Ryan McMaken

Ryan McMaken (@ryanmcmaken) is executive editor at the Mises Institute, a former economist for the State of Colorado, and the author of two books: Breaking Away: The Case of Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities and Commie Cowboys: The Bourgeoisie and the Nation-State in the Western Genre. He is also the editor of The Struggle for Liberty: A Libertarian History of Political Thought. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy, finance, and international relations from the University of Colorado. Send him your article submissions for the Mises Wire and Power and Market, but read article guidelines first.

Ryan is a cohost of the Radio Rothbard podcast and the Loot & Lobby podcast, has appeared on Fox News and Fox Business, and has been featured in a number of national print publications including Politico, The Hill, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post.

He’s been married for 25 years and has four children.

Journalists seeking comment: email Ryan at rwmcmaken@mises.org.

Articles

How War Propaganda Has Fueled American Foreign Policy for a Century

05/15/2025 Mises Wire Ryan McMaken

The New York Times this week reports that the Trump administration has canceled many grants that were to fund “research” on “misinformation.” This is being presented by the media as a dastardly deed...

The Classical Liberals Were Radical Opponents of War and Militarism

05/13/2025 Mises Wire Ryan McMaken

One of the most disastrous elements of the post-World War II conservative movement in America has been its commitment to severing the ideology of “classical liberalism” from its historical roots in...

The Fed Leaves Fed Funds Rate at 4.5% as Economic Storm Clouds Gather

05/08/2025 Mises Wire Ryan McMaken

On Wednesday, the Federal reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee left the target federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25-4.5 percent. The FOMC statement on the current policy, released on Wednesday...

Publications

Breaking Away: The Case for Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities

10/13/2022 Ryan McMaken

Breaking Away differs from countless other books on secession and decentralization in that it considers examples and benefits of secession and radical decentralization in a much broader historical, geographical, and theoretical context. This book is

Commie Cowboys: The Bourgeoisie and the Nation-State in the Western Genre

01/11/2016 Ryan McMaken

The Western genre has long been associated with right-wing and libertarian politics, and is said to promote individualism and free-market economics. In a new look at the Western, however, Ryan McMaken shows that the Western is in fact often anti

Media

A History of Political Theory in the West

05/15/2025 Ryan McMaken Joseph Solis-Mullen

Political Scientist Joseph Solis-Mullen joins Ryan McMaken to review Ralph Raico's newly published lectures on politics in the West. We recommend this book for all who want a pro-freedom history of political thought.

California’s Bullet-Train Delusion

05/08/2025 Ryan McMaken William P. Anderson

California economist and resident/victim William Anderson joins us to talk about the absurdity of California's bullet train plan, and how it ignores economic realities.

Want to Pay Down the National Debt? First, Cut Federal Spending

05/02/2025 Ryan McMaken

If a politician claims that he cares about the national debt, but then won't make big cuts to current federal spending, he's either a liar or a fool.