Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s Austrian and libertarian writings have now been translated into at least 20 languages.

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_6336532

Many people have sent us this article from the NYT, one that recounts how a small but exceedingly brave group of heterodox economists have dared question the free-market orthodoxy of the profession.

Few words get the good PR that democracy does. Americans are told we must fight for democracy around the world. “Democratic” is thrown in as an adjective whenever something is considered good politically (e.g., “our democratic way of life”), and “undemocratic” is inserted if it is considered bad.

That Ludwig von Mises was the outstanding champion of laissez-faire and the free-market economy in this century is well known and needs no documentation. But in the course of refining and codifying his political views, Mises’s followers have unwittingly distorted them and made them seem at one with the modern conservative movement in the United States. Mises is made to appear a sort of National Review intellectual concentrating on the free-market aspects of conservatism.

Should you be allowed to put a “For Sale” sign on your own car?

Gene Epstein in Barron’s reviews Murphy’s Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism:

On July 4 I was interviewed on The Political Cesspool, and we basically talked about free trade. I got the standard jibes (”Do you want your job to be outsourced Mr. Professor?” and “Free trade would work in an ideal world but not this one”). I start around 34:30 and go to the end of the hour, but you can listen to them trash me after I leave the show.

Ever think that the anti-capitalism of the press is exaggerated or non-existent? Check out this incredible story at MSNBC/Newsweek. You would never know, never even guess, that China was the home to a murderous tyrant only a few decades ago (est. 40 million dead), and you would certainly never guess that China has gone from vast impoverishment to vast economic growth in record time, and certainly the relationship of this to capitalism is completely lost on the reporter.

Every time Bush stands up to speak about the war, how we have to stick it out, how we have to stand up against evil, how our nation is being called to do its historic duty, I have the same thought: and what are you doing besides making this stupid speech? Presidents speak as if they somehow embody the will of the nation, and so the courage shown by the troops is their courage, the determination of the commanders on the ground is their determination too, and the strong will of the people to fork over to fund this ghastly war is their strong will too. They might even believe it.