The Free Market 24, no. 6 (June 2004) It is always the fashion among many intellectuals to blame society’s ills on the free market. One college newspaper recently argued that the market is “The God That Sucked.” The course summaries in my university’s catalog, the themes of the lecture series, and the editorial content of the student newspapers
From an Alternet.org interview with “Students Against Sweatshops” author Liza Featherstone: “Some of the more anarchist types are very critical of activists who don’t lead an alternative, anti-capitalist lifestyle (growing their own food, composting, making their own clothes, etc.). Others say that kind of self-sufficient life isn’t really
Russ Roberts dismantles recent anti-WM criticism here . An idea, for anyone interested: critics accuse WM of paying sub-standard wages, but from what I understand, they also offer deep employee discounts. Has anyone calculated the value of Wal-Mart’s total compensation accounting for these discounts? Reducing one’s grocery bill by 25% could be a
Volume 17, No. 2 (Summer 2014) My education in Austrian Economics began in earnest shortly before I started grad school at Washington University in Saint Louis. The Center for the Study of American Business had just become the Murray Weidenbaum Center and had left a small mountain of books on a table in the Economics Department’s mailroom for
Volume 16, No. 1 (Spring 2013) ABSTRACT : Non-monetary calculation of the environmental effects of action runs into the same problems of in natura calculation and commonly owned means of production. The information needed for rational economizing does not exist when we forsake the price mechanism. A legal regime based on strict private
Volume 12, No. 2 (2009) Profits and losses provide powerful incentives. This essay explores the roles of profits and entrepreneurs in a market economy. In a market with secure private property rights, profits are a reliable guide that directs productive activity. Profits reward entrepreneurs for successfully adjusting the structure of production
We’re wrapping up our discussion of international trade in Econ 100 today with an analysis of tariffs and import restrictions. The defense of protectionism is a classic example of the Broken Window Fallacy in action. Suppose the government decides to impose restrictions of some kind on automobiles produced in Japan. To the untrained eye, this
A small set of ideas does most of the heavy lifting in economics. “Ten Principles of Economics” or “Ten Big Ideas” or “Ten Key Elements of Economics” are pretty standard in most introductory economics books. Here’s my version, based on Chapter 1 of The Economic Way of Thinking . 1. People Act . People choose goals (ends), and they choose ways to
I spent part of yesterday afternoon making Economics Memes for my classes. You can find the results here . The memes are to complement my “ Nine Principles of Economics ” post and my IHS “ Economics on One Foot ”
If you’re on the road at all this holiday season, be on the lookout for a few things. First, look for enormous amounts of unused and/or decaying productive capacity. You’ll see plenty along the way from Memphis to Birmingham, but I suspect this isn’t the only route along which you’ll see lots of crumbling buildings and rusting cars. Second, be on
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.
