Mises Wire

The modern state, unlike the medieval monarchy, does not merely tax to sustain itself or to defend the nation. It taxes to reshape society and to manage an increasingly restive population.

William Nordhaus coined the term “Political Business Cycle” a half-century ago. The idea was that government authorities, particularly the central bank, would manipulate the economy to correspond with election cycles, a practice that continues to this day.

Amtrak is always on the verge of reviving intercity rail traffic in the US, or at least that is what politicians want us to believe. The truth is that the case for defunding Amtrak has never been stronger.

The blackout in Spain was not caused by a cyberattack but by the worst possible attack—that of politicians against their own citizens.

This week on Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews The Price of Our Values by Augustin Landier and David Thesmar. While the authors claim that economists often substitute utilitarianism for moral values, they dismiss any idea of objective standards for morality.

The transatlantic slave trade from Africa is a well-known chapter in the history of slavery in the Western Hemisphere, but much lesser known is the enslavement of Native Americans. Many of them were shipped to plantations in the Caribbean where they were worked to death.

The late P.T. Bauer provided much insight into the issue of the so-called First World sending aid to Third World nations in the name of “development.” Bauer demonstrated conclusively that such donations actually impede economic growth in poor nations.

The Fed is now hemmed in by a rising risk of stagflation. It doesn‘t know where the economy is headed, or is unwilling to take a position. At this point, “hope for the best” is Fed policy.

Like presidents before him, Donald Trump is using the IRS as a weapon against organizations he doesn‘t like. Richard Nixon did the same thing—and it helped bring down his presidency.

In the name of fighting income inequality, pundits in the UK and US are calling for wealth taxes as magic bullets that will restore an imaginary state of income equality that never existed in the first place. It is time to abandon this idea for good.