My congressman, Pat Tiberi (R-OH), is a generous man, always on the lookout for ways to expand the realm of the federal government into ever aspect of life. He feels for his constituents -- like a lord tending to his serfs. However, tears in private settings do not deliver votes. So, in order to keep his seat of power, my lord pronounces his big
It’s the market that turns waste into a resource, not government-mandated recycling. According to TwinCities.com : Jimmy Robbins II of Robbins Lumber in Searsmont said it’s gotten to the point where wood shavings, which are popular with horse farms, are worth more than the lumber. “We use every part of the tree. Everything is consumed,” Robbins
There are decent public schools and terrible ones, so there is no use generalizing. Nor is there a need to trot out data on test scores. Let me just deal with economics. All studies have shown that average cost per pupil for public schools is twice that of private schools. if we could abolish public schools and compulsory schooling laws, and
I briefly watched CNN International this morning and one of the pundits mentioned that John McCain won the Florida primary. One of the analysts working alongside him mentioned that “just a few months ago, John McCain was [gasp] carrying his own luggage in the airport. This is an important win that will certainly help bring in new funds through
If you want to expose the absurdity of the state, think governmental accounting. Really, there is no better way to show the impossibility of a government solution to scarcity than by reading the annual audit of any governmental entity. Goethe considered double-entry bookkeeping -- the essence of accounting -- to be “one of the finest inventions of
Well, I’m half Armenian, anyway. Here are some belated photos from my speaking trip to Poland last month. Nine lectures, seven at universities around the country, mostly on the market economy (I assure you, I took the plumb line), and a couple times on American history. I was genuinely shocked at how many people told me the Mises.org website and
I never thought I’d be cheering NPR, but Michelle Norris really makes Sen. Baucus squirm . Sure her economic theory is off, but some of her questions are spot on. Norris: “Will this stimulus package in the end add to the nation’s deficit woes?” Baucus: “Well ... it’s ... um ... My thought is ... It probably will initially, but all economists say
Forbes.com has a slide show of the top 20 richest counties in the US. The top three, and ten of the top 20, are located within commuting distance of DC. I wonder if there is some causation to that
The only redeeming feature of our political process is that we peacefully accomplished an ideological shift -- a coup of sorts -- that in almost every other instance led to blood in the streets. Of course, the shift is mere window dressing as both McCain and Obama stand for big government, big wars, and big deficits. The only difference between
I’m slowly coming out of my post-election blues , all thanks to NPR. Why? Well it appears that the victors are already turning on themselves. That’s right, the Reign of Terror has begun, with each radical faction accusing all others of being enemies of the revolution . And, to think, the Terror erupted before any power was transferred. Where 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.