This week the world’s attention turned to Rio this week with Brazil’s Olympics games. As the biggest corporatist scam of all time, these games have cost the Brazilian people $12 billion dollars, most of it going to the pockets of the politically well connected. Hopefully the obvious injustice will help spur more Brazilians to follow Rothbard’s example and learn to hate the state. Like their neighbor Venezuela, the Brazilian people will have to choose between capitalism or chaos. Luckily the growing success of Austrian economics in the country still offers it the chance to finally live up to the hype of being “the country of the future.”
Mises Weekends features a Mises U lecture from the great Judge Andrew Napolitano on the real meaning of the 1st amendment. While many protections in the Bill of Rights have been almost completely eviscerated by a lawless federal government, the Judge finds reasons to be optimistic about the current state of free speech in America. In fact, he suggests that 1st Amendment freedoms actually may be expanding—even as much of the Constitution becomes a dead letter. This is a compelling talk you won’t want to miss.
And in case you missed any of them, here are the articles featured this week on the Mises Wire:
- The Real Reason Brazil Can Still Be “the Country of the Future” by Tho Bishop
- Consumer Optimism Is Not the Key to Economic Growth by Frank Shostak
- Police Dept. to Lawmakers: Stop Making New Drug Laws by Ryan McMaken
- Manipulation: The Phony Job Recovery by Ron Paul
- Admiration Does Not Mean Blind Devotion by Matthew McCaffrey
- How the Feds Support Eco-Terrorism by Tate Fegley
- Venezuela Has But One Choice: Capitalism or Chaos by Carmen Elena Dorobăț
- Was Rothbard Really So Intransigent? by Jeff Deist
- The Minimum Wage: Taking Away the Right to Work by Roy Cordato
- Rothbard Loved to Hate the State by David Gordon
- New Labor Productivity Numbers: The Worst in 35 Years by Ryan McMaken
- Coca-Cola, Cronyism, and the War on Drugs by Chris Calton
- Brazil’s Olympics: Cronies Feast while the People Starve by Ryan McMaken
- Beyonce’s “Sweatshop” Helps the Poor and Empowers Women by Brittany Hunter
- Our Economic Malaise Is Impacting Young Workers the Most by Ryan McMaken
- Will the Bubble Pop Even if the Fed Never Raises Rates? by Brendan Brown
