The “Stunning Success” of the Green Revolution Is Yet Another Progressive Myth
One of the key myths of the twentieth century is the benign role played by international, American-led institutions after the Second World War. American liberals/progressives, fresh from imposing the New Deal in the thirties and planning and directing a world
The Queen is Dead, Democracy is Dying
With Queen Elizabeth II lying in state at Westminster Abbey, hereditary monarchies are under attack as archaic & absurd. Has mass democracy in the West done any better? Ryan McMaken joins Jeff and Bob to discuss. Read Ryan's Article on Monarchs:
Why the Fed Usually Ignores its Mandate for “Stable Prices”
In recent years, Congress has attempted to add various new mandates to the Federal Reserve's mission. In 2020, Democrats introduced the "Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act." Then, in 2021, pundits and politicians were telling us that it's the Fed's
Mandatory Vaccines vs. Logic and Kantian Ethics
Vaccine mandates imposed by governments violate individual rights and further the coercive powers of the state. They also violate Kantian ethical norms, turning people into vehicles to accomplish the ends of governing elites. Original Article: "Mandatory Vaccines vs. Logic and Kantian
When “Decolonialization” Creates More Problems than It Allegedly Solves
People across the globe are demanding that governments repudiate the legacies of colonialism. Some think that true independence requires liberation from colonial institutions, while for many, preserving colonial laws is indicative of mental enslavement. Such arguments are emotionally appealing but
It’s Not Just the Dollar: Global Fiat Money Is a Mess
On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Joseph Solis-Mullen take a look at brewing debt crises in emerging markets and how the dollar still looks good when compared to other global currencies. Recommended Reading "How the Fed Helped Create Another Calamity: The
Review: Free Market: The History of an Idea
Free Market: The History of an Ideaby Jacob SollBasic Books, 2022; viii + 326 pp. Jacob Soll is a distinguished historian, and Free Market contains much of value, but the book cannot be considered a success, and indeed as it reaches the
Short-Term Market Volatility Is Not Entirely Random
Typical teaching on stock prices says they are little more than a random walk. But people's purposeful actions are behind every economic transactions. Original Article: "Short-Term Market Volatility Is Not Entirely Random" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.
How Do We Define Socialism? By What It Does—and Does Not—Do
A famous aphorism says, “You cannot hit a target you cannot see,” which expresses a more general truth. We cannot hit what we cannot see, because seeing allows us to discern things of interest from everything else; it focuses on
We Cannot Interpret Economic Data Unless We Know Economic Theory
Logical positivism holds that theory is irrelevant to the empirical results. It is the other way around; One cannot understand or interpret economic data until one has a working economic theory in place. Original Article: "We Cannot Interpret Economic Data Unless