Big Government

Recorded at the Ludwig von Mises Institute; Auburn, Alabama; 9 October 2010.

Recorded at the Ludwig von Mises Institute; Auburn, Alabama; 8 October 2010.

Government spending — whether on our current armed forces and their more than 800 foreign bases or on "green" energy and other government-favored projects — does not produce prosperity. It only diverts resources.

The Free Market 28, no. 10 (July 2010)

Recorded at the Mises Circle in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 18 September 2010. Sponsored by Pikes Peak Economics Club.

Recorded at the Mises Circle in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 18 September 2010. Sponsored by Pikes Peak Economics Club.

Recorded at the Mises Circle in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 18 September 2010. Sponsored by Pikes Peak Economics Club.

One by one, Mises discusses and dispatches the pillars of progressive dogma: government spending can create jobs for the unemployed; the service motive is better than the profit motive; government choices are superior to individual choices.

Pictures of the Socialistic Future tells an engrossing story about a socialist paradise that swiftly degenerates into a societal dungeon. It was originally published in an English translation in 1893—which adds immeasurably to its resonance.

If there is anything that government is actually good at doing, it is destroying things. Strangely, love for this destruction has become a popular cause, revealed in the push for "sustainability" and the banning of technologies that improve our lives.