Ryan McMaken traces the rise and squeeze of America’s small business economy, showing how tariffs, industrial policy, the Fed, and “too big to fail” bailouts systematically tilt the field toward big corporations and away from independent entrepreneurs and the middle class.
Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City
The 2026 Mises Circle in Oklahoma City. This event shows how entrepreneurs are advancing free-market solutions beyond our broken political system, with speakers highlighting real-world alternatives in health care, entrepreneurship, and economic policy.
Recorded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on February 21, 2026. Special thanks to Michael and Beverley Starkey and Gil Robinson for sponsoring this event.
Dr. Peter Klein explores whether AI can ever replace human entrepreneurs and central planners, arguing from Mises’ calculation problem that even “thinking machines” can only mimic, not originate, the real-world judgment and ownership that markets require.
Dr. Per Bylund contrasts the futility of politics with the quiet power of entrepreneurship, showing how innovative businesses like Uber and Amazon actually dismantle regulations, reshape institutions, and push the state back more effectively than any protest movement or election.
Dr. Timothy Terrell explains how entrepreneurs and property rights can protect forests, wildlife, and open spaces better than bureaucracies, using real-world examples of “enviropreneurs” who profit by conserving nature instead of exploiting it.
Dr. Keith Smith recounts how the Surgery Center of Oklahoma and the Free Market Medical Association are exposing the hospital–insurance cartel—posting honest, bundled prices, triggering price wars, and proving that free-market medicine can deliver higher quality care at a fraction of the cost.
