The aftermath of impeachment mess has inspired handwringing and rhetorical gibberish on all sides, but precious little insight. What follows are two commentaries that rise above the rest, the first written for the The Weekly Standard , and the other written exclusively for mises.org. The Weekly Standard February 22, 1999 Think of the impeachment
The great Frederic Bastiat (1801–1850) taught that wealth can be obtained in two ways: it can be produced or it can be plundered. Production is undertaken by entrepreneurs. Plunder is often undertaken with the express assistance of government, taking the form of tariffs, taxes, subsidies, and other interventionist measures justified as policy in
No doubt the typical proponent of freedom and free enterprise, being of good manners and peaceful disposition, would sooner put his head in a bucket of rats than read All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos, Locked in the Cabinet by Robert Reich and Behind the Oval Office by Dick Morris. These books are chronicles by three government men of their
The federal government is not just in Washington, D.C. Actually, the federal government is a gigantic tapeworm with its mouth and brain in Washington, and the rest of its innumerable segments curled through much of the land. Federal government departments, bureaus, and agencies have offices in thousands of communities across the country. One
One of the more remarkable economic events of the year thus far was the response by economists to Vice-President Gore’s claim that “Big Oil,” that collusive, price-gouging maker of “enormous and unreasonable profits,” is responsible for rising gas prices. Gore’s claim got economists buzzing about like hornets whose nest had just been swatted. They
The economy is slowing down rapidly, according to many government statistics and economic indicators. It’s slowing down so rapidly, in fact, that the likelihood of recession seems much higher now than it has in years. Paul Krugman is worried. But the prospect of recession is not what has Krugman worried. “Recessions,” he tells us in his December
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman usually writes about how deplorable tax cuts would be. But every so often he takes a break from the fight against tax cuts to write about the energy mess in California. Krugman has been informing his readers that “deregulation” is the cause of California’s electric power morass. His language has been
By now, you probably have filed your 2001 federal income tax return, noted how much you paid in federal income taxes for the year, and concluded that your taxes are too high. Attorney Joseph H. Choate, if he were alive today, would agree with you. Choate thought federal income tax rates were too high back in 1894, when the income tax consisted of
A day of love, romance, and of course, the market process. Today, lovers across the U.S.—and Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe—bought roses for their sweethearts. A beautiful gift, roses are. Pricey too, especially on Valentine’s Day. Nationwide, rose prices are often double on Valentine’s Day from what they are on most
Some things are not as simple as they seem. Take poverty statistics, for example. The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its “Poverty in the U.S.: 2002” report, which contains the latest official poverty statistics for the nation. The statistics, to no one’s surprise, suggest a struggling national economy According to the report, 34.6 million
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.