The State as a Voluntary Institution: A Critique
[A selection from “Toward a Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics“] In the development of economic thought, far more attention has been paid to analysis of free exchange than to …
Mises Wire
A Flawed History of Doom
One of my borrower customers told me a long time ago, “builders build, when lenders lend.” That could have been the title of Richard Vague’s new book. Instead, his book …
Eugenics and the Racist Underbelly of the American Left
The New York Times has created a huge stir with its 1619 Project , which claims that the real founding of the United States was not the American Revolution, but …
The Ethics of Externalities
Some theorists claim that externalities are probably the most legitimate reason for state intervention in human interactions. The ethical case for intervention is that it can presumably increase overall economic …
Last Day to Double Your Gift
The Mises Institute sends a big THANK YOU to everyone who already donated to our Fall Campaign this week. Your support helps us continue to make the sound economic principles …
Bronze Age Mindset
In a recent article in The Claremont Review of Books, Michael Anton says that conventional conservatism does not appeal to American youth. “It’s been evident for a while, at least …
Greta Thunberg To Poor Countries: Drop Dead
It appears many Indians and Brazilians and Chinese are willing to risk the global warming for a chance at experiencing even a small piece of what wealthy first-world climate activists …
Trade Restrictions Are an Assault on the Individual’s Human Values and Rights
A tariff is a tax on imports that is used to satisfy a policy goal. Before the federal income tax became law in 1913, the US federal government was funded …
Three Cheers for Mises
This week marks the birthday of Ludwig von Mises, the great champion of property, real liberalism, real economics, and the animating spirit of a laissez-faire society. The Mises Institute in …
The Trade “War” Is Only Making War on Our Freedoms
In school, we were taught how analogies, metaphors, and similes describe one thing in terms of others. While those terms may have faded from memory or been tossed on the …