The Free Market 21, no. 6 (June 2003) In recent newspaper columns, Paul Krugman of Princeton University and Lawrence Kudlow have sounded deflation alarms. The solution to combat falling prices, they argue, is for the Federal Reserve System to increase the money supply. References to “the money supply” are misleading and dangerous, for they
The Free Market 23, no. 7 (July 2003) No one can argue about the current moribund economy, complete with falling stock prices, nonexistent profits, layoffs, airline bankruptcies, and exploding federal and state budget deficits. People certainly have argued about the cause of this downturn, but few people have accurately pointed out why there is
The Free Market 23, no. 8 (August 2003) It has finally come down to this: Martha Stewart must go to prison, or at the very least be forced to step down from her position as CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The US Attorney’s office in New York City has obtained a grand jury indictment on obstruction of justice charges against Stewart as a
As the economic downturn moves into its third year, making it the longest in the postwar period, the White House announces yet another economic “stimulus” package. Now, this set of proposals is not to be confused with “Stimulus I” or “Stimulus II,” or even the ongoing “stimulus” actions taken by Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve System. No,
I recently received an email from an organization that calls itself “Communitarian Network,” and, being somewhat curious, began to read it. Followers of this organization claim to be seeking “economic justice” and lay out the plans to do so. Now, to their credit, I guess, the “communitarians” say they are against state coercion, although much of
In the midst of war and emergency declarations from the U.S. Department of Justice, we find that the government lawyers who dominate much of the national discourse have not been concentrating exclusively on “national security.” No, John Ashcroft’s minions are trying to gain a new source of government revenue by again looting U.S. tobacco
No one can argue about the current moribund economy, complete with falling stock prices, nonexistent profits, layoffs, airline bankruptcies, and exploding federal and state budget deficits. People certainly have argued about the cause of this downturn (Democrats and their socialist allies insist that the relatively small, backloaded tax cuts of
When I click onto the Drudgereport.com site these days, I often am greeted with an advertising bar at the top of the page that declares, “Boycott France.” As we have heard ad nauseum , France was against the war, so France is against the United States, so we should not buy French products to punish the insolence of those people. For the past few
[Posted May 15, 2003] As we observe the current frenzy of lawyers preparing to sue McDonald’s and Burger King —and even suing Kraft Foods , the maker of Oreos—for allegedly causing their clients to suffer from obesity, we cannot help but wonder what lunatics have taken over the U.S. legal system. This current litigation, which is done in the name
A week ago I received an email that was part of a mass mailing by an anti-smoking activist who was championing all of the new “smoke-free” legislation that is being churned out by state, local, and national governments around the world. Although I am not a smoker, I must admit to having more than a passing interest in the recent assault on tobacco
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.