What’s up with Amtrak? The government’s peculiar “National Railroad Passenger Corporation” has fallen on hard times, halting service of its high-speed Acela Express for safety concerns and disrupting the plans of those made dependent on this government monopoly. As a result, many commuters can be forgiven for forgetting that (according to Amtrak
The common thief has the decency to leave you alone after he takes your money. But, society’s biggest thief, government, steals money, calling it taxation, and then lurks in the shadows to tell its victims what to do, calling it regulation. And, in Las Vegas the government goes one step further, it taxes, it regulates and then competes head to
When state budget cuts evicted Jesse Ventura from the 20-room Minnesota governor’s mansion earlier this month, I was half expecting the scene to turn nasty. “Budget cuts?” asks the buff, bald, muscle-laden wrestler. “Yes, Governor’” a pencil-necked bureaucrat replies, flashing a spreadsheet splashed with red ink. “You must move out or select
In its dealings with foreign nations, the U.S. generally tries to maintain the moral high ground in its pronouncements and policies. But by slapping a 30-percent tariff on foreign steel, the U.S. has hit rock bottom in hypocrisy and favoritism, and everyone knows it. The idea here is to help one inefficient, bloated, and pampered industry at the
Every new president in memory has plotted a grand “tax reform,” and the outlines of George W.’s are becoming ever more clear. The Washington Post reports that the administration—particular treasury secretary Paul O’Neill—is seriously considering a move away from the income tax toward a national consumption tax. The purpose is not to yield lower
Like all government operations (public schools, domestic security, tax collection), the Post Office has to continually reform itself to avoid a complete public-relations meltdown. Thus did the Post Office become the Postal Service some thirty years ago. The name change was supposed to indicate how its management was going to be less like
Back in the mid-’80s, I had a very brief stint as a civilian employee with the federal government of the USA. It was actually my second gig with the government, my first having been four years of military service in the U.S. Air Force. Both experiences taught me about a good deal, including public finance. Let’s start with that Air Force
Liberty is incompatible with taxation. This despite that famous saying by Oliver Wendell Holmes that “Taxation is the price we pay for civilization.” In fact, taxation is a most uncivilized way of obtaining funds, given that it boils down to nothing less than extortion. Just think of it: You go to work for some company and are told you will
It is a truism in U.S. political economy that whenever a government agency fails miserably, Congress invariably will reward it with more money, power, and discretion. The horror of September 11, for example, came in large part because all of the major players, from the terrorists to the security agents to the pilots, were operating under Federal
One of the enduring myths about government is the notion that successful governments are those entities that “provide prosperity” for those who are governed. The real issues involve who receives the blame for causing the calamity--and who benefits from it. Thus, Herbert Hoover is identified (correctly) with causing the Great Depression, while
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.