On October 1, the federal government shut down—halting non-essential services after the failure of Republicans and Democrats to pass an appropriations bill. Even after becoming the longest government shutdown in American history, the end was nowhere in sight. It may seem that both parties would want to avoid shutdowns, especially ones lasting that long, to accomplish at least some elements of their agendas rather than waste weeks of a legislative session.
Libertarians talk a lot about the need to weaken—and even to abolish—the state. And rightly so. But a necessary part of opposing the state is building up other institutions that can challenge state power and offer alternatives to the state. That is, if we are to meaningfully undermine the state, it is necessary to encourage, grow, and sustain robust non-state institutions such as churches, families, and private markets. These are the institutions of what the old classical liberals called “civil society.”
In the 1930’s, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) introduced the economic indicators approach to clarify the essence of business cycles. A research team led by W.C. Mitchell and Arthur F. Burns studied about 487 pieces of economic data. The team had concluded that,
Many hold that a growing economy requires a growing money supply in order to provide support to economic growth. This gives the impression that money is the means of sustenance that sustains economic activity. However, money’s main function is to fulfill the role of a medium of exchange. Money itself does not sustain economic activity, rather production, saving, and capital investment.
My recent discussion with Philipp Bagus has reached a saturation point as far as the core issues are concerned. Our readers are now in a position to make up their own minds. Those with eyes to see, they have seen.
It is no secret that the demographic exodus from the Douro is widespread and will continue to plague the region, with declining birth rates and the lack of economic attractiveness for both workers and investors. It is little wonder, then, that people receive some of the lowest wages in the country. Port wine is the heart and soul of the nation’s wine sector, yet the laws regulating it end up harming, rather than benefiting, small wine producers, who are unable to compete with the large houses and estates that receive subsidies and other privileges from the central government.
“Justin was a loyal friend and brave man who bore his suffering with dignity and was indispensable to the cause of keeping our country out of these damnable wars,” Pat Buchanan wrote in 2019 at the news of Justin Raimondo’s passing. Raimondo was a veteran of the old paleoconservative-paleolibertarian John Randolph Club—the brain trust behind the Buchanan ’92 and ’96 campaigns.
