One needn’t read very much about public policy before coming across some statement to the effect that “bad economics makes good politics.” This statement is clearly untrue when good politics is defined as furthering mutually beneficial arrangements, as good economics is central to that task. But the statement is often true when good politics is defined as attracting 50%-plus-one votes on some issue or candidate, which is a much different standard, leaving plenty of room for government-imposed harms to be imposed on citizens.

[This series of four articles is a condensation of chapters in Human Action, by Ludwig von Mises, which deal with various forms of government interference with the free market. They were published in the Wall Street Journal, December 12, 13, 14, 15, 1949, and were recently found in a folder of newspaper clippings collected by Murray Rothbard. There is no byline or author name connected to the series.]

Noah Smith, writing in Bloomberg, says that middle class America has indeed been fleeced by our national economic policies. We agree. But which policies have been responsible?

Last week, founder and CEO of Amazon.com Jeff Bezos surpassed Warren Buffet to become the second richest man in the world. His net worth is now estimated to be $75.6 billion dollars. If Amazon continues its upward trend, it won’t be long before Bezos surpasses the software giant as the wealthiest man on the planet.

After months of calling for trade wars, more military spending, and a more aggressive drug war, the Trump administration has now followed up his administration’s expanding use of drone strikes in several countries with an escalation of military force in Syria.

It’s difficult to see where all this will lead, but it is sure to lead in part to more government debt, more spending, and more demands for increased government power, increased taxes, and increased inflation of the money supply.

[Editor’s Note: This is part 5 of a multi-part series.]

On April 6 — a hundred years ago —  the United States declared war on Germany.

The history of America’s entry into the Great War is complex and profound. It has intrinsic drama, no matter what one’s attitude about the rights and wrongs of U.S. participation in the war--and there have been many.

In spite of centuries of sound economic theory describing the benefits of free trade, we continue to hear two objections to free trade. We even sometimes hear these from friends who consider themselves generally to be in favor of free trade, even unilateral free trade.