul Krugman is at it again . This time attacking Ron Paul and his Austrian economics (probably a very good sign). He claims that Ron is only consistent because he ignores reality. In fact, “reality” has only demonstrated the correctness of Ron’s views. His first attack is on the idea that paper money is the root of all economic policy evil. Well
While the real world has switched from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans (e.g. IRAs, 401k), much of government still uses defined benefit plans where retirees receive regular pension checks based on a formula. The problem today is that many public systems are underfunded and are having difficulties remaining viable. The
This article in the Independent by Brendan Keenan addresses the issue of blame for the economic crisis. He just about gets it right. The Invisible Hand of government (aka Central Banks) was acting to deceive the Invisible Hand of the marketplace. This is the topic for my lecture for tomorrow’s conference at the Mises Institute. He also draws the
A new study by the Phoenix Center for the Advanced Study for Legal and Economic Policy Studies found that federal regulators cost taxpayers more than $200,000 each, but cost the economy over $6 million in jobs and productivity. “In particular,” the group says, “even a small 5 percent reduction in the regulatory budget (about $2.8 billion) would
Economists Fryer and Sacerdote estimate that each additional job cost as much as $400,000 “Did the Stimulus Stimulate? Real Time Estimates of the Effects of the American Readjustment and Recovery Act” NBER Working Paper No. w16759 JAMES FEYRER, Dartmouth College BRUCE SACERDOTE, Dartmouth College We use state and county level variation to examine
[Publicado originalmente en enero de 2011] La mayoría de la gente realmente nunca se ha encontrado con el crystal meth; es verdad que hablan mucho de él pero ¿cuántos estadounidenses normales conocen a alguien que tome meth? La droga tiene muchos nombres: metilanfetamina, N-metilanfetamina, desoxiefedrina, speed y, más comúnmente, meth.
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.