In 2014, the US homeownership rate fell below 65 percent, which means it’s back to where it was during the 1970s and much of the 1990s. Various federal agencies have long made homeownership a priority, and have introduced a bevy of government and quasi-government programs including the GSEs like Fannie Mae, FHA-insured loans, VA-insured loans, the
The IRS reports that more people renounced their US citizenship during the first quarter of 2015 than during any other quarter in history. Notably, a sizable portion of those renouncing their citizenship are doing so to escape heavy taxation . The United States one of only a handful of OECD nations that imposes a “worldwide” tax on its citizens
Earlier this year, Lithuania reinstituted the military draft , which the Lithuanian state claimed was in response to threats from Russia. Ukraine has also recently reinstituted the draft, with mixed political results , and for similarly stated reasons. Regardless of how one gauges the magnitude of Russian aggression, the problem faced by small
With the creation of the BRICS bank and now the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the major economies of the world are hoping to lay the foundation for a multi-polar financial world beyond the unilateral control of the United States. Due to the enormous size of the US economy, coupled with the reserve status of the US dollar, the United
With the victory of the Conservatives in last week’s British election, the future of both the European Union and the United Kingdom looks more doubtful . Newly re-elected Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, in order to please anti-EU constituents who were essential to his re-election, promised a referendum on EU membership by 2017, although
Much of the current immigration debate in the United States centers around the issue of “amnesty,” which is a vague term that may mean anything from “we won’t deport you” to “let’s fast-track you to citizenship and voting rights.” From a laissez-faire perspective, the deportation aspect of amnesty — an increase in federal inaction — is one thing.
In a recent interview, Jeb Bush said that in order for the United States to reach a higher level of economic growth, “people need to work longer hours.” Leftists immediately jumped on this comment as proof that Bush is horribly out of touch with ordinary working Americans. Bush soon backtracked and attempted to explain that what he really meant
In the wake of the Obama administration’s partial normalization of relations with Cuba, proponents of the embargo condemned the move, with National Review publishing an unsigned editorial claiming that allowing Americans to trade freely with the island nation amounts to giving comfort to murderous dictators. NR ’s editors concluded with : The
In recent years, home price indices have seemed to proliferate. Case-Shiller, of course, has been around for a long time, but over the past decade, additional measures have been marketed aggressively by Trulia, CoreLogic, and Zillow, just to name a few. Measuring home prices has taken on an urgency beyond the real estate industry because for many,
Brendan Nyhan at The New York Times seems to be under the impression that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has something to do with free trade. Nyhan writes that the TPP is the latest step in a decades-long trend toward liberalizing trade — a somewhat mysterious development given that many Americans are skeptical of freer trade. But Americans
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.