In the heat of the crisis back in 2011, I edited the book “ Institutions in Crisis .” The emphasis was on the policy failings at the root of the European crisis, and how they were exacerbating the situation rather than bettering it. Three years on much of the analysis still stands. In fact, a number of chapters have proven quiet prescient, for
Once upon a time it was claimed that the government’s debt didn’t matter because we “owe it to ourselves.” Each government bond is a claim on taxpayers, and if all of the bondholders are taxpayers from the same country the size of the debt would be irrelevant to the total sum of the country’s financial wealth. Bob Murphy did a good job some years
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ index of meats, poultry, fish and eggs just hit an all time high . Nor are these higher prices confined to just food items. Consumer prices across the board are registering their sharpest price increases in over15 months. Inflation is accelerating on a variety of goods, from airline fares to vegetables. This must be
Over at Mises Canada today I discuss whether income inequality really is increasing, or whether it is a figment of some statisticians imaginations. It’s real alright, but the cause is more obvious than anyone wants to let on. The income and wealth divide that is now seen as a problem did start right around 1970 (depending on what type of data you
By Ron Paul Anyone watching last week’s debate over the Republican budget resolution would have experienced déjà vu , as the debate bore a depressing similarity to those of previous years. Once again, the Republicans claimed their budget would cut spending in a responsible manner, while Democratic opponents claimed the plan’s spending cuts
Presented at “Inflation: Causes, Consequences, and Cure”: a free seminar for high school and college students. Hosted at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 11 April 2014.
More than five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, economists are still searching to understand why it failed as badly as it did. By this I don’t mean why it went bankrupt – everyone is well aware that its exposure to the mortgage market coupled with a high degree of leverage (31:1 by 2007) meant that only a small loss on its vulnerable
The International Monetary Fund is up to its mixed messages again. This time it´s a dire warning about Canada´s future. The IMF has recently softened its outlook on Canada, warning that “”downside risks to the outlook still dominate, including from weaker-than-expected exports resulting from competitive challenges, lower commodity prices and a
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.