The protection of endangered species is an area where most economists claim there is a market failure. Because of this, the majority of people feel that this duty can only be accomplished through government actions. Throughout the world, governments have tried a variety of methods to do so. Among the most popular methods are creating national parks or preserves for the animals and, through law, protecting the animals from being hunted or controlled. In 1966, the United States signed the Endangered Species Preservation Act which listed 78 different species that would be protected.

September 2nd is Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Hans!

Brexit continues to look better and better. Not only has the British economy not collapsed, as was predicted by mainstream economic oracles, but the EU’s own actions continue to destroy the myth that it was primarily a free trade zone and not simply about political power.

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In the most fundamental sense we are all, with each of our actions, always and invariably profit-seeking entrepreneurs.

Today is  Hans Hoppe’s birthday. He is an outstanding libertarian theorist, in the tradition of Murray Rothbard, and his strikingly original work ranges widely over philosophy, history, and economics. Among his many contributions are a defense of self-ownership and property rights through argumentation ethics and a trenchant criticism of democracy.  He is  a scholar of the highest integrity and courage, and all lovers of liberty are in his debt.

In the wake of the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the international left has been calling her impeachment “undemocratic.” 

A typical example comes from the left-wing think tank called the Council on Hemispheric Affairs:

It has now become clear that in many ways the European Union is a cartel of high-tax governments whose goal is to restrain tax competition. The EU’s supposedly free — this is, regulated — trade policy is none other than an excuse to homogenize the tax and regulatory regimes of the nation-states.

You have probably heard of the controversial TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the deal that Hillary Clinton can’t make up her mind on. However, you probably have not heard of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is referred to as a free trade pact between the United States and the European Union. I only recently read about it in European media sources.

Last week it emerged that, for the second time in two weeks, the Bank of England has been unable to buy back enough government bonds to achieve its target. The attempted bond buyback was part of the Bank’s post-Brexit emergency strategy, in which it hoped to execute £60 billion of new quantitative easing (QE) by re-purchasing UK Treasury gilts from private businesses.

One of the most important concepts in economic theory is the quantity of money. However, when going from theory to practical application, things get messy. In the real world, it’s not obvious how to count up the amount of “money” in the economy at any given time.