The Free Market 16, no. 1 (January 1998) When the IMF declares a country an “economic miracle,” look out. A financial crisis cannot be far behind. First it was Japan, the juggernaut that was said to be on the verge of supplanting the U.S. as an economic superpower. Then it was Mexico, the model of how former banana republics can be transformed
The Free Market 16, no. 1 (January 1998) History books and the popular culture are full of stories about how “the white man” brutally mistreated the American Indians during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Greedy capitalists are usually portrayed as the villains, killing Indians by the thousands to make way for the railroads in
The Free Market 16, no. 1 (January 1998) China is undergoing one of the great economic transformations in human history. It has moved from communism toward what it calls “market socialism” at breakneck pace, and enjoyed double-digit economic growth as a result. As an inevitable consequence, the grip of central state power has begun to relax.
The Free Market 16, no. 1 (January 1998) Everyone knows about the class-action lawsuit against Hooters, the restaurant featuring waitresses in shorts and tight t-shirts. In the settlement, Hooters paid $2 million to the men who were denied the opportunity to serve as Hooter Girls, another $1.75 million in lawyer’s fees, and created three new
The Free Market 16, no. 1 (January 1998) Competition is a process, the Austrian economists have long said, not a moment frozen in time. Today’s dominant company could be tomorrow’s rubble. Whether the winner can stay on top is dependent on its management, its ability to innovate, and, above all, the will of the consuming public. But since the
The Free Market 16, no.2 (February 1998) It’s time to start thinking of the stock market as a giant S&L. Money continues to pour in, despite a bounty of evidence that the extraordinary gains of the last few years cannot be enjoyed in the near future. The perception has never been stronger that the stock market is the right place to be for your
The Free Market 16, no. 2 (February 1998) Scrooge came in the form of government last year. The company Bill Gates built into the planet’s leading money machine is still the target of a federal probe and a senate inquiry. The charge: anti-competitive behavior. Microsoft’s stunning financial success comes from two sources: a “natural monopoly” in
The Free Market 16, no. 2 (February 1998) In recent months, we have been inundated with a pro-Teddy Roosevelt barrage from PBS to the Weekly Standard . He was, writes David Brooks, “a distinctly American kind that married nationalism to individualism.” His bust adorns the desks of Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole. His profile is carved into
The Free Market 16, no. 2 (February 1998) The conventional wisdom on the defeat of Fast Track trade legislation is dead wrong. As the press would have it, the failure of Fast Track reflects the rise of grass-roots protectionism. The vote in Congress to deny Clinton the authority to negotiate trade deals is a response to constituent pressure.
The Free Market 16, no. 3 (March 1998) Seen and heard almost everywhere in New York are these four words: “Hey, you never know.” It’s the slogan of the New York State Lottery Commission, and it is used to trick people into a self-imposed form of higher taxation. The pursuit of the average Joe’s dollars is relentless. Day and night the slickly
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.