Mises Wire

For some economists, the fact that entrepreneurs make cinnamon rolls instead of selling only celery sticks is a “market failure.” These economists have appointed themselves the arbiters of what is “best” for people, and therefore, what should be sold in the marketplace.

When this state of all-round control of business is attained, there can no longer be any question of a market economy. This is no longer capitalism; it is all-round planning by the government, it is socialism.

As the debate over federal lands continues, those who are jockeying over who controls the land often assume that their own preferred use of the land is the "correct" use of the land.

The Swedish welfare state long ago created a rigid and dysfunctional labor market. But now, the influx of immigrants is highlighting just how poorly the Swedish labor market works.

We still hear from some alumni, but we've lost track of so many. We'd love to know what you've been doing since you first walked through the Institute's front door.

Many people mistakenly think of Austrian economics as nothing more than a radical defense of free markets, though it's really a framework for studying human action and its social implications.

The issue lies not in overestimating, but in assuming in the first place that the future will look like the past at all.

The housing bubble has been replaced by a number of new bubbles. Among them is the auto loan bubble. Car loans now last longer than ever and are going to more people with bad credit. This might not end well.

You may have heard about the Swiss referendum to end fractional reserve lending by Swiss commercial banks. It's a fascinating development, and another example of how average Swiss people can use the federal referendum process to force both the central legislature and the 26 cantons to consider citizen proposals—merely by gathering 100,000 signatures within 18 months.