Mises Wire

The mainstream National Bureau of Economic Research definition of recessions is of little value. Real saving, not consumer demand, is the real driver behind economic growth.

A “free trade agreement” in practice isn’t simply an index card declaring, “Tariffs on Country X are 0 percent, three cheers for Bastiat!” These are managed trade agreements, with hundreds of pages devoted to detailed regulations that smack of top-down Soviet planning.

"Truth has a power that cannot be touched by physical force. It is impossible to shoot a truth."

Clearly marked prices on private-sector cash-payment surgeries are a great thing. In fact, the competition of for-profit surgery centers drives down prices at more "traditional" (i.e., highly bureaucratized) hospitals.

Some Latin American policymakers seem to think China will offer easy terms for loans and trade agreements. They're wrong. China isn't as rich as many think.

Economic history is possible only because there is an economic theory capable of throwing light upon economic actions. If there were no economic theory, reports concerning economic facts would be nothing more than a collection of unconnected data open to any arbitrary interpretation.

Statistical data is merely history, but a competent historian does not simply let the events speak for themselves. He arranges them according to the ideas underlying the general notions he uses in their presentation. He does not report facts as they happened, but only relevant facts.

Singapore left both the British Empire and Malaysia before finally becoming an independent city. It then proceeded to become one of history's most impressive economic success stories.

Karl Marx agreed with Rothbard that individual rights lead to inequality. For Marx, though, this was an argument against rights.

When governments raise the cost of obtaining a good, many people will opt for buying a higher quality (or more potent) version of the good with each transaction.