Small businesses are usually touted as the driving force behind economic growth in modern societies. Throughout the world, politicians earnestly argue that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. In America, there is even an administration dedicated to building the capabilities of small businesses known as the “Small Business Administration.” The SBA oversees a dazzling suite of services to small businesses and is strangely insulated from criticisms.

Recently here on Mises Wire, Sammy Cartagena wrote a brilliant article demonstrating that Two Percent Inflation Is a Lot Worse Than You Think. In it, he demonstrates that the manageable 2 percent inflation year over year we all have gotten used to is a whole lot less manageable than we tend to think.

Could Texas usher in a uniquely decentralized approach to immigration?

Texas governor Greg Abbott recently embarked on a unique policy drive to have the state government lead the charge on immigration policy. It’s no secret that talks of immigration evoke powerful emotions on both sides—another indication of the elevated levels of polarization present in the US.

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Because my economics courses focus on public policy, I often deal with benefit-cost analyses (BCA) in them. While little discussed, the central idea is simply to identify and include all the relevant benefits and costs of a decision, do our best to estimate their values, then choose the option that provides the greatest net benefits. Hardly a radical idea. It can be useful in disciplining our thinking to be more consistent. Benjamin Franklin employed a version of it.

This week, Jordan Peterson released an interview titled, “Is Property Theft?”, with Austrian economist Robert Murphy. The conversation was fast and exciting, with a lot of references to books, articles, and other ideas from Austrian economics thrown in.

Paul Krugman is worried, very worried, that California voters will overturn all of the many progressive gains that the state has made in the past decade when they vote in the September recall election for Gov. Gavin Newsom. If polls are correct, there is the possibility that conservative Larry Elder might replace Newsom. He writes: