The Marshall Plan didn’t help get Europe back on its feet: free markets did. The Plan was another failed giveaway program. The Plan’s disastrous legacy was the wrongheaded approach it inspired in foreign aid programs for the rest of the century. Just throwing money at countries was not beneficial. Aid dependency made people political, not
From 1950 to 1980, Americans were indeed Losing Ground. Charles Murray’s book on social policy debunks welfare programs. The programs are the problem. It is not possible to design a wealth transfer program that will not produce net harm. Within Lyndon Johnson’s legacy of failure were the kids who were never educated, the health care system that
The great Frederic Bastiat (1801–1850) taught that wealth can be obtained in two ways: it can be produced or it can be plundered. Production is undertaken by entrepreneurs. Plunder is often undertaken with the express assistance of government, taking the form of tariffs, taxes, subsidies, and other interventionist measures justified as policy in
While the occupation of Iraq is the major topic of debate in the 2008 presidential race, the candidates have also taken positions on George Bush’s fiscal policies. We see Republican candidates supporting Bush’s tax “cuts” and being asked to sign a pledge, a pledge they will all, except for Ron Paul, violate, promising not to raise taxes, while
Mises Review 13, No. 3 (Fall 2007) ARE THE RICH NECESSARY? GREAT ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS and HOW THEY REFLECT OUR PERSONAL VALUES Hunter Lewis Axios Press, 2007, viii + 277 pgs. Hunter Lewis’s excellent book differs from nearly all other books on economics. Most books defend a particular point of view: a work by Duncan Foley, e.g., will be much more
Just before Christmas I received the following from Joe Fullmer , and submit it to readers for their consideration: “I am a lay economist — I have no formal training, but I read much, and annoy my friends and associates. So, my comments aren’t those of a trained professional economist. “This morning, in FEE’s daily In-Brief email, I am informed
Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), incoming and outgoing Chairs of the Senate Finance Committee, yesterday introduced The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax Repeal Act of 2007 : Press Release Text of Bill Floor Statement of Sen. Baucus I hope this results of a real repeal of a tax and not another “soak the rich” scam.
Well, this is interesting. The IRS here says that: “If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner.” (See page 90 under “”Stolen Property.” I wonder what implications this has for the tax returns of, for example, Members of Congress.
In Washington, words such as “cost,” “tax,” “subsidy,” “spending,” and other fiscal terms have no fixed meaning. For example, it is considered costly to cut taxes, and a subsidy to provide a tax break. This morning, we read that Bush wants to provide a tax break to low income people who buy private coverage, while taxing people “for some workers
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.