President’s Day was this week, and there was no better way to celebrate than making the case for abolishing the position. As Ryan McMaken noted, history has vindicated the fears of the Anti-Federalists that were concerned that the position vested too much power into the hands of a single ambitious politician. This abuse of power looks to continue with the Trump administration, as Sean Spicer announced plans to continue the executive branch’s war on federalism. While we are unlikely to see Trump give up his new personal office in the next four years, we could settle for abolishing a number of executive agencies whose time has come. We could also do without the central banks that help empower the Emperor-of-the-day, as Karl-Friedrich Israel notes their existence is power politics rather than economic reason.
On Mises Weekends, Jeff was joined by Dr. Kevin Gutzman to discuss who may have been America’s most radical president — Thomas Jefferson. Dr. Gutzman has recently released a new book on the man considered to be one of the most libertarian individuals to assume the office, covering all the many ways in which Jefferson shaped American government, society, and higher education as we know it.
The Mises Institute is excited to be in San Diego this weekend, discussing the Strategy for Liberty. We will be joined by Patrick Byrne, Tom Woods, Michael Boldin, Nomi Prins, and many more! If you can’t attend the event in person, watch it live at Mises.org/live, or on Facebook Live.
And in case you missed any of them, here are this week’s articles from Mises Wire:
- Trump to States with Recreational Pot: Drop Dead by Ryan McMaken
- The “Washington Monument Syndrome” Strikes Again as Trump Imposes Hiring Freeze by Tate Fegley
- Justice and “Social Justice” Are Two Very Different Things by Gary Galles
- Minouche Shafik: Apologist for the Experts by C.Jay Engel
- Why Government Spending Matters More than the Size of the Deficit by Frank Shostak
- Will the United States Survive to 1984? by Ralph Raico
- Mises on Political Compromise by Carmen Elena Dorobăț
- Four Agencies to Abolish along with the Dept. of Education by Ryan McMaken
- Which is Worse — A Trade Surplus or a Trade Deficit? by Antony P. Mueller
- FOMC Minutes: More of the Same by C.Jay Engel
- We Need Hope by Matthew McCaffrey
- Five Reasons for Central Banks: Are They Any Good? by Karl-Friedrich Israel
- Billions Gone: 2016 Olympics Venues in Brazil Are Now in Ruins by Alice Salles
- Alan Greenspan Admits Ron Paul Was Right About Gold by Ryan McMaken
- Break Up the USA by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.
- What’s In Store for the Next Four Years? by Allen Mendenhall
- Abolish the One-Man Presidency by Ryan McMaken
- Why the “Experts” Can’t Agree About Fed Rate Hikes by Jay Engel
- The Economic Evil of Eugenics by Matthew McCaffrey
- Our Huge Hidden Tax: Government Regulations by Scott Powell
- Nietzsche and the State by David Gordon
- Democracy, the God That’s Failing by Jeff Deist
- The Great Gatsby and the Fed by Louis Rouanet
