Mises Wire

Venezuelan politicians hoping to replace the current regime in Venezuela mostly offer just re-treads of the failed socialism the country has endured for decades.

Henry Hazlitt's The Failure of the "New Economics" published in 1959, is still the best refutation of Keynesian economics to be found anywhere — sixty years later.

At this point mal-investments and false market signals have been accumulating for many years. The effects can be seen not necessarily in a future "crash" but also in our current weak and declining levels of economic growth.

As some conservatives increasingly argue for an ever larger state to support "families" and "society," Burke showed through both words and personal actions that the real answer to building up civil society lies in the private sector and not in government programs.

The theory goes like this: capitalism combines with consumerism and advertising to make us sad, lonely, and forever chasing after material goods. So we consume endlessly and the Machiavellian capitalists reap the rewards. It's not a great theory.

It is highly unlikely that Woke Big Business on its own can turn the US into a totalitarian society. Historically speaking, business policies have followed the lead of governments, not the other way around. The state remains the real threat.

The negative consequences of expansionary monetary policies take a while to show up, but Deutsche Bank's collapse may be the first sign of failure. 

Competition for wealth and social status was hardly created by the capitalist system. People have always competed for these things. Thanks to capitalism, though, this competition is now less violent, and true poverty is easier to avoid.

As prices have risen, domestic demand for steel has fallen, meaning steel producers are laying off workers as consumers pay more. 

The fact that the most conservative investors are being forced to purchase bonds of nearly bankrupt companies for virtually no yield is not a success of monetary policy nor a tool for growth.