Governmental Inevitability: Reply to Holcombe
Holcombe (2004) has written an interesting and challenging but ultimately fallacious essay on government. In his view, this institution is “unnecessary, but inevitable.” I heartily agree with the former contention, but adamantly reject the latter. Worse is the implication for
Kropotkin’s Ethics and the Publc Good
In Kropotkin's pamphlet on Anarchist Morality, he applauded the empiricist philosophers of the 18th-century Enlightenment for rejecting religious interpretations of human action and adopting an account that made the quest of pleasure and avoidance of pain the source of human
Four Myths about Money That Ought to Die Forever
With the possible exception of international trade, no topic in economics contains more myths than monetary theory. In the present article I address four popular opinions concerning money that suffer from either ambiguity or outright falsehood. One: "Money represents a claim
Ayn Rand
Tibor Machan's Ayn Rand aims to provide an introduction to Ayn Rand's thought for "a broader readership who may have heard of Rand but not examined her ideas in detail." He portrays himself as an admirer, but not as a
From the Editors
On March 2, 1966, Murray N. Rothbard, the founder and twenty-year editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies, would have celebrated his seventieth birthday. This issue of the JLS, as well as a simultaneously appearing special issue of its sister
Let’s Level the Playing Field between the Dollar and Competing Currencies
To be a reliable and useful medium of exchange, money must be durable, portable, divisible, and recognizable, but also scarce. The privileged power of the state to manipulate the scarcity of money has had disastrous consequences for national currency systems
Biden’s Family Leave Is Yet Another Attack on the Family
Only a bureaucrat would assume that putting a small child in public school is just as effective as keeping the child at home with a parent. Unfortunately for Biden, the research isn’t on his side. Original Article: "Biden's Family Leave Is
Inflation Is Popular. It’s Great If You’re Already Rich.
The 4.2 percent Consumer Price Index (CPI) bounce for April sent a chill through some traders and financial commentators who had expected a tamer number like a 3.6 or 3.9 percent from last year’s covid price level air pocket. The MarketWatch headline
What Does “Seasonally Adjusted” Mean?
According to mainstream thinking, economic slumps are caused by various shocks. This means that these slumps are caused by unexpected events, which by implication are not known beforehand. Obviously if causes behind various shocks cannot be known in advance, it
Boom to Bust: How Inflation Turns into Deflation
Seemingly endless amounts of fiscal and monetary stimulus will keep prices rising in the near term. But if the banking sector and other bubble industries weaken, we will eventually see deflation as new loan activity lessens. Original Article: "Boom to Bust: