In “ Libertarianism vs. Liberty ,” published in HuffPost on April27, Peter Schwartz of the Ayn Rand Institute criticizes libertarians like Ron Paul who support a non-interventionist foreign policy. These evil people do not want to start a war with Iran. How can they fail to see, Schwartz asks, the “incontrovertible fact” of a direct threat to
Today’s is Joe Salerno’s birthday. He is an outstanding Austrian economist and the Academic Vice-President of the Mises Institute. Murray Rothbard said of Joe that he “has done remarkably creative work in the history of economic thought.”He has made major contribution to monetary theory, Austrian business cycle theory, the nature of
Mario Rizzo, a well-known Austrian economist who teaches at NYU, made an important point about Austrian economics in a recent post on Facebook. He said, “If you are an economist and want to be remembered by future generations, then you really should be a Austrian. We pay full homage to our ancestors and do not pretend that we discovered something
Daniel Hausman is an influential philosopher of economics, and in a recent interview in the New York Times, he has much to say that will be of interest to Austrians. He agrees with Austrians that economists cannot predict particular events: “Scientists (and I include economists) are not fortunetellers.” His reason for holding this view. though,
Today is Lew Rockwell’s birthday, and this is a fitting time to reflect on his significance for Austrian economics and for libertarianism. Lew has been the foremost advocate and promoter of the work of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. He founded the Mises Institute in 1982 in order to bring to the attention of a wide scholarly and popular
Burt Blumert, who died six years ago, would have turned eighty-six today. It’s still hard for me to believe that Burt isn’t here anymore. Burt was the person you could always go to if you faced a difficult situation. His insights and good humor made you understand exactly what you needed to do. To get some idea of what Burt was like, I recommend
Robert Wenzel calls attention to a post by Charles Hughes of the Cato Institute that discusses a far-reaching investigation in Finland, which will last several years, about proposals for a basic income. The Cato author thinks that that “some aspects of a basic income are intriguing.” The flaws of current welfare programs are extensive, but
[ This article appears in the November–December 2015 issue of The Austrian . ] Peter Simpson is a distinguished classicist and philosopher, known especially for his work on Aristotle’s ethics and politics. (He is also, by the way, a mordant critic of Leo Strauss and his followers.) In Political Illiberalism , he poses a fundamental challenge to
John V. Denson’s A Century of War (2006) is an important contribution to revisionist history. In the book, Judge Denson analyzes the provocative policies of Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt. Each of these presidents concealed from the public his bellicose intentions. The book attracted the attention of Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof,
In an excellent article for The New Republic , April 6, 2015, “Rand Paul Will Break Republican Hearts, Just Like Reagan Did,” the Canadian journalist Jeet Heer displays a knowledge of libertarianism rare among mainstream journalists. Heer points out that Rand Paul’s bellicose foreign policy statements will make him lose support among
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.