In the last edition of The Freeman , David Levin and Michele Boldrin argue that “innovation could thrive” without an IP regime. And they propose that an “ open-source “ model can accomplish this feat. Two heads are better than one... F or those unfamiliar with the open-source paradigm, in a nutshell, its proponents suggest that in terms of
What a wacky world we live in. An issue called the minimum wage fascinates the Pols even more than the price of meatloaf and 3 in the Senate cafeteria. Newspaper headlines hammer home this crisis in remuneration — I mean the minimum wage, not the price of meatloaf. Forget that only 3% of hourly workers make less than the current $5.25. Only 13%
Here is an interesting paper by Christopher Coyne and Steve Davies. It counters the argument that empire produces public goods by pointing to the many public bads of empire.
Life without international trade: using local labor and materials only, a suit takes 500 man-hours to produce. And it’s not exactly high-quality. But what a great teaching project by Kelly Cobb of Drexel University. Here’s the story from Wired
Once again, Penn and Teller hilariously explode the myths and superstitions about capitalism with a healthy contempt and a plethora of curse words, so use discretion. Here’s Wal-Mart Hatred is B arbara S treisand . By the way, one of the anti-Wal-Mart subjects of the show is Joe Moore, who’s on Chicago’s city council. He claims that Wal-Mart pays
A very nice pro-market commentary by Richard W. Rahn came out in today’s Washington Times praising The Science of Success , a book covering “Charles Koch, who, along with his brother, David, built this massive and very successful enterprise -- which includes petroleum refining, chemicals, fibers and carpets, fertilizers, building materials, paper
In product development there are two kinds of errors. A “go” error occurs when the green light is given to a product that eventually fails. The Edsel, a $250 million write-off by the Ford Motor Company in 1959, is one example. The “drop” error occurs when an idea that could have been highly profitable is eliminated from further consideration. How
Traveled to a big city lately? If so, you must have gotten words of wisdom from someone close to you. Advice, such as: do not walk the streets after dark; and, beware of pickpockets. Sound advice indeed. However, let us look closer to what is being said, and what is not said. Your sage friend is really stating that you must be careful on public
Who is Robert Higgs? No economic historian working today has done more to untangle the intellectual mess that the welfare-warfare state made of the 20th century. Higgs has a keen eye for detail, a passion for deep research, a sound theoretical outlook, and a flair for writing that makes his prose white hot. His book Crisis and Leviathan was a
The government, famed for building bridges to nowhere, can’t replace a bridge blown down by Hurricane Katrina in four times the time required for a private company to replace its bridge just downriver from it, blown down at the same time. And the private company is a railroad , no less! The front page of Saturday’s Wall Street Journal is graced
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.