Thanks to the generous support of Joe and Tracy Matarese, attendees heard a series of talks that dug into the root causes of America’s healthcare crisis.

The Misesian: First, what was it like seeing a book that you edited, Murray Rothbard’s The Progressive Era, referenced in one of Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court opinions this cycle?

Patrick Newman: That was definitely a surprise. I was certainly thrilled. It’s great that Rothbard is getting this type of exposure for his history, being appreciated not just by Austrian economists but by a Supreme Court justice.

From the Friday, August 21, 2026 print edition:

The Fed and the others became not market makers of last resort, but leveraged buy-and-hold investors of last resort, a completely different thing. A market maker is constantly buying and selling. The Fed was only buying, not selling, in order to push up the price of the securities and to drive down their yields. A market maker is in it to make money on the bid-asked spread; the Fed created giant leveraged naked long positions that might, and then did, lose vast amounts of money.

The Declaration of Independence: A Racial Experiment in Liberty
Bradley J. Birzer
American Institute for Economic Research, 2026, xv + 259 pp.

The Israeli government-funded ad revenue appears to operate in a gray area, but it seems Tel Aviv is exploiting loopholes to funnel money to Cruz’s political war chest. 

The US and Japanese bond markets have become increasingly intertwined in recent years as investors grapple with rising government debt and greater volatility.

Besides blistering heat, continued conflict in the Middle East, and World Cup controversy (even the US is getting into it), summer 2026 has brought spirited discourse on higher-education social media (yes, it exists).

The recent lurch to the left in Democratic primaries has raised the issue of extending Medicare to all Americans. Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has weighed in on this issue. As is often the case, Krugman demonstrates detailed knowledge of individual facts concerning the issue at hand, yet manages to arrive at false conclusions.

Support for taxing wealth rather than income has surged in American political discourse. Progressive lawmakers have floated federal wealth tax proposals for years, and the idea has now migrated to the state level in dramatic fashion.