[ Originally published October 31, 2009 at LewRockwell.com. ] Damian Thompson, writing in the UK’s Telegraph, recently noted that “This is the only time of year when I become seriously anti-American.” The reason? He hates Halloween. Apparently, Halloween is one of “America’s worst exports” according to Thompson, and he is at least the second
Released to not much fanfare, Reuters has posted some very interesting interactive poll data on surveys showing the level of support for “the idea of your state peacefully withdrawing from the USA and the federal government.” Nationwide, overall opinion is heavily against with, among all people polled, 58 percent in opposition, and only 22 percent
One of the challenges in looking at income and wealth data is getting a sense of how different demographic groups are affected. It’s relatively easy to find median income and wealth data over time for the entire population, for example. But then problems of interpretation immediately present themselves. For example, if the data is household data,
Back in August, Bloomberg interviewed Karen Petrou about her research on quantitative easing and the Fed’s policies since the 2008 financial crisis. What she has discovered has not been encouraging for people who aren’t already high-income, and in recent research presented to the New York Fed, she concluded “ Post-crisis monetary and regulatory
On Tuesday, I looked at some recent research suggesting that both wealth and incomes are declining — all while the Fed’s monetary policy has become ever more interventionist and regulatory. The conclusions involved were premised on some assertions about Fed policy. Fed regulatory changes now favor large Wall-Street-centered borrowers over smaller
According to the Federal Reserve’s Underlying Inflation Gauge , the 12-month inflation growth in June (the most recent month reported) was at 3.33 percent. That’s the highest rate recorded in 158 months, or more than 13 years. The last time the UIG measure was as high was in April 2005, when it was at 3.36 percent. The Fed began publicly
As we’ve noted here in the past, the Federal reserve in recent months has begun publishing its “ Underlying Inflation Gauge “ which takes into account a broader measure of inflation than the more-often used CPI measure. When we say “inflation” in this context, of course, we mean price inflation, and not money-supply inflation. And it may prove to
Listen to Ryan McMaken’s commentary on the Radio Rothbard podcast . When the topic of inequality comes up, some libertarians and conservatives tend to approach the issues as something that doesn’t matter at all. “I don’t care about inequality,” they say. “Inequality occurs naturally, and its just an obsession of leftists...if anything it’s a good
ZeroHedge reports : Just in time for midterms, Facebook has removed 559 pages and 251 accounts they claim have been spreading misinformation and spam. Several of the pages however - some with millions of followers, were pro-Trump conservatives who had spent years cultivating their followings. Caitlin Johnstone explains a bit more : Facebook has
Aram Roston reports on how Mideast dictatorships now hire former US military personnel to form what are essentially death squads designed to eliminate the regimes’ enemies: The revelations that a Middle East monarchy [UAE] hired Americans to carry out assassinations comes at a moment when the world is focused on the alleged murder of dissident
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.