In our world, there is very little people agree upon. One thing that seems to be an exception is that having an open mind is almost universally well regarded, while having a closed mind is almost universally criticized. However, such rhetoric presumes that what we are open or closed to is the truth. That leads to some problems of understanding,
Covid triggered a massive upswing in government prohibitions in America. Many were prohibited from keeping their firms open. Many were forced to stop working. Many of our normal freedoms of association and travel were eliminated. Many rights—such as access to due process or to contract enforcement—were effectively prohibited. And almost everyone
It is a natural human tendency to focus on our problems, but such a focus has a cost—exaggerating the size of the problems we face relative to the size of the blessings we benefit from. In a sense, that tendency may be more pronounced today among those who advocate for liberty, because they recognize the cornucopia of blessings liberty enables,
As Americans transition into 2022, many people will consider making New Year’s resolutions. If history is any guide, however, little of their focus will be on addressing the cognitive dissonance between personal resolutions to be good and do good for others and the many political resolutions to harm others to feather one’s own nest that always
As a libertarian, I have long objected to being characterized on a left-right political spectrum (as with studies of political affiliations that group libertarians with republicans or conservatives on the right). In response to inquiries about where I fit in that framework, over the years, I have taken to saying that my views were orthogonal
On January 15, Wikipedia turns 20. Its anniversary is a good time to celebrate the success of a service that has become so useful to so many. Original Article: “ Wikipedia, Markets, and Collaboration “ This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.
In case you doubted that California’s politicians are firmly committed to ever-higher levels of taxation, California is now trying to retroactively impose sales taxes on out-of-state retailers going as far back as 2012. Original Article: “ California Now Wants to Tax People Who Live in Other States, Too “ This Audio Mises Wire is generously
Acton: “Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political endnot for the sake of a good public administrationbut for the security in the pursuit of the highest objects of civil society, and of private life.” Original Article: “ A Just Society Is a Society Based on Political Liberty “ This Audio Mises Wire is
America’s founders did not envision the federal government as the domineering senior partner in almost everything. What was once best described as “sovereign States, united solely for specified joint purposes” has been largely eviscerated. Original Article: “ Why Governments Want More Centralization—and Less Federalism “ This Audio Mises Wire is
The more an economy is centrally planned, the more chaotic are the relationships within it. The freer people are to make their arrangements in the market, the more coordinated things become. Original Article: “ Where Does Social Order Come From? Not the State. “ This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by
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.