The latest black eye for the mega-expensive F-35 warplane is a recent report noting the mediocrity of the plane in air combat situations : The F-35 is an impressive disaster. On the one hand, its high-tech helmet is a technological marvel. The F-35B’s hovering tricks are awe-inspiring . On the other hand, the Joint Strike Fighter is just
Unfortunately, Independence Day has become a day for many to celebrate the United States government. The actual historical event behind the day, however — the adoption of the Declaration of Independence — was an illegal act of political defiance that led to secession and the overthrow of an entire system of mercantilist government in North
Back when I was an economist for the State of Colorado, I sat on a panel/task force in 2006 in which some of the left-ish members suggested a new tax on Fannie and Freddie to pay for subsidized housing. The Fannie and Freddie reps were indignant. “Why, we’re a private company,” they protested. “It’s just plain wrong to tax a private company.”
Within minutes of Robert Zoellick’s announcement that he will leave the world bank being made public, Hillary Clinton announced that she was interested in the job. The World Bank has long been a favored retirement village for American warhawks. Considering the fact that World Bank is ostensibly about making loans to developing counties for capital
The AP reported today that the homeownership rate declined to 65.1 percent during 2010, which is “the biggest drop since the Great Depression.” However, in order to return to a more normal rate of homeownership, the present rate needs to drop even more. According to the Census Bureau’s quarterly estimates of the homeownership rate ( found here ),
Last month, the United States Supreme Court declined to take up a case involving Arizona’s and Kansas’s attempts to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The two states sought SCOTUS review in an attempt to overturn a prohibition imposed by lower federal courts. Had the two states been allowed to impose more stringent
The secessionist impulse doesn’t seem to be going away in Europe. This month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the latest drive for secession comes from Sardinia. The leaders of the movement propose that the island, only part of Italy since the 1860s, be joined to Switzerland instead. The Sardinians have a tough row to hoe in convincing the
This piece at CNN Money falls into what is an entire sub-genre of business writing in which economists and business writers get together to explain why the latest development in government-induced market failure is not a problem at all. The piece explains why $3 gasoline is absolutely no problem whatsoever and is actually good for the economy.
Housingwire today reports that bank risk managers still believe that excessive levels of mortgage debt, student loan debt and credit-card debt are still a serious risk. FICO drew that conclusion from a fourth-quarter survey of bank risk professionals conducted by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association. Of those surveyed, 47% of
Now, I’m not suggesting that Hoenig has a single Austrian bone in his body, and I doubt he would ever make such a claim. But, for years now, he’s been one of the few establishment economists who actually speaks some sense every now and then. On Tuesday, he once again spoke on the true threat of inflation, and noted that maybe, just maybe, massive
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.