Mises Wire

Gold was only included in the plans for the Bretton Woods system because of the veneer of solidity it gave.

Fifty years after Nixon closed the gold window, prices are heading toward 1970s-era increases. Yet the Fed cannot increase interest rates as long as the politicians keep creating billions of new debts.

Governments are seeking to mandate vaccine usage in a variety of ways, even while vaccine producers are shielded from full legal accountability should their treatments cause harm. That should raise some red flags. 

Victor Davis Hanson's cartoonish conception of how foreign states act is not supported by history and contributes to the US government’s insane defense expenditures and destructive crusades around the globe. 

In a “post-totalitarian” period, power does not simply originate from a singular dictator, but rather conscripts the population into its very structure.

There is no reason to expect the Afghanistan debacle to humble Washington policymakers. Korean War fiascos were swept under the rug, paving the way for the Vietnam War. The cycle didn't end there.

Even at a "mere" two-percent level, cumulative price increases over time are nothing to scoff at. Even worse, if we look at what people really spend money on, price inflation doesn't much reflect the conclusions of "official" stats.

It's not just the civilian politicians. For twenty years, the military itself pressed for more war, endlessly claiming that victory was right around the corner. 

Nixon’s closing the gold window should be seen as the end of the last remnant of the gold standard, not some kind of market failure. Governments controlled most of the gold and set its price.

Most Egyptians have lived their whole lives in a country where the government heavily subsidizes bread prices. But now the deeply indebted Egyptian state faces some tough choices, and Egypt's poor may suffer the most.