Mises Wire

All polities come to an end sooner or later. The fanciful America-will-last-forever position is something that should seem plausible only to small children or the hopelessly naïve. 

In one region of Venezuela, gold flakes have become the currency of choice in the region, with prices for commodities and services quoted in grams of gold.

Price controls, or antigouging laws, discourage innovation and sometimes can lead to supplies of goods and services being directed to other markets. In other words, price controls lead to shortages.

One mistake we make is to assume that the people who shout the loudest about their research must thus be right, or even know what they’re talking about.

The world of the 2 percent target is something truly new and worse than what came before. It’s not the same old monetary policy with slightly higher inflation targets.

If a businessman pulls a gun on a customer and demands 20 percent more for a product, that is robbery. If a politician intervenes to the same effect, it is fair trade.

No other regime poses any existential threat to the US regime, and because of this the US military has the luxury of engaging in wasteful policies that undermine actual military effectiveness.

Whether through taxes, debt, or inflation, government spending is about ripping off the productive taxpayers. Argentina's inflation and runaway deficits provide a cautionary tale.

There is need to realize that the economic policies of self-styled progressives cannot do without inflation. They cannot and never will accept a policy of sound money.

Thanks to central banks' easy money policies, historically low interest rates and a desperate search for yield have created new danger zones for investors trying to stay out of trouble.