[This article is taken from the introduction to The Bastiat Collection .] “And now I would appeal with confidence to men of all schools, who prefer truth, justice, and the public good to their own systems. Economists! Like you, I am the advocate of LIBERTY; and if I succeed in shaking some of these premises which sadden your generous hearts,
In the fall semester of 1980 I discovered the word libertarian . One of my dorm mates knocked on my door and told me to come see what was on his television. It was a Ed Clark for president advertisement in which Clark said that he was the Libertarian candidate for president and gave a description of what that meant. My friend and I were on the
The Free Market 29, no. 4 (April 2011) If we were to take the greatest economists from all ages and judge them on the basis of their theoretical rigor, their influence on economic education, and their impact in support of the free-market economy, then Frédéric Bastiat would be at the top of the list. As Murray N. Rothbard noted: “Bastiat was
“A return to Austrian School tenets, both in capital theory and in monetary theory, and also in business-cycle theory, is absolutely needed.” The Stock Market, Credit and Capital Formation by Fritz Machlup (1931, 1940): translated from a revised version of the German edition by Vera C. Smith (a pdf file). Read an interview with Machlup in the
The Origin of Economic Theory: A Portrait of Richard Cantillon (1680–1734) Many crucial Austrian insights have been found in the economics of Irish banker Richard Cantillon (1680–1734) and his lone surviving publication, Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General . It seems clear that Cantillon was an important influence on the development of
I just had a long conversation with a longtime member of the Mises Institute. We discussed the economy, gold investments, and the great Burt Blumert. I thought it would be worthwhile to post Burt’s Wikipedia entry here for both all the people who admired Burt and younger members and scholars who did not have the pleasure of knowing Burt. He was a
Dr. Tracy Miller, an economist at Grove City College was a graduate student of Gary Becker at the University of Chicago. Dr. Miller provides a sketch of Becker’s contributions as well as some personal reminiscences of Becker as a professor: Unlike some other professors I had in graduate school, I never recall Becker using offensive language in the
Volume 13, Number 3 (Fall 2010) A symposium was held in San Antonio, Texas at the Southern Economic Association convention in November of 2009. This issue consists largely of papers based on the lectures given at the symposium. During the symposium, the subject was the current economic crisis. Thornton, Mark. “Symposium Introduction: America’s
Volume 21, Number 2 (Summer 2001) Mark Thornton is interviewed about Government intervention and the War on Drugs.
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.