Venezuela: Forty Years of Economic Decline
By the 1970s, the Venezuelan economy was in deep trouble. The half-hearted reforms that followed, paved the way for the rise of Hugo Chávez.
Mises Wire
It’s Against the Law to Paddleboard Without a Whistle
Nullifying the Coast Guard’s designation of paddleboards as vessels would be a victory for summer, and a defeat for Washington.
Balance Sheet Normalization, Or Not
Fed commentators have been talking up the "balance sheet normalization" theme. Turns out, shockingly, it's not actually going to be normalized.
US Household Debt Rises to All-Time Highs
Spurred by 9 years of easy money, US household debt is back to peak levels not seen since 2008.
Libertarianism at the Brink
Cato's Brink Lindsey says we can't evaluate complete laissez-faire because it does not exist; but he somehow "knows" government intervention is better.
4 Problems With Jeff Sessions’s New “Tough on Crime” Stance
Violent crime is already illegal in all 50 states under state laws. The last thing we need is a new wave of federal prosecutions of non-violent people.
Marx: The Economist’s Economist
Marx's original thinking amounted to nothing more than equivocal statements, half-baked arguments, and crude claims unsupported by any empirical facts.
The World’s Central Banks Are Frozen with Fear
A look at the world's largest central banks suggests there's no appetite for anything that resembles quantitative tightening.
Entrepreneurship’s Split-Personality Problem
Practice and theory are often seen as being distinct and in conflict with each other. But, hands-on entrepreneurs can learn a lot from economic theory.
Brexit Has Put EU Politicians in Panic Mode
The UK is in a much better negotiating position than the EU, and the EU knows it.
