President Trump hosted Elon Musk for a farewell press conference on Friday. Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team savvily exposed federal follies and spurred over $100 billion in canceled federal contracts and cutbacks. It remains to be seen whether Congress will codify the DOGE spending cuts. Even if that happens, the “savings” will practically vanish in the tsunami of new deficit spending championed by Trump—up to $4 trillion in the next decade.

Whatever one may think of the Catholic Pope’s religious authority, the fact remains that the Papacy—also known as the Holy See—in spite of several centuries of decline in prestige, is an international institution that is difficult to ignore. There are good reasons, after all, why the heads of state from major global powers choose to meet with the Pope and with his representatives. In spite of lacking any significant military force or sizable territory, the Papacy exercises what the Americans like to call “soft power.”  

The Misesian: How did you discover Austrian economics, and what led you to the Mises Institute?

Łukasz Jasiński: When I finished my degree at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (Poland), I remember I was very disappointed because I studied economics and wasn’t satisfied with mainstream economics. After a few years, I accidentally discovered two books by Henry Hazlitt. This is how my fantastic journey with the Austrian School began.

Defending Dixies’s Land: What Every American Should Know About the South and the Civil War
Isaac C. Bishop
Published by the author, 2023

It is widely held that a growing economy requires a growing money supply, because economic growth gives rise to a greater demand for money. It is also believed that failing to accommodate the increase in the demand for money, will lead to a decline in the prices of goods and services. This, in turn, could destabilize the economy and produce an economic recession or depression.

It’s not physicians that are running public health. Maybe I have a vested interest in making that statement, but it’s true.

It’s the master of public health awardees who are running public health. An MPH is a two-year degree which does not require you to have any prior training in health, in biology, or in medicine. It’s primarily focused on the use of big data and statistical analysis, often to optimize single variables, which is consistent with the idea that we have narrow—I would use the term siloed—sectors within the federal bureaucracy.

Although the English language is growing, we are witnessing a decline in the growth of sophisticated words. New words are constantly being added to our dictionaries, yet many of them tend to reflect trends in entertainment and popular culture rather than advances in thought. Terms like “bootylicious,” “freestyle,” and “manscape” may be amusing or timely, but they reveal a pattern: much of our modern vocabulary is increasingly shaped by style rather than substance.

Economists have two favorite expressions: First, the phrase “Sunk costs are sunk costs” means that costs expended thus far are water over the dam and should not themselves constitute a rationale to proceed with an effort that may have had persistent cost overruns or delays with no clear end in sight. Second, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” is self-explanatory and known by its acronym TANSTAAFL. This means that every action incurs some opportunity cost and someone will pay for it even as it may appear to be “free” to others.

It is correct, analytically and logically, to distinguish secession from war. Many states secede peacefully, and it does not logically follow that secession must occasion war. The Southern states of America seceded peacefully, and Lincoln’s subsequent war which followed four months after secession was entirely unnecessary. Hence, Murray Rothbard wrote in his memo to the Volker Fund in 1961 that,