This year’s midterms came at a time when most Americans are poorer than they were two years ago, violent crime is on the rise, and exit polls seemed to unanimously point to voters prioritizing these basic facts over abortion rights and “democracy.” Everything was primed for a Republican red wave to set the table for a potential sixty-seat Senate majority in 2024.

Instead, Republicans underperformed historical midterm trends. The only “red tsunami” was in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis won with the largest margin since 1868.

To many of us, no matter how well versed in history, in political affairs, or in socioeconomic issues, the present conditions in the West, and especially in Europe, can sometimes seem like the plot of a bad movie. It is often said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and what we’re seeing today is a great example of that. Nevertheless, one would have expected that at least some of those in charge of the “big decisions” would have learned something from the mistakes of the past—if not the mistakes of their predecessors, at least their own.

Much is made of the failure of Republicans to make predicted gains in the recent midterm elections, but, as Ryan McMaken has pointed out, Congress plays a much-diminished role in national governance to the point that even had the so-called red wave actually occurred, it is doubtful that much would have changed regarding Joe Biden’s presidency. In fact, most of what Biden has done in his two years in office has been outside of congressional legislative matters.

McMaken points out:

Even as price inflation slows and we move past June’s peak, progressives continue to push the concept of “greedflation”—that this year’s price inflation is caused by corporate greed and price gouging. This is inaccurate, based on bad economics, and it blames a consequence of the problem rather than the problem itself.

Forty years ago, I was worried. I had had the honor of working with Ludwig von Mises. But, not long after his death, the greatest economist and defender of freedom in the twentieth century was being ignored.

Some years before, I had worked for the great Neil McCaffrey at his Arlington House Publishers. One day, I was called into his office and asked, “How’d you like to be Ludwig von Mises’s editor?”

The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released new price inflation data today, and according to the report, price inflation during the month decelerated slightly, but remained near 40-year highs. According to the BLS, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose 7.7 percent year over year during October, before seasonal adjustment.

Dear Friend,

In the midst of this busy Christmas season, I want to make sure you received our year-end letter from Lew Rockwell.

If you already responded, thank you! But if not, will you take a minute today to make your most generous contribution and support the Mises Institute?

We are all thankful to have the political season of 2022 over, but now the 2024 presidential election looms like a bad moon. The midterms solved nothing and brought no relief to a divided and angry America.