Ryan McMaken

Ryan McMaken (@ryanmcmaken) is editor in chief at the Mises Institute, a former economist for the State of Colorado, and the author of two books: Breaking Away: The Case of Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities and Commie Cowboys: The Bourgeoisie and the Nation-State in the Western Genre. He is also the editor of The Struggle for Liberty: A Libertarian History of Political Thought. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy, finance, and international relations from the University of Colorado. Send in your article submissions for the Mises Wire and Power and Market, but read article guidelines first.

Ryan is a cohost of the Radio Rothbard podcast and the Loot & Lobby podcast, has appeared on Fox News and Fox Business, and has been featured in a number of national print publications including Politico, The Hill, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post.

He’s been married for 26 years and has four children.

Journalists seeking comment: Email Ryan at rwmcmaken@mises.org.

Articles

Money Supply Growth Surges to Multi-Year High as The Fed Loosens Policy

12/05/2025 Mises Wire Ryan McMaken

The money supply has accelerated over the past three months and is now at the highest rate of growth seen in 40 months—since July of 2022.

Federal Interest Payments Surge to New Highs as Trump Spending Rises Yet Again

12/03/2025 Power & Market Ryan McMaken

We are unlikely to see any significant departure from the overall trend of rising spending and deficits.

Stop the Drive to War with Venezuela

12/03/2025 Mises Wire Ryan McMaken

Trump’s position on this reminds us of Madeleine Albright’s famous complaint: “What’s the point of having this superb military that you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?”

Publications

Breaking Away: The Case for Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities

10/13/2022 Ryan McMaken

Breaking Away differs from countless other books on secession and decentralization in that it considers examples and benefits of secession and radical decentralization in a much broader historical, geographical, and theoretical context. This book is

Commie Cowboys: The Bourgeoisie and the Nation-State in the Western Genre

01/11/2016 Ryan McMaken

The Western genre has long been associated with right-wing and libertarian politics, and is said to promote individualism and free-market economics. In a new look at the Western, however, Ryan McMaken shows that the Western is in fact often anti

Media

Why Does Trump Want War with Venezuela?

12/05/2025 Ryan McMaken

The US regime is gearing up for another war. Get ready for another regime-change disaster like we got in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria.

John Mearsheimer and Europe’s Bleak Future

12/05/2025 Ryan McMaken Zachary Yost

This week Ryan and Zachary Yost take a look at international relations scholar John Mearsheimer's claim that Europe faces a bleak future as the United States pivots away from NATO. Can Europe thrive without American taxpayers' money?

War Drums for Venezuela and the Financialization of College Football

12/04/2025 Tho Bishop Ryan McMaken Connor O'Keeffe

On this episode of Power and Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho discuss military escalation with Venezuela, more troubling jobs data, and how college football offers an example of how financialization, politicalization, and bad economy theory can undermine great American traditions.