Libertarianism: John Hospers, the Libertarian Party’s 50th Anniversary, and Beyond
edited by C. Ronald Kimberling and Stan Oliver
John Hospers Philosophy Foundation, 2021

Tom Woods’ bestseller Meltdown placed the blame for the financial debacle of 2008–09 on the government’s counterfeiter, the Federal Reserve. It was the Fed’s policies that created the problems, although most economists and economic talking heads didn’t see it that way.

It’s been already two weeks since I began my own fellowship at the very Mises Institute. During this time a lot of things have already happened, both in the local American scene as well as in the rest of the world--my own country, Ecuador, included.

In recent weeks Americans have been debating, and appalled by, the Disinformation Governance Board set up by the Department of Homeland Security. The Disinformation Governance Board was established by the government to counter “disinformation” and present the “correct” view of current events.

Finland and Sweden’s recent decision to apply for North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership is a major win for the military alliance, but a far more dubious one for these two countries. NATO badly needs a success at this moment, since neither the economic war on Russia nor the conflict in Ukraine seems to be going the West’s way. Whether officially adding two more Nordic countries would have a real military advantage for NATO remains to be seen, but at least it would be a clear public relations win.

Readers may recall Florida Senate Bill 7202, regulating social media platforms, which was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis about a year ago. The stated intention of the legislation is to combat social media censorship. This bill had a slate of provisions, including:

Criminals seriously harm people here and there, but to systematically harm people everywhere takes governments.

Organized Predation

The Fed disincentivizes working. It enables banks to create money, lend out the money, and transfer losses to taxpayers. As a result, over time the same nominal amount of pay buys less and less. People work less.

The Fed disincentivizes saving. Its new money reduces the interest earned by people who would save. People save less.

The current baby formula shortage in the United States is a pressing crisis, and many in the media have been rushing to explain how such a thing could have happened. But on close analysis, it appears to share the same root as virtually every other crisis experienced in the modern world: a government promised benefits without costs.

Total globalization has brought the world order into crisis. The difference of interests, conditions, and opportunities, as well as the socioeconomic regimes of the participants initially implied risks of imbalances. As a result, the wrong policy of coordination—excessive integration with resource autocracies or forced physical (military) coercion to change regimes—led the situation to economic and ideological contradictions.