Mises Wire

Japan’s economy is caught between inflationary monetary policy and powerful agricultural interests. There is no easy way out.

Keynesian orthodoxy claims that cuts in government spending mean less “aggregate demand,” and less “aggregate demand” leads to recessions. Economic experience, however, shows us this is a false theory, something Austrian economists have known for a long time.

The standard line for passenger rail travel in the US is that we need a government-subsidized entity like Amtrak because while there is a “need” for such service, it is impossible to provide it profitably. However, profitable travel is possible, but would require the end of Amtrak itself.

Leftist historians claim that mainstream historic accounts of the Reconstruction Era fail to give black freedmen enough credit for their postwar rebuilding role. If they care about double standards, they should recognize theirs when they don‘t acknowledge black Confederate soldiers.

In normal human affairs, actions like lying, theft, and murder are considered to be immoral and anti-social. However, people are quick to accept those same behaviors from government agents and they will even defend such actions as “necessary” for the “good of society.”

What really happened in Syria? Ruling US elites and Israel have spun the narrative that advocates of democracy were rebelling against a brutal authoritarian regime. The truth is that once again, US policy has made things even worse for Syria.

The recent political firefight over Trumps firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer overshadows the underlying question of why we need the BLS at all. Murray Rothbard noted that government statistics provide the main tools for government economic intervention.

Trump and Wall Street want the Fed to lower the target policy interest rate and fuel more monetary inflation. If Trump gets his way, ordinary people will suffer most.

Americans wrongly believe that the best way to take care of our scenic lands is through government ownership and administration. The reality is that bureaucrats are not good land managers, and certainly not as good as private owners.

Recent crises have highlighted that central banks do not prevent systemic disruption. Often, their interventions have only delayed the reckoning but made crises worse.