“It is an established fact that alcoholism, cocainism, and morphinism are deadly enemies of life, of health, and of the capacity for work and enjoyment: and a utilitarian therefore must consider them as vices. But this is far from demonstrating that the authorities must interpose to suppress these vices by commercial prohibitions..... a Pandora’s
America — the “melting pot” of nations — we were called in the heyday of immigration. The melting pot may be pictured as the giant crucible of competition, heated by the flame of capitalism — that made the steel of the American temperament. Those poor “huddled masses” of the early 1900’s that Emma Lazarus addresses in her poem (on the pedestal of
Sometimes we’re lucky. Sometimes simple, everyday occurrences suggest solutions. I bet the first wise guy who saw a round rock rolling down a hill took out a patent on the wheel. And the tree that fell across the ravine? Aha, a bridge. Or take Sir Isaac Newton for example. He’s sitting under that well known apple tree, reading an erotic novel of
Don Boudreaux, an inspired George Mason University Econ professor, takes issue in a recent blog with a radio reporter. The commentator confuses the alleged ill-effects of marijuana with the perils of the consumer-supplier transaction. That’s like saying venison can kill you because in your pursuit of the deer you might accidentally blow your head
Everybody worries about inflation these days. It’s chic. It’s trendy. And it gives me a great comeback to the boss at raise time. “Congrats, Roberts, you’re getting a 3% increase.” “Yeah, I just about keep up with inflation,” I reply with that snippy look that bosses hate. A smart alecky answer, I know. Because I’m not gonna buy a new house or
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.