Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has become the third-largest threat to United States national security. It may therefore seem like the ideal strategy to combat this threat would be one that is confrontational and aggressive. However, this approach has proven largely ineffective. The truth is that hawkish policies stressing interventionism only escalates tensions with adversarial foreign powers.

Donald Trump recently addressed top CEOs with a proposal that he sells as helping to reduce income taxes. Trump came out in favor of possibly abolishing income taxation and replacing it with tariffs to finance the federal government. It is likely that the trade-off is simply rhetoric to sell everyone on his protectionist policy, but it is still worth picking apart a critical flaw in the idea regardless.

Natural-rights libertarians reject egalitarianism, regarding it as a revolt against nature. On that premise, the only valid rights are those that give effect to self-ownership and private property. All rights created to give effect to egalitarian values are phony rights, and as Lew Rockwell has explained, “phony civil rights put your life in danger.”

On June 21, 2024, host Mike Maharrey and Mises Institute President Tom DiLorenzo discussed the real beneficiaries of the inflation continually created by the Federal Reserve, how our monetary policy harms savers and the elderly, why gold and silver should be viewed not necessarily as an investment but more as insurance, and why everyone should own this financial insurance.

One of the most legendary figures in the history of the liberty movement was Lysander Spooner (1808–87), a Massachusetts-based lawyer, writer, and political theorist.

The United Kingdom’s political landscape has been rocked once again by yet another scandal. This scandal relates to tainted blood that was given to unsuspecting patients leaving them permanently horribly ill.

In discussions of politics, it is common to see politicians praised for policies and programs that expand the welfare state. Politicians who sign off or approve spending at a greater magnitude than other politicians are often seen as more generous. Many voters are lulled into supporting politicians who spend more at the cost of high taxes because such politicians are often seen as doing “more” than laid-back or fiscally conservative politicians. What supporters of spend-heavy politicians fail to remember is that policies have opportunity costs.

The FDIC added 11 new banks to its Problem List in the first quarter of 2024, bringing the total to 63. The specific banks on this are kept confidential, but the endemic, underlying issues in the commercial banking sector are increasingly obvious.

Why do people watch sports? My mother believes it’s because “people want to be uplifted.” This may explain why many are upset about how basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, who broke the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s and men’s scoring records, is being treated—or mistreated—in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

This article appeared as a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on June 24, 2024, and was made possible by one of our generous donors:

Perhaps nothing in financial news receives more attention than an announcement from the Federal Reserve. About eight times per year, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets to formally decide and announce its plans for monetary policy. Every announcement has the potential to cause a rally, or a rout, in financial markets.