[Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction by Jim Downs. Oxford University Press, 2012; 266 pp.]

In a post on X, Governor Ron Desantis implied his support for a constitutional amendment limiting, or even eliminating property taxes in Florida. He said,

Property taxes are local, not state. So we’d need to do a constitutional amendment (requires 60% of voters to approve) to eliminate them (which I would support) or even to reform/lower them…

We should put the boldest amendment on the ballot that has a chance of getting that 60%…

As the DOGE revelations continue to emerge—revealing everything from the hilarious to the outrageous projects that Americans have been forced to fund—we should not be surprised by the shrieking of the political caste, the castes who benefit from it, or the rare true believer who receives none of this money, is angry at the exposure of this spending, and believes it is necessary and just.

Near the beginning of his ten-hour lecture series on the history of political thought, the great free-market historian Ralph Raico takes a little time to define his terms. In the first lecture he says:

Mises Wire recently ran a story entitled “The Gold at Fort Knox Was Stolen From Americans,” written by Mises Institute‘s executive editor Ryan McMaken. His essay‘s apt title reiterates the facts of the events that occurred in the early days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt‘s first term as president (1933-37).

When the Joe Biden administration announced a comprehensive plan to forgive student loans, the public outrage was palpable. Although only a slight haircut for the government, conservative literati fretted that forgiveness was unfair both to students who repaid their loans and to the taxpayers, who derived no benefit from the Educational Industrial Complex.

Yesterday Rep. Thomas Massie reintroduced legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve.

I just reintroduced “End the Fed.”

Title: Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, HR 1846. 

Americans would be better off if the Federal Reserve did not exist. The Fed devalues our currency by monetizing the debt, causing inflation. pic.twitter.com/0U2NkbBZsX

The ECP (Economic Calculation Problem) is a critique of central planning and why they are inherently doomed to fail. The ECP was put forth by Ludwig von Mises. In it he argues that economic calculation cannot occur in centrally-planned systems due to the lack of a market prices in producer goods. Understanding the ECP is crucial for knowing why planned economies fail while unobstructed market economies succeed.