Mises Wire

Saint Augustine, Proto-Austrian

History of the Austrian School of EconomicsPraxeology

Blog02/23/2023

One of the fundamental tenets of Austrian economics is the ordinal value scale. Augustine articulated the idea more than a thousand years before Carl Menger wrote his pathbreaking Principles of Economics.

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Biden versus Bastiat

Economic PolicyFree MarketsProtectionism and Free Trade

Blog02/23/2023

President Biden's recent call to "buy American" is doomed to failure, just like all other protectionist schemes.

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The Power of Woke: How Leftist Ideology Is Undermining Our Society and Economy

Economic PolicyProgressivismSocialism

Blog02/22/2023

"Woke" is not "fighting racism," no matter how it is phrased. It is about undermining a society and its economy, declaring our social and economic institutions as illegitimate.

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Joe Biden and Protectionism: Continuing to Make America "Grate"

PoliticsProtectionism and Free Trade

Blog02/22/2023

Joe Biden likes taxes. So it should hardly be surprising that Biden has also embraced protectionism and is anti free-trade, which is fundamentally a pro-tax position. 

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Secession: Should the American Revolutionaries Have Quit to Appease the Loyalists?

Decentralization and SecessionU.S. History

Blog02/21/2023

Opponents of secession say secession is wrong if some people in the population don't want it and say they will be worse off. The American revolutionaries disagreed and seceded anyway.

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A Student Loan Fable

Bureaucracy and RegulationProgressivism

Blog02/21/2023

In the bizarro world of student loans, someone can borrow six figures without collateral or credit history—and then demand that taxpayers cover the loan.

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Forget the Liquidity Trap—Loose Monetary Policies Cause Recessions

KeynesMonetary PolicyBusiness CyclesMonetary Theory

Blog02/21/2023

At the heart of Keynesian business cycle theory is the so-called liquidity trap. Contra Keynes, however, economies don't falter because a sudden increase in the demand for money.

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Lifting the Debt Ceiling Is Not a Social Policy

U.S. Economy

Blog02/20/2023

Printing and raising taxes are not social policies. It is profoundly anti-social, as it destroys the middle class and makes the economy weaker. Raising the debt ceiling is also extremely negative for the middle class because it means more taxes.

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