The conventional defense of the patent system is that it is essential in order to stimulate creativity. For example, in “ Don’t Believe the Hype “ (Feb. 2005, IP Law & Business ), patent attorneys John Benassi & Noel Gillespie conclude that our patent laws continue to “foster innovation.” This is so even though many observers believe our patent
In 1978, Congress began a series of efforts to boost the production of ethanol, an alcohol that American producers most commonly derive from corn. The idea was to produce a fuel in response to the energy crisis. The subsidies take many forms from vast income tax credits to companies that blend gas and ethanol to loan deficiency payments for the
Our society holds up invention as the spearhead of progress. Those who first discover an idea are the ones who receive the Nobel Prizes and earn their places in the history books. But in Man, Economy and State , Rothbard shockingly argues that technological invention is relatively unimportant in the progress of civilization. Instead, capital is
Brad Stone recently delivered a lecture at the Mises Institute concerning the relevance of the work of Robert Nisbet to the libertarian movement ( audio | video ). He argued that it is important for libertarians to also be “communitarians,” defending traditional social institutions from the state. He cautioned against the valorization of the
The concept of taxation well deserves its partnership with death. Death and taxes, you know. Two vultures. Both, to say the least, deadly. Why do we let them shear us like sheep every Spring? I’m talking about taxes and their incremental, inexorable growth. The analogy of the farmer’s son who hefts the newborn calf comes to mind. So easy that
The cost of communication has plummeted. Costly labor-intensive media such as smoke signals, Pyramid carvings and dense hieroglyphics on large stones have yielded to the trivial costs of email. Deflation rules. Consider long distance rates. Down! Deflated like zeppelins competing with Boeing 757s. Only old-fashioned correspondence, processed by
I am often asked about the “peak oil” theory. I’ve even had some people send me junk mail predicting when the date would come. Sometime in June, 2006, I recall. (Unsolicited investment advice: go very long!) I didn’t really pay attention. And yet many do. There are websites, books, email lists, conferences, and tracts of every sort promoting this
As a precondition to joining the European currency, member states had to abide by quantitative fiscal criteria, explained below, sharply limiting their room to maneuver. Since the adoption of the fiscal pact and the launch of the euro, many countries chose to flaunt it, to the chagrin of others that steadfastly adhered to it. This article explains
“The destiny of this country was decided long ago and nothing and no one can intimidate or threaten us.” Fidel Castro’ remarks last year leave little doubt that he is willing to go any length to preserve the socialist ideology of Cuba’s 1959 revolution. The latest evidence of Castro’s firm approach to maintaining the island’s revolutionary credo
When President Bush released his 2006 budget proposal, he cast himself as a measured and decisive figure bent on taming the government’s profligate spending and raging deficits. When one peers beyond the stage-managed façade, however, what one finds is that Bush earns the dubious distinction of being one of the biggest big spenders of all time.
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.