Following Monday’s historic stock market downturn, many politicians and so-called economic experts rushed to the microphones to explain why the market crashed and to propose “solutions” to our economic woes. Not surprisingly, most of those commenting not only failed to give the right answers, they failed to ask the right questions.

This article is a selection from a June 19 presentation at a lunchtime meeting of the Grassroot Institute in Honolulu at the Pacific Club. The talk was part of the Mises Institute’s Private Seminar series for lay audiences. To schedule your own Private Seminar with a Mises Institute speaker, please contact Kristy Holmes at the Mises Institute.

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. He is  a scholar of the highest integrity and courage, and all lovers of liberty are in his debt.

This talk by Mises Institute President Jeff Deist was delivered on June 19, 2015 at a lunchtime meeting of the Grassroot Institute in Honolulu at the Pacific Club. The talk was part of the Mises Institute’s Private Seminar series for lay audiences. To schedule your own Private Seminar with a Mises Institute speaker, please contact Kristy Holmes at the Mises Institute.

Joseph Salerno appeared today on Ron Paul’s Liberty Report.

For more on this topic, see:

Salerno’s interview on Mises Weekends,

“The International War on Cash“ by Joseph Salerno

“Why Government Hates Cash“ by Joseph Salerno

Bloomberg today reports on the War on Cash, which we’ve covered rather extensively at mises.org. The author, Mark gilbert, concludes by calling for “ a cease-fire in the cash war.” Gilbert writes:

The controversy over the name of a mountain in Alaska helps to illustrate just how absurd rule from DC can be, and exhibits for all to see the fundamental problem that arises when people think it is the business of a centralized government to decide even the tiniest local matters thousands of miles away.

The “Skyscraper Curse” describes the eerie connection between record-breaking skyscrapers and global economic crises. There are no true skyscrapers being built in Auburn, Alabama, home of Auburn University. But, there has been a great deal of building big and tall.

Luxury student apartment building leads the way, followed by high-end restaurants, and retail space. Two student apartment buildings were torn down this past week to make room for yet more building. The city government is also spending truckloads of money on street improvements and a state-of-the-art high school.

The Canadian government reports that Canada was in recession during the first half of 2015. The Canadian economy is especially sensitive to to movements in the oil price given the prevalence in oil extraction in the economy of late, but recession in Canada is a reason for concern among other advanced economies.

That’s what John Mueller argues in the latest issue of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.