Free Markets

Free markets have provided an abundance of goods and comforts for even low-income households.

Free markets have provided an abundance of goods and comforts for even low-income households. But constant government intervention in the work, lives, and incomes of the poor continues to create many barriers to economic success.

In recent years, some economists, contrary to long-established and widely-accepted economic theory, have been claiming that increases in the minimum wage do not increase unemployment. But both logic and the data say otherwise.

When interest groups invented the crime of jaywalking.

Unable to compete with cheap, government-subsidized services designed for the low end of the market, entrepreneurs find they must turn to higher-end customers who will pay more. Some wrongly interpret this as proof that markets are more expensive than government services.

Interviewed by host Elijah Johnson, Mark Thornton explains how the Austrian view of economics contrasts

Recorded at the Mises Circle in Houston, Texas, 24 January 2014.

The drop in gas prices has left households with a little extra money to spend. So naturally, the state thinks it's a great time to raise gas taxes. Otherwise, taxpayers would just waste that money on their families.

"Good news, everyone!" Mark Thornton discusses the positive results of marijuana legalization in Colorado.

Many look to socialize health care as a way to reduce costs, but the only way to increase supply and reduce costs is for government to stop subsidizing health care while limiting its supply.