World History

Reason, equality, separation of church and state, and science and politics freed from religious dogma have characterized the Enlightenment. Have these ideas given us freedom, or cost us freedom?

The question is not whether economic progress makes people happy. Most mothers feel happier if their children survive, and most people feel happier without tuberculosis than with it.

Bob Murphy uses examples from Dan Carlin’s amazing podcast, Hardcore History, to illustrate the flaws with state-provided military services.

The Liechtenstein constitution goes to great pains to place obstacles in the way of exercising state power. It also has provisions explicitly allowing for secession.

By advocating an increased monetary role for the state, Keynes has made the credit cycle considerably worse and more destabilising.

If Keynes was such a model champion of the free society, how can we account for his peculiar comments, in 1933, endorsing, though with reservations, the social "experiments" that were going on at the time in Italy, Germany, and Russia?

Price-control schemes have been failing for thousands of years. Now it looks like politicians in Washington are going to give price controls yet another try.

Slavery was a monstrously unfair and immoral institution. It was also inefficient, compared to a system based on free labor.

"Herein lies the key to changing society — changing public opinion or people's preferences toward government. And the only way people are likely to change their preferences is through education and persuasion; force is ineffective."

Austrian monetary thought can be traced back right to the very founding father of monetary economics, the great Nicholas Oresme, the 14th century Bishop of Lisieux.