[This talk was delivered on January 26, 2013, at the Jeremy S. Davis Mises Circle in Houston, Texas.] In December, it will be 100 years since Congress authorized the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Throughout that century the Fed has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. That’s another way of saying the Fed never appeared on the political
LewRockwell.com, March 2, 2013 It didn’t take long for opponents of the market to pounce after the events of 2008. The crash was said to prove how destructive “unregulated capitalism” could be and how dangerous its supporters were—after all, free-marketeers opposed the bailouts, which had allegedly saved Americans from another Great Depression. In
April 15th is a horrible day, because it sums up all the wealth destruction called taxation that we are subjected to all year long. As Murray Rothbard pointed out, taxation is the worst method of looting us. Inflation is destructive, of course, and it might make a loaf of bread cost $10. But at least you get a loaf of bread. With taxation, you get
Image credit: LibertyManiacs.com The recent opening of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity was a watershed moment in American history. There has never been anything quite like it. Ideologically diverse, the Ron Paul Institute reaches out to all Americans, and indeed to people all over the world, who find the spectrum of foreign-policy
As libertarians attempt to persuade others of their position, they encounter an interesting paradox. On the one hand, the libertarian message is simple. It involves moral premises and intuitions that in principle are shared by virtually everyone, including children. Do not hurt anyone. Do not steal from anyone. Mind your own business. A child will
We’ve just completed another successful Mises University, the summer instructional seminar for students hosted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Interest in Austrian economics continues to grow: we could accept fewer than one-third of qualified applicants. Although the students are widely read, they share a particular fascination with the works
The media’s caricature of libertarians is a pendulum that swings from one extreme to another. One minute we’re grasping plutocrats, championing the privileged, and the next minute we’re losers living in our parents’ basements. Not long ago, Michael Lind adopted the first of these, professing to find it risible that a libertarian might pose as the
A great many people — more than ever, probably — describe themselves as supporters of the free market today, in spite of the unrelenting propaganda against it. And that’s great. Those statements of support, however, are followed by the inevitable but : but we need government to provide physical security and dispute resolution, the most critical
Forty years ago, Ludwig von Mises passed away. I believe he would be happy with what you have helped the Mises Institute accomplish. Looking back on his career, we find so much that deserves comment. His work in Austria that helped avert hyperinflation. His flight from Europe just ahead of the Nazis, who confiscated his papers in Vienna. His
Dear Friends, April 15th is a horrible day, because it sums up all the wealth destruction called taxation that we are subjected to all year long. As Murray Rothbard pointed out, taxation is the worst method of looting us. Inflation is destructive, of course, and it might make a loaf of bread cost $10. But at least you get a loaf of bread. With
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.