Not many Americans have heard of Richard Vedder and Lowell Gallaway, but maybe more should. They are the authors of Out of Work , the best economic history of 20th-century America and an indictment of all the monstrous and stupid things our government has done to us. In addition to holding legitimate jobs as professors of economics at Ohio
Unhinged 2.0 This article originally ran on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. It was near the low of the last stock-market cycle and the economy had endured a year of unprecedented government interventions. The Federal Reserve had made a series of bailouts, Detroit had been bailed out, and we had the various stimulus programs. These measures were sure
Introduction The most basic rule of economic policy is to allow prices to adjust to market conditions. This maintains Say’s Law and produces what Frédéric Bastiat called economic harmony. Furthermore, unhampered markets minimize distortions and disruptions introduced by external forces. Most importantly, the unhampered price system minimizes the
Most people have never really met crystal meth; sure, they talk about it on the news a lot, but how many average Americans know anyone who is a meth user? The drug goes by many names: methylamphetamine, N-methylamphetamine, desoxyephedrine, speed, and — most commonly — meth. Regardless of what it is called, methamphetamine is absolutely one of the
[An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by the author, is available for download .] The Federal Reserve has been busy the last three months pumping up the money supply by $300 billion dollars, with much more promised in the months ahead. Some of the results have been painfully predictable, others less so. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said he
[Introduction to The Bastiat Collection (2011), a fantastic new edition, containing all his most important works in a pocket size at an incredibly low price. It is a treasure. An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by the author, is available for download .] And now I would appeal with confidence to men of all schools, who prefer truth,
You can chart the course of human progress in terms of how clean our clothing is. In early times people used animal skins, had no change of clothing, and had no soap. By Adam Smith’s day soap had improved in quality, was produced industrially, and was becoming available to the common man. In fact, the Industrial Revolution, which is usually
People often ask me, “What do you think the government should do instead of QE inflation?” My stock answer is that the government should not try to fight the depression with government spending and cheap credit. Trying to stop the market from correcting the errors of the past only delays the consequences and makes them much worse. Government
With summer upon us and temperatures rising, we should stop and thank our lucky stars for air conditioning — and wish upon the same stars that government won’t destroy it, because it seems to be trying to do so. Willis Haviland Carrier invented the modern air conditioner in 1902. Thomas Midgley Jr. created the first chlorofluorocarbon gas, Freon,
[An MP3 audio file of this article, narrated by the author, is available for download .] Got Milk? Most Americans think they drink milk on a regular basis. In fact, virtually all these people are consuming pasteurized milk, not milk. Milk in its natural state — raw milk — is consumed by very few Americans, because it is illegal in many states
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.