William Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts, has recently announced his intention to run for Vice-President on the Libertarian Party ticket, in concert with Gary Johnson. Weld has been since the 1990s greatly in favor at the Cato Institute, but Murray Rothbard viewed him with disdain. He often referred to Weld in the pages of The Rothbard Rockwell Report, and his remarks had a constant focus. To Rothbard, Weld exemplified a disturbing trend among professed libertarians.
Chapter XV. General Summary
The results of the prolonged inquiry may now be summed up: both the positive conclusions reached in the first part of the volume, and the outcome of the historical and critical chapters of the second part.
Chapter XIV. Contemporary Discussion
It is not the object of the present volume to follow the discussion of the wages fund doctrine at the hands of the many writers of our own time who have expressed their views on the never ending controversy. The varieties of opinion are endless; on no topic in the range of economic theory would it be so difficult to extract any consensus of opinion. But, to understand the stage at which the discussion stands, it will be advantageous to follow two main trains of thought which have become conspicuous and important during the last twenty years.
The country of Venezuela is dangerously approaching hyperinflation. At 2015’s year-end, official figures had yearly inflation at or above 180 percent (some private sector sources estimated it at 330 percent). The technical definition of hyperinflation is when inflation is at 50 percent or more per month, meaning that Venezuela is not yet at this point, but does seem to be approaching at an accelerated pace.
President Johnson has declared an “all-out war on human poverty.” It is a laudable aim. It has, in fact, been the aim of rulers, statesmen, economists, reformers, religious leaders — of every man of goodwill — from time immemorial.
This weekend the Mises Institute is in Seattle for our latest Mises Circle, busting the economic myths we’ve heard throughout this election season. As our friend William Anderson has said, “presidential elections in the United States spawn Really Bad Economic Policies, and 2016 is a vintage year.” Unfortunately we are, today, suffering from the consequences of politicians past.
Denmark has been mentioned a few times during the American election campaign by Democrats who favor larger government and high redistribution of income, but also pundits like Paul Krugman have written about Denmark in his October 19th column at The New York Times.
