Exploring Capitalist Fiction: Business through Literature and Film , by Edward W. Younkins (Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2013). Aphorist Don Colacho once wrote that “a cloud of incense is worth a thousand sermons.” He meant that a glimpse of beauty and an emotional connection with a religious ceremony is more effective and edifying than many a
What would have happened if one or two states had somehow managed to legalize alcohol during prohibition? Most likely, those states would have become centers of entrepreneurship with retail outlets, medicines, and innovation in equipment, machinery, and other forms of capital related to alcohol-related industries. With the recent legalization of
When Barack Obama used the transcontinental railroads as an example of the wonderful things that can be accomplished with grandiose government programs, he was attacked for mistakenly referring to the railroads as “ inter continental.” Notably, he was attacked by approximately no one for talking up a government program that in reality should be
Since at least as early as the eighteen century, classical liberalism, and its modern variant libertarianism, have opposed warfare except in cases of obvious self-defense. We see this anti-war position clearly among the anti-federalists of eighteenth-century America (who opposed all standing armies) and more famously within George Washington’s
A recent study from Princeton and Northwestern concluded that the United States is an “oligarchy” ruled by a small group of wealthy elites and interest groups. According to authors Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page: The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have
The Supreme Court’s recent decision on prayer at government meetings reminds me that Supreme Court “season” is upon us, and for the next two months or so, we can expect to see the court decide on a variety of cases that can have profound impacts on the lives of citizens and non-citizens alike. The court’s decision in Town of Greece vs. Galloway
Newly-released memos from the Clinton presidential library reveal a little more about the scope of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) activities in the years leading up to the collapse of the housing bubble. For those unfamiliar with the home-loan industry, the Community Revinvestment Act was a 1977 act that “encourages” (with the threat of
by Gary North Reality Check I turned 72 in February. I want to make a few comments on the history of the American Right, while I still have my wits about me. I have spent my life on the fringes of academia. I earned a Ph.D., but I never went into full-time teaching. Well, not quite never. In the fall of 1979, I taught a course on the free market
As far as I can tell, in the image below, the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing appears to be bragging about its supposed engraving and design skills in a lighthearted fashion, independent of economic theory. For the proponent of sound money, however, this must be regarded as unintentionally comical in a different way: Writes DS: I went
Mark Thornton was featured on the Inside Track radio show of Tucson, Arizona on March 2. From the site: “In the second half hour, Dr. Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute returns to talkabout Austrian econommcs.” (The Thornton portion begins at 23:00.)
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.