Ron Paul and Mark Spitznagel share a passion for non-interventionism, free markets, and Austrian economics. Congressman Paul served many years as a US Representative from Texas, spanning 1976 to 2013, and was a Republican presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012. He has written extensively on liberty and politics, including The Revolution: A Manifesto and End the Fed. Spitznagel is the founder of Universa Investments, an investment advisor that specializes in tail-hedging, and is the author of The Dao of Capital, for which Paul wrote the Foreword.

On my first day back in the classroom this fall, I was reminded that entrepreneurial alertness applies to ideas and insights as well as profits.

Since the opening chapter of the course’s economics principles text calls Adam Smith the father of economic science, I told my class that he actually had multiple precursors in the study of economics. I mentioned the Spanish scholastics as an example. And having his precursors in mind primed me to discover another one I had been completely unaware of.

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In the most fundamental sense we are all, with each of our actions, always and invariably profit-seeking entrepreneurs.

Thanks to translator Matin Pedram, Rothbard’s Power and Market is now available in a Persian translation.

As has been done for several years, the Mises Institute hosted our annual Auburn University Economics Graduate Student Reception on Friday at our campus next to Auburn University. It was organized by Jonathan Newman (Summer Fellow 2014, Mises U Alum, and Economics Doctoral Student at Auburn).

We all have regrets. But if you find yourself consistently ruing your past decisions, maybe it’s best to rethink your rashness.

Writing in the Financial Times this weekend, Richard McGregor gives some perspective on Americans’ change of heart for wars.

Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel has an interesting Wall Street Journal piece on innovation, firm growth, and market structure, misleadingly titled “Competition Is for Losers.” Thiel’s essay is ostensibly about the defense of “monopoly” -- the large market shares achieved by successful firms — over “competition,” by which he means perfect competition, the neoclassical economist’s fantasy world in which tiny, identical firms exi

Updated: The poll stations in the Swedish general election closed a mere two three hours ago. With about 60% 90% of voting districts already counted, it looks like the voter turnout has increased - and that voters have caused quite a mess in the parliament. No likely constellation of parties will reach a majority of seats in parliament. The parliament’s 349 MPs will be distributed proportionally to represent a total of eight parties.

In a September 11 Bloomberg article, economist Noah Smith claims that Keynes wasn’t a “ ‘socialist’ “or even a “’progressive’.” He did not favor “a command economy.”

Yes he “ was in favor of some amount of wealth redistribution and government intervention into the economy.” But “Keynesian policies are fundamentally . . . about economic stability, . . . about smoothing out the fluctuations in the economy, reducing risk for everyone concerned.”

The Bank of International Settlements has issued a warning that central bank monetary policy has elevated asset prices and reduced market volatility to abnormally low levels.