According to the writings of Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises, the driving force of interest rate determination is individual’s time preferences. What is this all about?

As a rule, people assign a higher valuation to present goods versus future goods. This means that present goods are valued at a premium to future goods.

This stems from the fact that a lender or an investor gives up some benefits at present. Hence, the essence of the phenomenon of interest is the cost that a lender or an investor endures.

On this Mises wrote,

Merry Christmas from everyone at the Mises Institute. After a year dominated by the political pageant, we hope your holidays are dedicated to what’s most important: family, friends, and communities that transcend the pettiness of politics.

Terror attacks, civil wars, and political upheaval around the world are clear signs that debate about immigration isn’t going to disappear any time soon. However, troubled times can also be a good opportunity to revisit our basic arguments and assumptions about controversial issues. They’re also a way to remind ourselves of how much we can still learn from great scholars like Mises.

 Annali D’Italianistica, “Speaking Truth to Power: From Medieval to Modern Italy.” Volume 34, 2016. Edited by Jo Ann  Cavallo and Carlo Lottieri.

Ludwig von Mises truly was an intellectual giant among men. He was perhaps the greatest economist of the twentieth century, and a tireless advocate for political liberalism and laissez-faire. Human Action, his magnum opus, stands among the truly great works of social science. But his work, based on the study of human action, transcends both economics and social theory.

Say what you want about the Obama economy, but one aspect of it must be stated up front:  It was the “Happy Time” of crony capitalism. I know this statement departs from the glowing narrative being promoted by mainstream sources, but facts are facts. Maybe Obama’s was left-cronyism, whereas Bush pushed a right one, but no matter. Crony capitalism has done well since 2009.

Much talk has been made lately about the Left’s recent defeats in countries throughout Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela most notably.

When I first met Henry Hazlitt, I was, of course, in awe. After all, a birthday gift of Economics in One Lesson had changed my life.

I was then an editor at Arlington House Publishers, where I worked with Mises. Arlington brought Hazlitt back into print, and published his new works as well. He was 73, I was 24. Little did I suspect that this extraordinary man still had 20 years of work to do.

Anonymous leakers at the CIA continue to make claims about Russia and the 2016 election. In response to demands to provide evidence, the CIA has declined to offer any, refusing to meet with Congressional intelligence committees, and refusing to issue any documents offering evidence. Instead, the CIA, communicating via leaks, simply says the equivalent of ”trust us.”

Not troubled by the lack of evidence, many in the media and in the Democratic party have been repeating unsubstantiated CIA claims as fact.