Mises Wire

The size of an entrepreneur's return on his investment is determined not by how much risk he assumes, but rather whether he complies with consumers' wishes.

It's time to stop pretending that the policies favored by some biologists—who know nothing about how economies work to lessen the health effects of poverty—come without grave costs to public health.

The 2016 election was an important reminder that most experts were totally wrong in their predictions of what would happen. Now the experts are claiming that freedom and markets must be abandoned based on new guesses about the future.

The effects of COVID-19 are not evenly distributed in the United States. Only certain regions are facing sizable strains on their resources. A nationwide lockdown would create huge economic costs for regions where the the costs of disease have been relatively low.

Why are governments so enthusiastic about shutting down businesses when other less draconian measures are available and prudent? The answer lies in the fact that governments can act with near impunity and want to maximize their power.

It is a marvel that imperfect, limited information available to the entrepreneur can be used to produce so much good for society. 

The state has used this virus scare to demand that politicians and bureaucrats be given near-total control over every aspect of life, including virtually every business and employer in America. Will this now be a permanent feature of American life?

Contrary to a recent headline, the US is not about to become the "epicenter" of COVID-19. In fact, the death rate of COVID-19 is lower in the US than at the same point in the timeline for many other countries we are told are comparable to the US.

Every crisis caused by the unbacked paper money system expands the power of the states over economic and social life, and unfortunately, once the state has expanded its power, it is unlikely the trend will be reversed.

There is a reason to panic. But the panic should be over how governments—who know so very little about the virus that they have decided warrants destroying the global economy—will create many new threats to health and well-being through their policies.