Mises Wire

Despite support from some economists in the free market camp, fractional reserve free banking is doomed for failure, as Murray Rothbard pointed out.

"There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom."

While there is a public uproar about China having access to the work of American scientists, there is a bigger issue at stake: Is science “owned” by “the public”? If not, why are we so worried about the Chinese?

Free speech isn’t about protecting one’s personal viewpoint. It is about promoting and protecting individual liberty.

My objective is to take the socialist calculation problem and apply it to environmental economics. Environmental regulation is really a variety of government planning and is a poor foundation for policy.

We are told that it takes “eternal vigilance” to protect our freedom. But what if the entity taking away our freedom has the weapons and the “law” on its side?

Some economists have claimed that “transparent” monetary policy in which the Fed operates predictably will lessen the chances of the boom and bust cycles happening. It isn’t the lack of transparency that creates business cycles; it is Fed-caused malinvestments.

We are reminded time and again that prices emerge from subjective valuation, not objective criteria.

What should the younger generation do about their economic difficulties? First, learn economics—real economics. Learn logic and, math. Unlike other disciplines, correct economics does not change with trends. It helps you understand the world, predict outcomes, and make better decisions.

If prices are instrumental in providing needed information to market participants, then inflation can be seen as introducing static into the system, creating more uncertainty and leading to bad choices.