[Excerpted from the Independent Review (Winter 2010). An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by Colin Hussey, is available for download .] As the recession has deepened and the financial debacle has passed from one flare-up to another during the past year and a half, commentary on the economy’s troubles has swelled tremendously. Pundits
[ Independent Review (2004)] Many of us who believe that governments continue to grow relentlessly, at least in the economically advanced countries, have been criticized by analysts who claim that in fact the growth of government has petered out or slowed substantially. The latter group perceives us to be needlessly alarmed and faults us for a
[ The Transformation of the American Economy, 1865–1914 ] This book, my first, was composed for the most part in 1969 and 1970 and published in 1971, exactly forty years ago. At that time, I was in my mid-twenties and had just completed my work for the PhD degree in economics at the Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins, I had been trained
On July 13th, the president of the United States angrily walked out of ongoing negotiations over the raising of the debt ceiling from its legislated maximum of $14.294 trillion dollars. This prompted a new round of speculation over whether the United States might default on its financial obligations. In these circumstances, it is useful to recall
[ Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink • By Louis Hyman • Princeton University Press, 2011 • 392 pages] “The author doesn’t make the distinction between accumulated real capital and cheap credit created through a banking system cartelized by the Federal Reserve.” The debate in Washington over the nation’s debt and debt ceiling has
In a piece for the Wall Street Journal , Joel Kotkin tells of the demise of Los Angeles. No, you won’t see Snake Plissken or Rick Deckard racing through the City of Angels just yet. But the city’s political machine is doing all it can “to leave behind a dense, government-dominated, bankrupt, dysfunctional, Athens by the Pacific,” explains Kotkin.
[ Walk Away (2010)] The average Joe and Jane are quick to sign on the dotted line with what they think is the American dream clearly in sight. Meanwhile mortgage originators are only too eager to facilitate the dream, knowing that a secondary market created by the federal government is waiting to buy the paper. And why not? Eighty-one percent of
One of my friends believes that a second American revolution is imminent and will be sparked by the economic instability now rocking the continent. Frankly, I doubt it. Insurrections may occur, but I expect the US government to lumber along, dragging the world deeper into poverty and conflict for many years to come. Upon hearing my friend out,
El 13 de julio, el presidente de los Estados Unidos abandonó airadamente las negociaciones en curso sobre el aumento del techo de la deuda desde su máximo legislado de 14,294 billones de dólares. Esto provocó una nueva ronda de especulaciones sobre si los Estados Unidos podría incumplir sus obligaciones financieras. En estas circunstancias, es
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.