Mises Wire

While we speak highly of “rule of law” and the “limited state,” the unfortunate truth is that the modern state is a law unto itself. 

Murray Rothbard saw government as a predatory, criminal entity and the Microsoft lawsuit of 1998 proved to be a classic example of government organized crime in action.

To deny local self-determination to the Catholic Vendean rebels was to support the imperialist impulse, just as the opponents of the American revolutionaries embraced imperialism over freedom. 

The standard narrative is that policing and imprisonment are necessary tools to keep the public safe from criminals. But it also would seem that these things are useful tools for a state that wishes to dominate its citizens.

America’s elderly political class is only the most visible symptom. The deeper problem is a government built to transfer wealth from younger Americans to a caste of older, wealthier generations.

If avoiding a repeat of the excesses of the French revolution is an important goal, we need a thorough understanding of its causes. Edmund Burke and his conservative followers don't offer this. 

World Cup tickets are a hot commodity with prices through the roof. Naturally, governments want to do what governments always do unsuccessfully: levy price controls.

Lolcows, part of the world of internet personalities, would seem well beyond the world of economic analysis. Yet, much of what happens can be explained by the paradigm of Austrian economics.

Great Britain’s “Equality Act” is not simply a civil rights bill gone too far. It is, as Murray Rothbard would have put it, a “monstrous” piece of legislation that looks to create a social and economic equality that could never exist.

Keynesians claim that recessions occur because of a lack of consumer demand. However, demand comes from what we produce, so a growing economy needs more production.