As a precondition to joining the European currency, member states had to abide by quantitative fiscal criteria, explained below, sharply limiting their room to maneuver. Since the adoption of the fiscal pact and the launch of the euro, many countries chose to flaunt it, to the chagrin of others that steadfastly adhered to it. This article explains
Leaders of European Union member states have been reeling from the double rejection of the proposed European Constitution by two of the six founding members, the Netherlands and France. Given a chance to express their opinion on “ever closer union,” for the first time in over a decade and ever, respectively, French and Dutch voters spurned the
The Mises Institute’s October 24–25, 2003 Supporters’ Summit dealt with the topics “War, Prosperity and Depression.” The title was apt, considering that the United States still suffers from a financial hangover courtesy of a Federal Reserve-induced stock bubble that burst in 2000. At the same time, Americans have been compelled to bankroll the
As the American economy reels from the consequences of the Federal Reserve’s monetary manipulations, a burgeoning sovereign debt, an interventionist foreign policy, as well as a bevy of other no less onerous government-orchestrated distortions in the marketplace, it is fascinating to note the scorn with which the country’s legislators, trade
Argentina’s descent from economic prominence throughout most of the 1990s to purgatory by the end of the decade is a miserable tale instilling heartache and frustration in all parties involved. More importantly, this tragedy underscores the inherent hazards of state participation in capital markets. On March 8, Argentina’s government averted
In Greek mythology, the adhesive adjoining feathers to the wooden frame of Icarus’s wings melted away when the young man flew too close to the sun, causing him to plummet from the sky. It seems Argentina is poised to suffer the same fate, differing from Daedalus’s headstrong son in that the government’s penchant for economic interventionism will
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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.