In terms of theatrical impact, the first performance of the Republican majority in the Senate responding to semi-annual testimony from Fed Chair Yellen was a dud. That is bad news for US monetary reform.

The root cause of the theatrical failure is that a winning strategy for monetary revolution has failed to emerge from the Republican ranks. Instead we hear the old tired messages about “auditing the Fed,” “changing the structure of the FOMC,” and adopting a neo-Keynesian rate-fixing “rule.”

John Cochran writes today: 

Yet again, the government wants to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. According to the Obama administration and the FCC, it is necessary to regulate internet service providers so that they don’t interfere with people’s access to the web. The claim immediately prompts one to ask: Who is being denied access to the web?

I want to thank Professors Jeffrey Herbener and Shawn Ritenour for inviting me to give the Ludwig von Mises lecture at the Austrian Student Scholars Conference and for doing such a great job organizing the event. Dr. Lucas Engelhardt (a former Mises Summer Fellow) did a great job giving the Hans Sennholz lecture. I must also say that I was very impressed with the students’ paper presentations. I would also encourage other professor to encourage their students to participate in the event in the future.

Lew Rockwell writes: 

If you’re a libertarian, chances are you find yourself bombarded with objections, or feeling compelled to respond to the barrage of uncomprehending criticism your friends are sharing on social media. Conservatives badger you about war, drugs, even liberty itself, and left-liberals demand to know why you don’t favor redistribution and a Scandinavian welfare state.

I have two suggestions for you, and they both involve new books by Tom Woods.

As a historian, my training is about analyzing the past.  Those times I have strayed into predicting the future, I have failed pretty spectacularly (”Yes, class, I predict that the Berlin Wall will not come down in my lifetime or yours!”--Oct 23, 1989).  

[Originally published February 25, 2015.]

Super tall buildings, or skyscrapers, are being built at an astonishing rate. Ninety-seven buildings that exceed 200 meters (656 feet) high were constructed in 2014, setting a new record. The previous record was eighty-one buildings completed in 2011. The total number of skyscrapers in existence now is 935, a whopping 350 percent increase since the year 2000.