Eight years of government expansion and political corruption was enough. The good news is that the Clinton-Gore era is coming to a close, and all their political appointees in government are starting to pack their bags. For those who love liberty, however, the bad news is that fundamental freedoms will continue to be at risk. Nothing in the
Citizens in this great land were once able to enjoy a cigar or a cigarette at restaurants and bars. Over the years, however, most state governments have succumbed to anti-tobacco groups and have infringed upon the right of private establishments to determine for themselves their smoking policy. Many non-smokers are content with these laws. They
The recent “findings of fact” and ruling by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft violated antitrust laws is a travesty of economic reasoning and common sense justice. Jackson accepted the bulk of the government’s argument that Microsoft was a monopoly in the relevant market and that they engaged in “anti-competitive” practices to enhance
Joel Klein, Assistant Attorney General and round-one winner over Microsoft, is certainly puffed up these days and quite carried away with himself. He recently told a London gathering of the American Bar Association faithful that antitrust regulation is now, get this, the only “legitimate form of government intervention.” Oh, really? Klein also
The high profile case against Microsoft and the rejection by federal regulators of the WorldCom-Sprint combination has again focused critical attention on the efficacy of antitrust policy. In WorldCom-Sprint, the FTC charged that the merger would have increased concentration in long-distance telecommunications and created “barriers to entry” that
[The following article appeared in the Investors Business Daily , Wednesday, January 12, 2000] Adam Smith is widely regarded as the father of modern economics. But he wasn’t. The real founder may be someone most people have never heard of. More than 40 years before Adam Smith wrote “The Wealth of Nations,” Richard Cantillon authored the “Essai sur
[Mr. Kusunoki, an associate of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in the U.S., is a student at the Graduate School of Law, University of Kyoto, Japan. This article appeared in the Asian Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2000.] The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust suit against Microsoft is a hotly disputed topic the world over, with many accusing
From the December 1999 issue of The Free Market Volume 17 Number 12 News item: “The Clinton administration has decided to phase out the controversial fuel additive MTBE, citing risks to public health and the environment.” Once again, the federal government is scrambling to make good on its own past mistakes. And private industries are facing
Nearing election time again, we are reminded that the there are no checks and balances available to the states over federal power or over Congress itself in any area. However, in the history of our country, it was not always this way. In the original design by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, there was an effective check on Congress through
As a senior in high school, back in 1977, I was introduced to the writings of Ayn Rand. Rand’s work had a huge impact on my intellectual development. That impact was not merely philosophical. In her essays, Rand celebrated the enormous contributions of the Austrian school. Not too long thereafter, I discovered such thinkers as Ludwig von Mises, F.
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.