Last week I testified before a Congressional subcommittee on the Fed’s role in rising gasoline prices. All of the economists on the panel agreed that oil prices were rising (partly) because of the dollar’s fall against other currencies. However, Dean Baker — prominent Keynesian pundit and codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research —
With Friday’s dismal jobs report — showing a paltry 54,000 increase in nonfarm payroll employment in May — more and more analysts are realizing that the so-called economic “recovery” is stalling. As Jeffrey Tucker recently pointed out in an important article , Austrians realize that the recession never left. This has all been smoke and mirrors for
A recent NPR story on the debt ceiling seeks to correct the American public’s “misunderstanding” of the issue. But as we’ll see, whether through ignorance or deception, the analyst on whom the story relies makes claims about the debt ceiling that are simply not true. It turns out that the public’s gut reaction to politicians’ piling on ever more
I am pleased to announce that, starting July 20, I (and guest lecturer Peter Klein) will offer a Mises Academy class, Production and the Market Process . The course will focus on chapters 5–9 of Murray Rothbard’s masterpiece, Man, Economy, and State . The Scope of the Course The course runs for eight weeks, from July 20 through September 13. As
I am pleased to announce that in late June the Mises Academy will launch my new online class, Keynes, Krugman, and the Crisis . In the interests of both intellectual honesty and rhetorical effectiveness, it is important for Austrians to “know the enemy.” The class is designed to give students of the Austrian School a fair understanding of the
With various states debating measures to elevate the monetary status of gold, the gold standard is more politically relevant now than it has been in decades. When the LA Times (to pick just one example) runs an article stating matter-of-factly that “economists” uniformly oppose gold, you know the defenders of the current system are getting
“If employees are being systematically underpaid in a firm, there is an automatic incentive for other companies to bid them away.” Earlier this week, the Supreme Court unanimously threw out a massive class-action sexual-discrimination lawsuit against Walmart. By overruling a lower court’s decision, the Supreme Court raised the barrier to future
My six-year-old’s interests have changed over the years, but one constant has been his fascination with vehicles. His most cherished vehicle is — in the words of one DVD — “everyone’s favorite friend, Thomas.” In the present article I want to discuss how amazingly “bourgeois” is the world of Thomas the Tank Engine . I imagine anti-industry
Earlier in the year, the BBC featured a series of articles commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the state in Somalia. Although the articles expressed the typical revulsion at “anarchy,” the series was surprisingly balanced for such a mainstream outlet. Somalia is undeniably experiencing progress according to several criteria, despite
I recently spent five days in Lancaster, NH, home of the annual Porcupine Freedom Festival , or “PorcFest.” Although PorcFest may not be for everyone, libertarians — especially younger ones — who have never attended should definitely consider adding it to their summer vacation plans. Libertarians Just Wanna Have Fun I’m a workaholic, and I also
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.