We all know that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is dominating the political news with her demands for socializing the economy. Bob Murphy has explained that her Green New Deal “makes no sense on economic grounds” and even for Keynesians it “ would be nonsensical to implement such a program today.” Given the inanity of the Green New Deal, I would like to
The income tax is “undoubtedly the most totalitarian of all taxes. —Murray Rothbard At the founding of our country, the framers of our Constitution wisely withheld the right to tax incomes from the federal government. With the recent Revolutionary War in mind, the States were reluctant to cede strong taxing powers to a central state. Given the
The Free Market 14, no. 5 (May 1996) To the outside world, it appears that all economists agree: free trade can never be compromised. Inside, the picture is far more complicated. Good economists, preeminently the Austrian School, favor liberty across the board. Yet among the mainstream, economists who favor big government at home likely reject
The Free Market 15, no. 8 (August 1997) An hour before midnight, February 3, 1997, a sheriff’s car with its lights flashing pulled up to a middle-class home in Effingham County, Georgia. It had come for Debbie Gaskin, wife and mother. She was arrested, handcuffed, fingerprinted, and photographed. She posted bond, and was released. What crime had
The Free Market 17, no. 4 (April 1999) The field in economics called “Industrial Organization” is the very foundation of antitrust activity by government. And if you thought antitrust action was little more than one business using government to smash its competitors, The Economist is here to correct you. Antitrust investigators used to estimate
The Free Market 17, no. 6 (June 1999) For the last two years, the federal government has attempted to construct a Consolidated Financial Statement of its financial status for the previous fiscal year. This statement is an audit of the financial status of 24 cabinet level departments and agencies and is an attempt to account for the government’s
”Recently, the Treasury Department secretary asserted that “The President’s policies and a strengthening U.S. economy have resulted in a reduction of the U.S. budget deficit of approximately two-thirds — the fastest sustained deficit reduction since World War II.” And, “the deficit in FY 2014 fell to $483 billion.” Many people fell for this claim,
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to renegotiate international trade agreements such as NAFTA and to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. While Trump’s views on international trade are murky, two things seem clear. One: Trump is in favor of trade deals that halt the migration of US factories to other countries and increase
Voters tend to be rationally ignorant. Since a single vote does not matter , for most potential voters the cost of being politically well-informed is greater than the benefit of being knowledgeable about political affairs. Therefore it’s rational for most voters to be ignorant regarding political issues. A main reason for the high cost of being
Volume 10, No. 1 (Spring 2007) Carl Menger , the founder of the Austrian School of economics, was instrumental in developing the Austrian analytical framework. However, the foundation of Austrian theory predates Menger by centuries. Beginning with the Scholastics of the sixteenth century, there developed a tradition of economic thought on the
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.