The FCC has finally released its 400 pages of regulations that will be used to exercise federal control of the internet.

Interviewed by Albert Lu, Mark Thornton breaks down NASDAQ’s recent 5000-mark performance, including what’s behind the movement and what it reveals about the possibility of a biotech bubble in our economy. He also discusses the existence of other ongoing bubbles and what we can expect to happen. Dr. Thornton frames his analysis using the Austrian theory of business cycle.

Mark discusses:

Beyond nice wines, warm beaches, and sultry women, Italy is well-known for something less savory — the mafia. It is interesting to understand how such a powerful “machine” managed to enter society in such a strong and meaningful way, but more importantly to grasp its role alongside the central government of Italy. On the one hand, it is easy to state that the mafia and the corrupt economic system it functions within are wrong and unproductive for the country. On the other hand its presence may be of help to a country’s economy, something that is especially true in the case of Italy.

Recently in the Wall Street Journal, Dierdre McCloskey reviewed Thieves of State by Sarah Chayes and A Republic No More by Jay Cost and considers the possibility that corruption, rather than being an aberration of behavior among agents of the state, is actually the regular state of things. In other words, perhaps the state in its very essence is a type of corruption.

Thanks to Schiffgold.com for providing a partial transcript to Jeff Deist’s interview with Jay Taylor. The full audio interview can be found at Mises Weekends. 

The Austrian Economics Research Conference began this morning. Here are some first photos. 

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Conscription (i.e., “the draft”) was ended in the United States more than forty years ago, but it continues to be widely used outside North America and Western Europe. Recently, conscription in Ukraine has become an international issue as the Ukrainian state has reinstated the draft and met with significant opposition in many areas of the country.

Mises Daily Thursday by David Gordon: 

George Kateb’s new book, Lincoln’s Political Thought , is an important addition to Lincoln scholarship. Kateb appears to understand that Lincoln was more of a nationalist than a moral crusader, although Kateb’s conclusions about the Civil War inspire skepticism.

The Austrian Economics Research Conference begins Thursday morning. Listen LIVE. 

The event begins at 9 AM Central Time with the Authors Forum at which authors discuss their new books. That will be followed at 1:15 PM Central time with the Lou Church Memorial Lecture, delivered by John Mueller.