After a dead period for much of the twenty-first century, a particular tool at the hands of the state has been dominating recent news cycles: antitrust law. This legal ability to fine, prevent, and “break up” different profit-maximizing tactics of economic actors is once more being favored by its wielder, the Federal Trade Commission. Last
For the Wall Street sequel , the subtitle was Money Never Sleeps . But the Oliver Stone reprisal of Gordon Gecko was the stuff of 2010. In America, a decade plus ago, money slept. Now, it truly doesn’t, with cryptocurrency prices gyrating 24/7/365. This frantic activity has spread to other asset markets. Once real estate was stable and slow
Almost anyone who follows social media is familiar with the latest tweets by Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has pronounced her verdict on higher food and gasoline prices: they are nothing less than the result of corporate greed. In fact, according to Warren, there is no inflation, only corporations arbitrarily raising prices in their relentless
For many, income inequality is a disease ravaging the fabric of capitalist societies. Therefore, curing this ailment, according to progressives, necessitates an injection of welfare benefits and higher taxes on the wealthy. Guided by a zero-sum outlook, critics believe that the success of the affluent is gained at the expense of the poor. To
According to new data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, price inflation in November rose to the highest level recorded in nearly forty years. According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November , year-over-year price inflation rose to 6.8 percent. It hasn’t been that high since June 1982, when the growth rate was at 7.2
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Before 2020, there were growing signs of increasing economic prosperity for a wide variety of income groups in America. Whether or not this prosperity survives covid lockdowns and ever higher levels of government regulations remains to be seen. But in spite of increasingly reckless
In a display of unconvincing enthusiasm, NBC reported today that payroll employment “surged” in February . Specifically, total nonfarm payrolls (seasonally adjusted) grew 379,000 month over month, which was above the expected increase of 210,000. That might sound great to some, but a closer look suggests jobs growth is quite a bit more sedate than
It’s hard to crack the headlines of the financial pages, what with GameStop, bitcoin, Tesla, and squeezes of one sort or another. There is a squeeze in commercial real estate that won’t shock anyone, or shouldn’t. That squeeze is tenants unable to pay owners and owners unable to pay lenders. It’s possible the pandemic will fizzle, someone will
Despite the record unemployment rate, widespread hardship to businesses, strains on the healthcare system, political turmoil, and general disruption to daily life in 2020, US consumers have managed to ramp up their habit of buying things. Demand for physical goods replaced some of the previous demand for in-person service-related experiences and
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. We’ve entered a new era of politics and government in America, and the Left is pretty happy about it. This week, for example, The Guardian announced, “ Biden’s $1.9tn Covid Relief Bill Marks an End to Four Decades of Reaganism .” From this point of view, “Reaganism” is code for extreme
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.