What Mises Did for Me
I first met Professor, Mises some 51 years ago.
Economic Truths That Endure
It’s been thirty years since my graduate school teacher of economic theory died, and as I again look over his writings that spanned more than a quarter century, I am reminded how relevant they are to the issues of our day. Some truths are enduring.
What Romance Can Tell Us About Government Regulation
Dating is perhaps the freest “market” in the United States today, and its lack of regulation can teach us powerful lessons about the flaws inherent in government regulation.
Most people recognize the absurdity of trying to regulate romantic relationships. What many don’t realize is that this absurdity stems not from the nature of these relationships, but from the nature of state intervention. For the same reasons that regulating dating would be counter-productive, regulating many consumer choices is unwise.
The “Natural Interest Rate” Is Always Positive and Cannot Be Negative
Judge Napolitano on Self-Ownership and ‘National Defense
Who Owns the North Pole?
The battle for the North Pole is snowballing between national governments along the Arctic Circle, as they all have their eyes set on the vast natural resources residing in the Arctic region. Indeed, it’s estimated the Arctic Ocean floor contains 22 percent of all unused oil and natural gas in the world — the largest remaining untapped concentration.
Mises Daily Monday: A Portrait of the Classical Gold Standard
Mises Daily Monday by Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna:
While not at all perfect, the classical gold standard of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century facilitated some of the greatest leaps in economic prosperity ever witnessed. Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna surveys the views of central bankers and economists of the time.
D. Voluntary Contribution to Government
A few writers, disturbed by the compulsion necessary to the existence of taxation, have advocated that governments be financed, not by taxation, but by some form of voluntary contribution. Such voluntary contribution systems could take various forms. One was the method relied on by the old city-state of Hamburg and other communities—voluntary gifts to the government. President William F. Warren of Boston University, in his essay, “Tax Exemption the Road to Tax Abolition,” described his experience in one of these communities:
(3) Sacrifice Theory
Another attempted criterion of just taxation was the subject of a flourishing literature for many decades, although it is now decidedly going out of fashion. The many variants of the “sacrifice” approach are akin to a subjective version of the “ability-to-pay” principle.
