In this post , K. Chris Caldwell discussed a censorship law which forces ISP’s to block access to IP addresses because a website under that domain may contain child-pornography. This blocks access to thousands of unrelated websites, which are separate domains under the same IP address. Pensylvania attempted to justify this, saying that
The IRS is closing a “loophole” that’s allowed individuals to avoid government-theft. Also see this article . A Roth IRA is a retirement account that allows individuals to avoid being stolen from twice by the government. When you put money into a Roth IRA, you are taxed an initial income tax, but you are not taxed on the growth of the money
Both Austrian economics and Georgist economics stem from studying the nature of man, from individual actions, from praxeology. However, they arrive at different conclusions regarding the cause of the business cycle. Both the geolibertarians (Georgists) and the Austrian libertarians start from the same axiom of self-ownership, yet arrive at
Jean Chatzky has writen an article explaining how to ge the best financing on your auto-loan . She discusses how to avoid or reduce the markup car dealers will tack on to your auto-loan base rate. Markups average about 3 percentage points extra per consumer. Despite the fact that consumers have the option to shop around, secure a loan in advance,
Ilana Mercer has written an interesting, article, The criminal’s theoretical enablers . In it, she argues against the left-libertarian notion that punishment should be abolished in favor of restitution. She argues, rather, that restitution should supplement punishment. I would argue that, in reality, it should be the other way around: punishment
The debate between “PCR” (Paul Craig Roberts) and others underscores the fatal problem among libertarians of relying too heavily on Utilitarian arguments. Outside of the fatal problem of relying too heavily on Utilitarianism, there is also the strategical problem. As Rothbard once said, “the young kids out there are not going to be willing to go
I think that anarcho-capitalists, libertarians, and Austrian economists should be interested in Free Software (FS) and Open Source Software (OSS) . I believe there is much to gain from studying FS and OSS. It would allow us to bring computer-oriented individuals into the larger picture of a free society overall. The Free Software movement started
The increases in Roth IRA contribution limits, Health Savings Accounts , the tax-rate cuts, and the possible LSA’s and RSA’s are good, but we should all be wary of States bearing gifts. Though it may be difficult to see, The State, headed by President Bush, is eliminating many “loopholes” it previously created, upon astonishment that people are
Robert Brokamp has scathingly debunked Six Social Security Myths (free registration). In his article, Brokamp demonstrates more understanding of Social Security than the whole lot of mainstream economists, and a much greater knowledge of social security than any of it’s supporters. Brokamp, however, isn’t critical enough of social security . He
I just read an article from Fox News on Bush’s new proposed tax-advantaged savings accounts (see http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110695,00.html). It covers Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), Lifetime Savings Accounts (LSAs), and Individual Development Accounts (LDAs). It does not mention Health Savings Accounts, which have exceptional
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.