[ A History of Money and Banking in the United States (2002)] “William Jennings Bryan and his pietist coalition seized control of the Democratic Party at the momentous convention of 1896. The Democratic Party was never to be the same again.” Orthodox economic historians attribute the triumph of William Jennings Bryan in the Democratic convention
[ No Treason , no. 1, was first printed in 1867, just after the American Civil War. An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by Brad O’Connell, is available for download .] The question of treason is distinct from that of slavery, and it is the same that it would have been if free states, instead of slave states, had seceded. On the part of
Political Scientist and MSNBC contributor Mellissa Harris-Perry has called for renewed faith in Democracy. According to Harris-Perry, recent events have damaged public confidence in the democratic process. Our faith has been badly damaged by governors who crush unions, by a Congress that will not govern, by a military that tortures, by CEOs who
[An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by Colin Hussey, is available for download .] Every once in a while, something comes along that perfectly encapsulates the idea of so-called “social justice” in action. For all the wonderful critiques that have been written about this wretched concept by its many detractors, none quite match the elegant
At current rates of spending, the federal government may bump up against its debt limit as early as March . Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warns that it will be “catastrophic to the economy” if Congress doesn’t increase Uncle Sam’s credit limit. Writers in conservative outlets call for Republicans to use this opportunity to extract
Everyone knows that the unemployment situation is very bad, but the official figures (not surprisingly) understate the problem. In this article I’ll outline the severity of the stalled labor market, and explain some of the major causes. The Employment Outlook According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the official civilian unemployment
As YouTube and other digital media move beyond computer-savvy young people into the ranks of even stodgy businessmen, these subversive outlets become serious problems for the ruling elite. This trend is epitomized by the radical change in the Federal Reserve’s image. In just a few short years, the Fed has transformed in public opinion from a
The first 24 hours after a book becomes available to the public are anxious ones for an author. Will people love the book, hate the book, or be indifferent? And so you wait. I was in that very position earlier this month. And then I read what Jeffrey Tucker wrote about my new book, Rollback : Woods works with relentless precision, like an
The main reason why so many state and local governments are bankrupt, or on the verge of bankruptcy, is the combination of government-run monopolies and government-employee unions. Government-employee unions have vastly more power than do private-sector unions because the entities they work for are typically monopolies. When the employees of a
[An MP3 audio file of this article, read by Steven Ng, is available for download .] In his superb analysis of democracy, Hans-Hermann Hoppe observes that “prime ministers and presidents are selected for their proven efficiency as morally uninhibited demagogues. Thus, democracy virtually assures that only bad and dangerous men will ever rise to the
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.