In honor of Valentine’s Day, here is a touching tribute by Margit von Mises to her husband. To Margit, Ludwig’s dearest quality was not his great wisdom, but his passion for humanity. 

One of the most common debates that has occurred in the United States for the past six decades is the discussion of the poverty rate. As the narrative goes, the US has an unusually high poverty rate compared to equivalent nations in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

How many times have you heard that higher taxes mean greater social welfare and economic development? The statement is backed up by a touch of popular wisdom: “More taxes, more public services.” Almost incontestable empirical evidence is also cited: with very few exceptions, the richest countries’ tax rates are very high, whereas taxes in poor countries are relatively low.

This article analyzes the statistical relationships that suggest that high tax burdens (government revenue/GDP) are linked to a high level of development (measured by GDP per capita).

Thank to Thorvaldur Gylfason for pointing out his 2009 article examining the economic implications of Iceland’s small population of only about three hundred thousand people.

Gylfason noted how Icelandic politicians have claimed that the country’s small population was “our most serious social evil,” and that the critical mass for a well-functioning society must be much larger than was currently available.

But Gylfason notes:

Income inequality has been a hot topic for some time and it is a driving factor in the desire for economic policy reform across the globe. An uneven distribution of income seems to justify a top-down solution if it redistributes unfair allocations of wealth. This, however, is not a clever strategy as the focus should instead be on what type of economic policies increase the well-being and individual freedoms of all, not just the elite.

Today the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing for President Trump’s two most recent Federal Reserve nominees. In one chair sat Christopher Waller, vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, whose dreadfully dull answers could have been the product of a bot forced to watch one thousand hours of central bank testimony. Luckily for those watching, most of the questions were directed towards the far more intriguing—and controversial—Judy Shelton.

Socialist ideas have taken a hold on some of the more progressive members of the Democratic Party, namely Senator Bernie Sanders. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, however, may provide Senator Sanders with a reason for concern. Although 40 percent of Democratic primary voters express positive views of socialism, only 19 percent of all voters express the same positivity.

[Conceived in Liberty: The New Republic, 1784–1791. By Murray N. Rothbard. Edited by Patrick Newman. Mises Institute, 2019. 332 pages.]

Last summer when we were both at Mises University, Peter Quiñones and I sat down in the studio and talked about immigration for a full hour. I think we’ve provided enough to annoy both open borders people and hard-core restrictionists. I cover the horribleness of border guards, the unconvincing nature of economic arguments against immigration, Ludwig von Mises’s highly practical views of immigration policy, and the real political and sociological issues potentially raised by large-scale migration.