Most Austrians stop short of following Chicago School economists' advocacy of the "efficient-markets hypothesis" (EMH). In its most extreme form, the EMH becomes a caricature of itself in which asset bubbles are not just unlikely but logically impossible.
In 83 years, all but 20 of Time's Persons of the Year have been political, military, or international leaders. But the world is changing, and people like Zuckerberg are creating that change. While politicians stand in the way of progress, entrepreneurs like Zuckerberg make it.
What's weird is the world of <i>National Review</i>, where it troubles no one to call for huge spending cuts and slashing government at the domestic level while defending the worst form of global imperialism abroad, complete with reflexive defenses of every violation of human rights and liberty.
They say there's no such thing as bad publicity. But even though the <i>New York</i> author, Christopher Beam, tries to be fair to libertarians, in the end he thinks their worldview is wacko. Here is where Beam goes wrong.
Without a dynamic price mechanism — trademark of a money-based, capitalist society — there can be no calculation, and without calculation there can be no advanced division of labor. Our society would be no more advanced than it was during the age of barter.
The famous physiocratic tenet that only land is productive must be considered bizarre and absurd. It is certainly a tremendous loss of insight compared to Cantillon, who identified land and labor as original productive factors, and entrepreneurs as the motors of the market economy.
Mises Daily authors possess a skill held by very few others; they are able to take complex topics and convey them in a form that is accessible, concise, and enjoyable to read. Here are the smash hits of 2010.
