Editors note: One of the most important analysis of Ludwig von Mises’s social theory and his views on the origins of human society has been Dr. Joseph Salerno’s Ludwig von Mises as a Social Rationalist. This essay sparked an important debate among scholars within the Austrian school of the ideological differences between Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek, enriching our understanding of the work of both great scholars.
Gary Cohn, chief economic adviser to the President, voiced concern over the weekend about risk posed by Wall Street clearinghouses that became systemically important following the 2008 financial crisis.
On October 11, President Trump tweeted that fake news was such a threat that someone should look into challenging network licenses on that basis. The next day, (October 12) he doubled down in a follow-up tweet that “Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate revoked.”
In 2016, I wrote a piece at mises.org highly critical of inflation targeting. At that time the idea of a 2% inflation target was fast becoming mainstream.
[Part of a series on the Swiss economy and society.]
I discovered an old, obscure study recently that piqued my interests. In 1977, the Police Foundation – a private, non-profit organization dedicated to seeking innovations and improvements in policing — published a study of the San Diego police force entitled “Patrol Staffing in Sand Diego: One- or Two-Officer Units.” The study is a modest one that mostly explores the greater efficiency achieved with police units that only staff one officer per patrol car.
When the economy begins to sink into recession, politicians, mainstream economists, policy wonks, and the Federal Reserve begin beating the economic stimulus drum.
In an eloquent tribute to Murray Rothbard at the Mises event organized in his honor on October 6 and 7, Joe Salerno observed that his subject is still producing books twenty years after his death. Contrary to the misconception that Murray turned away from scholarship toward political advocacy in his later life, Murray, we are assured, wrote serious works in economics and history up until the end of his life—and then furnished even more food for thought after his death.
Delivered at the 35th anniversary of the Mises Institute, October 2017.
