World History

Ludwig von Mises explains how the weakened state of German liberalism left the door open to German socialism which paved the way for Nazi ideology.

The Nazi concentration camps were modified versions of Soviet originals.  It's true the Soviet Union is not history's only killer state, but it is the original model on which others are based.

If we regard nationalism as necessarily harmful, we end up supporting the Soviet Union, and every empire and two-bit dictator who manages to hammer together a variety of disparate groups under a single national banner.

States seek to perpetuate themselves by seizing more control of capital and human beings. Size makes this easier. And every regime would become a mega-state like China or the US if it could.

Smaller countries have often been shown to perform better than large countries in terms of overall income and in economic growth. Also, their populations often enjoy more healthy and safe social environments.

The Edge of Democracy, a new Oscar-nominated documentary about Brazil, gets even basic facts wrong in pushing the idea that Brazil's corrupt and socialist politicians were the saviors of Brazilian democracy.

After very quickly becoming an advanced economy, South Korea is experiencing declining growth and labor productivity. The culprit, as usual, is government intervention in the market to favor certain interests.

Terrence Malick's new film about conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter is a subtle film. But perhaps too much so, and we need to look deeper to understand why this one man so vehemently resisted the Nazi state at the cost of his own life.

Entrepreneurs are the reason consumers have come to expect new gains and innovations in products and services every year. Without entrepreneurs, we'd still be using rotary phones.

Stephen Halbrook's book documents the efforts of a totalitarian regime to disarm its citizens.