In his criticism of imperialist policies in the service of socialism, labor-unionism, and the socialist war economy Ludwig von Mises could not restate many conventional arguments. He faced an unprecedented task in confronting the claim that imperialism can enhance the welfare of a nation. His pioneering analysis brilliantly confirmed Carl Menger’s insight that methodological individualism is able to analyze even large collective phenomena.

Once they manage to get control of a state, socialists quickly set to work increasing state power as much as they can. One of the most useful tools in doing this is centralizing all political power within the state. This makes it easier to put all political power into the hands of the party and to carry out the goals of the socialist state.

One the other hand, laissez-faire liberals have long sought to prevent the accumulation of power in the hands of a few by decentralizing the state and the political system. Frequently, this takes the form of federalism.

Some of the French economists centered around the Journal des Economistes were elected officials. For example, Louis Wolowski was elected to the Assemblée Constitutionelle in 1848;1 so was juge de Paix Frédéric Bastiat.

This week some 80 world dignitaries including Presidents Putin, Trump, and Chancellor Merkel are gathering in France to mark the culmination of year-long remembrances of the centenary of the end of “the Great War” on November 11, 1918 – later labeled and known to every American high school history student as World War I.

On the morning of November 11, 1918, fighter pilot and leading American ace Eddie Rickenbacker quietly ambled to the hangar of his aerodrome in France. The night before, in anticipation of the Armistice, all Allied flights were grounded. But Rickenbacker was not known as a rule-follower. He told his crew to roll out his SPAD XIII fighter plane “and warm it up to test the engines.” He climbed into the cockpit, took off, and headed to the trenches of the Western Front. Low clouds kept him low, around five hundred feet.

The midterm elections continue to play themselves out in various races throughout the country. The fight going on in Florida and Arizona over newly discovered ballots brings to mind the line attributed to Joseph Stalin, “It’s not the people who vote that count, it’s the people who count the votes.”

While it may be too soon to come up with official vote totals for a few senate races, there is one election night conclusion we can be certain about: America needs more states.

Canadian healthcare has become something of a byword for the “ideal” in healthcare among certain activists in the United States. Bernie Sanders, for example, has relentlessly pressed for a Canada-style healthcare system, and many left-of-center Americans advocate for the same.

A New York City federal jury has spoken, and its message is ominous: federal prosecutors are empowered to criminalize actions for which there is no statutory prohibition. To put it another way, the government has pulled criminal charges out of thin air – and journalists are cheering.