Zimbabwe, in the aftermath of years of hyperinflation, today has nine different currencies that are officially legal tender. The emerging system of multiple currencies offers a chance to make some interesting observations.
True welfare and value can only be achieved through exchange when it is fully voluntary. When the state intervenes to "improve" trade, it destroys value, all the government stats notwithstanding.
Designed to redress the wrongs of the major injustice of slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment is now used by the federal courts to micromanage nearly every aspect of modern life. Strangely, many libertarians continue to support the amendment in spite of this.
Many look to socialize health care as a way to reduce costs, but the only way to increase supply and reduce costs is for government to stop subsidizing health care while limiting its supply.
Opponents of free markets sometimes describe market competition of dog-eat-dog, but that metaphor has nothing to do with markets and everything to do with politics and war.
Reducing government spending results in an immediate increase in welfare for all productive members of the economy. But, the way we calculate economic growth is rigged to make it look like more government spending fuels economic growth.
On behalf of everyone at the Mises Institute, we wish you a very happy, healthy, peaceful, and productive New Year! In this talk, Murray Rothbard reflects on the past while looking to the future of peace and free markets in our society.
One thing the Chinese regime has not managed to do is erase the Chinese fondness for saving money. But in America, where over one-third of the population is on public assistance, it spends as much as possible.
Keynesians believe that more government spending leads to more economic growth, but in addition to crowding out productive enterprises, government spending necessitates the transfer of wealth from the productive class to the government class.
Ridley Scott's new sword-and-sandal epic Exodus: Gods and Kings is jam-packed with political messages and imagery. Unfortunately, none of it ever gels into an interesting movie involving interesting characters.
