Cato’s Tom Bell is starting up the “Simon Market in Science Claims.” From what I can gather, it will orchestrate a market for “idea futures” in various environmental claims. (It’s named, of course, in honor of Julian Simon’s famous bet with Paul Ehrlich.) I suppose the idea is a good one, but I think Bell is a bit optimistic when he says his group
No, I’m not linking to somebody’s silly article on this topic, so that we can all make fun of him. For a few years now I’ve thought there were a few uncomfortable problems with subjective value theory (in the Austrian tradition, the only one with which I’m familiar), and Stephan Kinsella’s recent concerns about profit (on a private email list)
I was sitting in my wife’s intro to philosophy class a while ago, and the professor was reviewing their first exam. He chided the students for relying on cutesy arguments against certain positions such as the following: “Relativism must be wrong, because if nothing is true or false, what of relativism?” The professor warned the students that such
I’ve been corresponding with a reader (R. Nelson) who says he once was a fervent free trader but has now lost the faith. Specifically, he claims that the US, Japan, Germany, and (if memory serves) other countries all grew rich behind protectionist walls, while Great Britain (he claims) lost its preeminence due to free trade. Of course, I’ve tried
This is an entertaining work that will surely promote Austrian ideas. It illustrates the Rothbardian (versus the Hayekian) strategy of appealing to the masses, not trying to work through the
I realize this is silly, but it was too funny to pass up. Check out this Bob Murphy homepage . The guy is me, except for his middle initial and, oh yeah, he’s against tax cuts, pro inflation, and pro-minimum
Paul Poenicke, a student from my honors seminar on Spontaneous Order, sent me this Slate article concerning the “unorganized” and surprisingly efficient market in “green gold” out of Kenya. A quote from the end of the article: Miraa is certainly a striking example of business ingenuity rising to meet formidable challenges. The chemicals that give
Is the Mafia like a state that uses violence to enforce its agenda? Or is it more like a private business that specializes in the market provision of security? Robert Murphy reviews a book on the topic by Diego Gambetta and concludes that the author has everything right except the fundamental analytics concerning what distinguishes public and
Whenever people whine about the need for government-funded student loans, I always wonder why there aren’t easier private routes. Well, there’s MyRichUncle. I haven’t researched this, so maybe it’s not truly private sector, but on the surface it appears to be a pretty straightforward scheme to foster mutually advantageous
In some of my circles I hear a lot about the wickedness of business concentration and the terrible fate of the small businessman or shop owner in a free economy. Here’s an interesting argument to the contrary in the world of publishing. It turns out that Amazon.com, a veritable behemoth, is the best thing that ever happened to small publishers! We
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.