Vox is a never-ending fountain of ignorance. Like this piece about four ‘laws’ of economics that are simply wrong . Some of these claims are indeed wrong, but it’s also wrong to claim that economists make them. Let’s look at each one. 1) Going below the natural rate of unemployment could spark an inflationary spiral. I have no idea how the writer
There is a lot of confusion about the term “free market economics.” It is not a matter of advocacy, but a description of what’s studied. Just like labor economics is not a matter of standing up for working class interests, but a study of how labor markets work. So free market economics is a study of how free markets (would) work. It is a positive
It is not automation that scares people, it is inflation. Might sound odd, but what I mean is that the promise of a fully (or at least a more extensively) automated future seems like a threat because modern currencies are fundamentally inflationary. When we work and save, the purchasing power of our saved funds diminishes with time. This is not a
The realm of politics is to coordinate solutions beyond what decentralized actors and organizations can themselves achieve. This is done through the power of the state (coercion). Thus, the scope and use of politics as a means is strictly limited to where it is the better solution for society and its constituents. This means that the boundary of
There are some very disturbing calls for quick-fix “solutions” following the reporting of how countries have and have not handled COVID-19. It is not about how contagious or dangerous the virus actually is, which is not my expertise, but the typical and dangerous misunderstanding of the supposed efficiency of hierarchy and, therefore, the
Late South African economist Ludwig Lachmann once wrote, “The future is unknowable, though not unimaginable.” What he meant is, it’s beyond our ability to know what the future will bring. We cannot plan without errors, because we do not actually know anything about the future before it’s already reality. The future is not simply unknown, which
There has been increasing talk of a burgeoning recession, whether because of a historically rare decade-long economic expansion or recent reports of an inverted yield curve, which is traditionally an indication of a downturn. Any recession is hard on all Americans, but it can be particularly devastating for entrepreneurs, who often have more to
There is severe confusion about the meaning of economic growth. Many seem to mistakenly think that it has to do with GDP or producing stuff. It does not. Economic growth means that an economy’s ability to satisfy people’s wants, whatever they are—that is, to produce well-being—increases. GDP is a rather terrible way of capturing this using
A common critique, if not outright dismissal of Austrian economics, is that it is “ideological.” The connotation is that it is not a reliable framework for analysis, but rather a consistently slanted worldview. What is ideological cannot be a science, because it is by definition anything but neutral to the facts. This critique always struck me as
¿Tiene la gente derecho a ir donde quiera y por la razón que quiera? Desde luego que no. No tengo derecho a usar u ocupar tu propiedad legítima sin tu permiso. Y lo mismo se aplica a ti y a todos los que tienen mi propiedad. ¿Tiene la gente derecho a emigrar a cualquier parte del mundo que le plazca? Desde luego que sí. Si no violan la vida y la
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.