CNBC recently organized a town hall with an individual they dubbed “Our Nation’s CEO.” Readers who don’t watch much CNBC might be inclined to think CNBC bestowed this title upon one of the country’s great businessmen or innovators. Sadly, CNBC was referring not to a great entrepreneur but to President Barack Obama. With the country’s confidence
This piece on the results of Dell’s August 12 annual shareholder meeting & vote highlights some interesting contrasts between American democracy and corporate democracy. “In this week’s annual shareholder meeting, more than 25% of the voting shares withheld Dell’s eponymous founder from re-election. While a 75% majority would be a crushing triumph
To be sure, Matt Taibbi is wrong about a lot of things. He is dead on with respect to Quantitative Easing. Writes Taibbi in his RS blog post The Fed’s Magic Money-Printing Machine : A more overtly anticapitalist and oligarchical pattern of behavior than the Fed’s “Quantitative Easing” program could not possibly be imagined, but the country is
Diehard lefty and Hugo Chavez admirer, Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money did a segment about gold on his show Thursday night. He told his viewers––which he calls Cramericans––that the yellow metal is a currency rather than a commodity and it could reach $2,000 an ounce or more. video
This great piece in the WSJ reflects what Austrians have been saying for decades. There is no need for governments to break up natural monopolies, the market will take care of that when the consumers’ needs aren’t being fulfilled. According to the article, cork producers had a huge monopoly and weren’t responsive to complaints about “corked
SPDR Gold Trust has surpassed the monumental $50 billion mark in terms of assets (gold). Recognizing that gold is a long-term investment which may stabilize wealth by mitigating the risk of falls in other asset classes, investors in GLD have made it one of the fastest growing ETFs globally. As of June 25, 2010, assets under management in the trust
Forbes published this surprising piece by John Tamny. I sure hope he is right. French economist Jacques Rueff once said “Tomorrow, to save man, we will give him a real currency.” For a world that has suffered nearly 40 years of economy-retarding currency instability, that tomorrow is very near. If history is any kind of indicator, by 2013 we’ll
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose .4% last month. This inflation is exactly what Austrians would expect to result from Helicopter Ben running his dollar-printing presses at full speed. Though everyone who buys things should be concerned about this inflation in finished goods, the talking heads
Reuters reports that an entrepreneur in Dubai is now offering 24-carat gold tattoos. For $50 you can get one of the more simple designs but more elaborate ones go for $5,500. The gold body art reportedly lasts for about a week. Gold is becoming wildly popular and people are finding ever more creative and interesting uses for the malleable yellow
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.