An interesting look at Wal-Mart : Steve Dobbins has been bearing the brunt of that switch. He’s president and CEO of Carolina Mills, a 75-year-old North Carolina company that supplies thread, yarn, and textile finishing to apparel makers--half of which supply Wal-Mart. Carolina Mills grew steadily until 2000. But in the past three years, as its
Some fun anecdotes in response to Gary North’s post and article on “buying American”: First of all, UAWism is a religious euphoria here in Detroit. Those guys typically have bumper stickers that say, “Real Americans Buy Real Cars.” And the UAW’ers never go anywhere without their union jackets, telling us all which “local” they belong to. With
A year-and-a-half ago, Bush announced the steel tariffs, and everyone in that industry — here in the US — applauded it, as well as numerous economists and analysts. Now, of course, the tariffs are contributing to massive unemployment here in Michigan . To quote the Detroit News : The higher steel prices have helped the steel industry but wreaked
Here we go again. The UAW’s plans are to worm its way into the Mercedes-Benz, U.S. International Inc. Tuscaloosa County Assembly Plant in Alabama. They have long been trying to infiltrate the foreign auto plants in the South, and they have failed miserably. In July, during the start of negotiations with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and
During a recession, that is. The economic slump has so affected brothels in Berlin , they have been forced to provide “happy hours” where customers are greeted with half-price discounts. “Even the world’s oldest business is suffering under the ongoing recession. And prostitutes are continually having to make reductions even though their prices
Bruce Bartlett on tariffs and trade deficits in the Washington Times : Unfortunately, mercantilism lives on at the U.S. Commerce Department, where deficits are viewed as nothing but pure evil, stealing American jobs and wealth. Hence, Commerce Secretary Don Evans’ increasingly shrill attacks on China for contributing heavily to the U.S. trade
Time Magazine is clueless when it comes to writing on economics, but they have a nice little archive collecting all of their covers dealing with the economy. The messages are wrong, but the covers are great artwork. Bryan Caplan with a nice post over at the Library of Economics and Liberty ( Mises and Bastiat on How Democracy Goes Wrong ). See
Bill Fleckenstein on investing pioneer John Templeton , who is a mega-bear on equities and real estate: Moving on to housing prices, Sir John comments: “Every previous major bear market has been accompanied by a bear market in home prices. . . . This time, home prices have gone up 20%, and this represents a very dangerous situation. When home
Reading Arnold Kling has always left me somewhat befuddled. In the past, I’ve pointed to his supposed libertarianism and his contradictory positions. In his latest column , I am even more bemused, yet again, at the same time, entirely clear on what the deal is. Confused? First off, he begins by quoting Ted Halstead and Michael Lind, a couple
From the Prudent Bear : Today’s fund managers and brokerage analysts have no fear of The Old Gunfighters and are bullish as can be. They have upgraded their homes, moving out of Lake Woebegone to the new gated development up the road, Lake Wowbeme. They have no fear of old gunfighters or old market masters. Which maybe means that they have no
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.