Mises Wire

Tom Paine is one of the forgotten names of the American Revolution, but it can be argued that no other man was as important in galvanizing the thoughts of American colonials toward independence.

Frederic Bastiat understood better than most how free markets and market prices actually promote social harmony. And unlike most, he understood why Paris, which had little agricultural land, had plenty of food for its inhabitants.

Elon Musk has found out the hard way that one can ferret out hundreds of billions of dollars that Congress wastes, but fail in getting its members to stop wasteful spending. Jim Bovard learned that hard lesson 30 years ago.

The mainstream economic belief is that a growing economy needs a growing money supply to ensure “price stability.” Austrian economists, however, believe that there is no “optimum” money supply, which means government should not engage in monetary expansion.

The pope must defend the family from the state‘s attacks while promoting peace and asserting independence from state power.

While this page has covered rail boondoggles in California and elsewhere, we also look at Seattle, which looked at building a monorail system, but then later wisely back off, saving the city‘s taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars of future taxes.

“The only influence capable of resisting the feudal hierarchy was the ecclesiastical hierarchy; and they came into collision, when the process of feudalism threatened the independence of the Church...”

Herbert Spencer is best known for the term, “Social Darwinism,” but his writings on free markets and law remain brilliantly relevant today. While not included in the Pantheon of Austrian economists, nonetheless his work influenced Austrian scholars.

The simple narrative today of the southern secession in 1860 and 1861 is that the southern states believed that the institution of slavery was being threatened, so they left the union. However, the real causes are more complex and do not fit any preconceived narrative.

Bob breaks down the recent Soho Forum immigration debate between Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh, clarifying the critical libertarian questions around property rights, open borders, and government authority.