Secession: Coming to a State Near You?
Breaking Away: The Case for Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Politiesby Ryan McMakenMises Institute, 2022, 230 pp. Those of us who think that there should be no state at all, or at most a very limited one, must view all existing
The Need for Beauty in Economics
Free Markets are often criticized for producing ugly, dystopian, consumer-driven landscapes, but is this true? Jeff explains how we need more than intellectual appeal to advance the cause of liberty—we need an appeal to beauty. Watch other talks from our 40th
College as an Economic and Social Problem: Dealing with the Culture
Even while Americans deal with skyrocketing higher education costs, few would challenge the worth of college and fewer still question the campus culture. Yet, that is precisely where the problems lie, even if people don't recognize it. Original Article: "College as
The Dollar’s Global Wake of Destruction
While whispers of the current emerging market debt crisis, the result of the rapidly strengthening dollar, could be heard throughout the summer, virtually no one predicted the blow the dollar’s rise would deal to some other developed economies. But with
Applying Volcker’s Lessons
[Originally published by Law and Liberty.] The year 2022 has certainly been a tough one for the Federal Reserve. The Fed missed the emergence of the runaway inflation it helped create and continued for far too long to pump up the housing
We’re Getting Poorer: Price Inflation Grew Faster than Wages Again in September
There are only painful options for bringing price inflation under control at this point, and that's all thanks to the Fed's creation of countless bubbles and malinvestments over the past decade. Original Article: "We're Getting Poorer: Price Inflation Grew Faster than
Federal Reserve Tampering with Interest Rates Distorts the Shape of the Yield Curve
For many commentators, a change in the shape of the differential between the long-term interest rate and the short-term interest rate—i.e., the yield spread provides an indication of the likely direction of the economy in the months ahead. Thus, an
The West Didn’t Become Rich Because of Slavery But in Spite of It
The modern progressive narratives claim that the wealth of the West and especially of the USA was built upon the backs of slaves. In fact, slavery retarded economic growth. Original Article: "The West Didn't Become Rich Because of Slavery But in
Student Loan Debt: The Financial Time Bomb Politicians Want to Ignore
Media reports claim this debt prevents economic recovery. Chuck Schumer would erase it with the flick of a pen. Elizabeth Warren would remove it to free students’ ability to buy a house and form a family. Janet Yellen opines paying
The Hardheaded Thought of Ludwig von Mises: Ever Attacked and Ever Triumphant
Such is the intellectual stature of Ludwig von Mises that even many decades after his passing the opponents of classical liberalism and laissez-faire capitalism continue to attack his life’s work. A recent instance of this phenomenon is an article published