It may be only another form of paper, but the free market is clearly at work here: “RMB increases its influence in neighboring areas” (Xinhua): “The Renminbi (RMB) circulation in neighboring countries and regions is preparing the ground for its future goal of becoming a currency that can be exchanged freely on the international market, an official
The latest reading of the total US Federal debt — including social security obligations — comes in at a whopping $7,161 billion. Even at a lowly interest rate of 3.5%, this would cost every one of the estimated 107.8 million private sector workers around 4 1/2 weeks’ wages to service, much less to pay down. In the past 12 months, the total has
They don’t draw the right conclusions but at least some of them have been humbled a touch: “ Economists’ missed trends may indicate sea change “ (Knight Ridder Tribune News): Whether it’s policy gurus like Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve or academic theorists like free-trade champion Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, economists are
Hayek’s words from “ Why I am Not a Conservative “ have a certain topical ring: Only at first does it seem paradoxical that the anti-internationalism of conservatism is so frequently associated with imperialism. But the more a person dislikes the strange and thinks his own ways superior, the more he tends to regard it as his mission to “civilize”
From MSNBC : Sovereign countries with the lowest income taxes include Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where the rate, regardless of income, is zero. Saudi Arabia also has no income tax, but Saudi nationals are obliged to pay “zakat,” a 2.5 percent Islamic assessment based on net wealth (not income), that is designed to support the
This from the Times is not only an example of how interventionism/socialism is doomed to fail, but of the culture of deceit in which RobespiBlaire’s Committee of Public Safety is steeped: The Sunday Times - Britain April 25, 2004 Leak reveals Labour has wasted £20bn Robert Winnett and David Leppard TONY BLAIR’S pledge to improve Britain’s public
Someone might find a rich harvest for comment in this paper from the European Central Bank: “ The Operational Target of Monetary Policy and the Rise and Fall of Reserve Position Doctrine “ Abstract: Before 1914, there was little doubt that central bank policy meant first of all control of short term interest rates. This changed dramatically in
A response to Caroline Baum’s column on Bloomberg , in which she argues that higher prices are neutral to the market: True, higher prices are not the same as a tax, yes, the dollars do get spent somewhere else. But, no, this is not a neutral event. If if we suddenly all decided that we would walk everywhere tomorrow and not use our cars if
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.