The Experts’ “Zero Covid” Plan Was a Total Failure
The Chinese regime is doubling down in its “zero covid” strategy. In recent weeks, new covid cases have been detected in several cities. In a world of the more-contagious omicron variant, this is to be expected. But what has been the
Global Governance versus Freedom and Free Enterprise
When assailing global governance, pundits rarely comment on its impact on small countries. Yet the degree to which small countries are ignored by global institutions—like the G7, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank—helps to illustrate how institutions of
When Higher Prices Are Not Inflation
Back to 2020, the federal government’s covid-mandated shutdown of meat production plants hobbled the nation’s meat production capabilities, leaving farmers with nowhere to send their beef. This resulted in them having to cull cattle and other livestock. The uncertainty caused
Stop Pretending Price Inflation Is a Result of “Too Much” Profit
Some commentators attribute the latest sharp increase in the Consumer Price Index to businesses pushing prices of goods higher in order to secure higher profits. (See the New York Times article “Democrats Blast Corporate Profits as Inflation Surges,” January 3, 2022). Note
Isaiah Berlin on Negative Freedom
One of the best-known and most influential present-day treatments of liberty is that of Sir Isaiah Berlin. In his Two Concepts of Liberty, Berlin upheld the concept of "negative liberty"—absence of interference with a person's sphere of action—as against "positive
The Problem with Guilds: They’re Monopolistic and Wasteful
Economists have illuminated our understanding of guilds in medieval Europe, but we still know rather little about their functions in other parts of the world, especially Africa. In the West, the approach has been to question the relevance of guilds
The State of Austrian Economics
To kick off the New Year, Jeff recently had the opportunity to address a Discord channel dedicated to Austrian Economics. His talk focused on the state of economics generally, whether the profession is serving society, how economists failed us throughout
Solving the “Problem” of Free Riding
With the almost constant statist apologetics we hear from many government and academic economists1 it is hard to believe that the discipline of economics was once a thorn in the side of the state and its political elite. So commonplace are
Rothbard on Immoral Choices
In a section of Power and Market called “The Problem of Immoral Choices,” Murray Rothbard considers an important objection to the free market, and I’d like in this week’s column to consider some of the points he raises. To understand where
Colonialism Isn’t the Source of Latin America’s High Inequality
Income inequality in Latin America is appallingly high, with the richest 10 percent of the population controlling 54 percent of national income. According to the 2021 Regional Human Development Report's “Trapped High Inequality and Low Growth in Latin America and the