It may seem unusual that an economist would talk about culture. Usually, we talk about prices and production, quantities produced, employment, the structure of production, scarce resources, and entrepreneurship.

Bernanke blew it big-time, letting the “recovery” run seven years without any significant increase in rates.

It is now painfully obvious that Ben Bernanke blew it big-time by not raising rates three years ago when the economy and markets enjoyed tailwinds. The former Federal Reserve chairperson, who has claimed the mantle of savior of the global economy, foolishly kept rates at zero until tailwinds turned to headwinds, at which point he handed Janet Yellen the unenviable task of raising rates as the headwinds are strengthening.

Venezuela has become the latest developing country to fall for the illusion that socialism delivers genuine and sustainable economic growth. It has had to learn the hard way that while socialism may boost GDP growth in the short run, in the long run it never fails to leave economic destruction in its wake.

The Journal of Libertarian Studies
An Interdisciplinary Review

Volume 22 (2010–2011)

Alfred G. Cuzán
Revisiting “Do We Ever Really Got Out of Anarchy?”

Gerard Casey
Reflections on Legal Polycentrism

Jan Krepelka
A Pure Libertarian Theory of Immigration

Late last week the markets were shocked by a surprisingly bad May jobs report — the worst monthly report in nearly six years. The experts expected the US economy to add 160,000 jobs in May, but it turns out only 38,000 jobs were added. And to make matters worse, 13,000 of those 38,000 were government jobs! Adding more government employees is a drain on the economy, not a measure of economic growth. Incredibly, there are more than 102 million people who are either unemployed or are no longer looking for work.

On the 26th of June, voters here in Spain will face the ballot box for the second time in half a year.

In our proper condemnation of scientism in the study of man, we should not make the mistake of dismissing science as well. For if we do so, we credit scientism too highly and accept at face value its claim to be the one and only scientific method. If scientism is, as we believe it to be, an improper method, then it cannot be truly scientific. Science, after all, means scientia, correct knowledge; it is older and wiser than the positivist-pragmatist attempt to monopolize the term.

This month marks almost 70 years since the NKVD directives for Eastern Europe—discovered and published in Poland in 1981—were penned by Lavrentiy Beria, then head of the KGB’s precursor, following Stalin’s indications.

What is a “non-profit” organization? Are they subject to economic calculation? What can economic theory tell us about their functions?