What if the Majority Voted for “None of the Above”?
“Dreary as all get-out.” That’s how National Post columnist Chris Selley describes Canada’s 43rd federal election (October 21). He says “None of the above” (NOTA) should be on the ballot, …
Mises Wire
The Influence and Origins of FDR
In the two centuries or so of our history, it has happened that a few of our leaders — a very few — became symbols of some powerful idea, one …
Stimulus Brings Stagnation: The Case of Japan
Efforts to stimulate growth end up hampering growth. The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle (ATBC), pioneered by Ludwig von Mises, explains this seeming paradox. Government reduction of interest rates …
Jeff Snider Explains the Repo Market Flare-Up, the Fed’s Phony Solution, and the Global Dollar Problem
Jeff Snider is Head of Global Research at Alhambra Investments. He talks with Bob about the recent spike in lending rates in the repo markets, and how the Fed’s attempted …
The Double-Edged Sword of Behavioral Economics
For the sake of argument, let’s follow the lead of behavioral economics and assume for the sake of discussion that people are not rational. Consistency requires we apply this description …
The Fairness of “Unequal” Exchange
Market exchange is not based on the requirement that both parties appraise the goods about to be exchanged at equal value. Instead, market exchange is based on both parties benefiting …
Why the State Can’t Claim It Gets Our “Implied Consent”
One of the ways states are said to gain the rightful authority to rule is through implied consent. There are no explicit contracts signed with the government which grant it …
Bernie Sanders is a Bad Economist: Housing Market Edition
The great 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat once argued that “between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference — the one takes account of the visible …
What We Can Learn from Indian Tribes on Immigration
The Americas are unusual because citizenship is often granted based on birthplace, rather than on the citizenship or place of origin of one’s parents. Countries in North and South America …
Politics Drops Its Pretenses
Can the increasing politicization of life in America be stopped, or even slowed? To be sure, average Americans do not want this. Most people prefer not to lead overly political …