Recently in the Wall Street Journal, Dierdre McCloskey reviewed Thieves of State by Sarah Chayes and A Republic No More by Jay Cost and considers the possibility that corruption, rather than being an aberration of behavior among agents of the state, is actually the regular state of things. In other words, perhaps the state in its very essence is a type of corruption.

Thanks to Schiffgold.com for providing a partial transcript to Jeff Deist’s interview with Jay Taylor. The full audio interview can be found at Mises Weekends. 

The Austrian Economics Research Conference began this morning. Here are some first photos. 

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Conscription (i.e., “the draft”) was ended in the United States more than forty years ago, but it continues to be widely used outside North America and Western Europe. Recently, conscription in Ukraine has become an international issue as the Ukrainian state has reinstated the draft and met with significant opposition in many areas of the country.

Mises Daily Thursday by David Gordon: 

George Kateb’s new book, Lincoln’s Political Thought , is an important addition to Lincoln scholarship. Kateb appears to understand that Lincoln was more of a nationalist than a moral crusader, although Kateb’s conclusions about the Civil War inspire skepticism.

The Austrian Economics Research Conference begins Thursday morning. Listen LIVE. 

The event begins at 9 AM Central Time with the Authors Forum at which authors discuss their new books. That will be followed at 1:15 PM Central time with the Lou Church Memorial Lecture, delivered by John Mueller. 

[Lincoln’s Political Thought, by George Kateb. Harvard University Press, 2015. Xv + 236 pages]

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There’s an interesting story in the news about my hometown of Fort Collins, and how its growing craft beer scene is threatened by intellectual property disputes.

The Austrian is unapologetically radical and politically incorrect. Each issue will feature provocative articles by cutting-edge libertarian and Austrian thinkers, conversational interviews with leading business people and intellectual entrepreneurs, reviews by David Gordon, and cultural commentary by guest writers. It is published six times a year and replaces The Free Market (1983–2013).

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