I picked up a new vice a month ago: homemade espresso. Of course, to enjoy this delight, I first had to purchase an espresso machine. Like almost every product on the market, a wide range of espresso machines is available. A simple online search reveals prices ranging from $29.99 to well over $1000. As a certified cheapo, I spent just a little
While you might not be a fan of mellow saxophones playing in various elevators, you may have read about the copyright establishment suing dentist offices over unlicensed use of music in the waiting room. And you have seen how hosting a Super Bowl party can result in lawsuits for using TVs that are illegally large . N ow this IP regime is targeting
Yesterday I stopped at an RV/boating store to buy a 40-amp fuse for my camper. Right after I walked into the store, another man, along with his son, entered looking for a place to register his boat. Two sales clerks were available, so we both got immediate attention. The clerk waiting on me said that her store does not stock the type of fuse I was
OK, melting ice and potential oil in the Arctic have brought out the worst in neighboring governments. ( U.S. expedition mapping the Arctic ) But, I have to ask, “What’s in it for me?” There are three possible outcomes: ownership of the oil-rich land is given to me (highly unlikely); it’s given to another individual, or group of individuals, who
The International Agency of Research on Cancer , the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will be adding overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen . A likely reason for increased incidents of cancer in night workers: reduced production of melatonin — a naturally-produced hormone that can suppress tumor development — due to exposure to
In an editorial in today’s Columbus Dispatch , Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and editors take credit card companies to task for raising the interest rate of certain cardholders. Sure, it’s always easy — and politically effective — to attack big business, but Levin and the Dispatch editors missed the other half of the equation: the cardholder. Here is
OK, air travel can be a mess. There is nothing so frustrating as delays, especially delays on the tarmac. To some, this is a reason to have government create and enforce a so-called passenger bill of rights. In fact, New York is just days away from being the first state to have such positive rights enforced by the power of law. That said, we
As a means to try to ease chronic nationwide air travel delays , the feds are going to reduce the number of flights in and out of New York City during peak travel times. That’s certainly one way to reduce delays, similar to Lenin and Stalin reducing food shortages by implementing mass starvation. But, I digress. Bastiat and Hazlitt would be
Please alert your loved ones about the coming price deflation . Assuming that mainstream economists are correct, tomorrow’s sales signal the beginning of the end. Ah, yes, the quality of customer service during holiday shopping . Customer service is the result of consumer valuation of service versus price. Quality service is still available, but
The Columbus Dispatch has an article about Bob Munley, a truly evil criminal. His crime? Producing and bottling tea, unregulated and at home nonetheless. And, state regulators can’t have that. So much for Liberty. Any risk associated with his tea is accepted by the consumer. Funny, you can purchase and consume FDA-approved drugs that are lethal,
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.