Economist John Williams is interviewed [site declined to let Mises.org link on grounds of copyright, or something — ed.] [and the same for the PDF that was once linked here — ed.] about his research (available on his web site, [which is also no longer linked because the site manager refused to grant permission for “several weeks” — ed.] Shadow Government Statistics.

The latest additions to the Molinari Online Library are two early classics of the Austrian School:
 

Given France’s current attitude toward free trade, some might find it surprising that the nation was home to an influential group of pro-free trade political economists from the early 18th to early 19th centuries.

The claim by libertarians that to taxation is equivalent to ensalvement strikes many people as being extreme and fanatical. However, I hope to show that this claim is entirely correct by a rather brief argument that I hope clarifies the situation.

Gary North has a very nice piece today on LRC on Ed Opitz. I read his book in college, and it had an impact. The one time I met him was about 15 years ago on a weekend when I was doing some research at FEE. He practiced his French horn for several hours in the office, which is enormously charming because most brass players never pick up their horns again after losing their chops at a young age. He was determined to keep playing, and he was pretty darn good, especially considering that this is the hardest of all brass instruments.

I have previously accused supply-siders (See for example here and here ) of having a double standard over their inflation indicators, such as gold and commodity price indexes, choosing to ignore them when they -as they do now- show significant inflation.

Growing up as a child in World War II, I saw countless movies in which a German soldier in uniform, or a Gestapo agent in plain clothes, would utter the spine-chilling words “Papiere, Bitte” (”Papers, Please”). What made those words spine chilling was the fact that whoever they were uttered to was in imminent danger of arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution. This was almost certain to be the fate of any hapless soul who was unfortunate enough not to have his “Papiere” or whose “Papiere” did not satisfy the German who examined them.

According to the latest Government report the personal savings rate has plunged to negative 0.7% in December from negative 0.2% in November. This was the seventh consecutive negative savings rate. Note that the average of the savings rate since 1959 stood at 7.2%.

“Dad Dean” considers university tenure systems at insidehighered.com.