When Mario Draghi’s tenure was approaching its end, I argued for a sterner governor for the European Central Bank (ECB); hence, I was not even slightly enthusiastic when Draghi’s successor turned out to be Christine Lagarde—a patent dove, as can be inferred from her ideological proximity to a famous Keynesian like Olivier Blanchard. However, I
As an international private currency, Libra will be in competition with publicly issued currencies. It could have large and fruitful repercussions on the global monetary policy, especially with reference to those countries where central banks are still heavily subject to political influence and tend to pursue inflationary monetary policies. The
Modern central banks have already moved far beyond what was once considered the proper role for a central bank as a “lender of last resort.” Now Keynesians and MMTers (modern monetary theorists) want to take things even further. As the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent freezing of economic activity take place, many economists are hoping for
As the COVID-19 pandemic is taking place worldwide, many leftist pundits and communist politicians are blaming its spread on the alleged inborn flaws of neoliberalism—which they identify with globalization, laissez-faire , the absence of solidarity and greater inequality. However, all their claims and theories are either factually wrong or
Oftentimes, people unfamiliar with the Austrian school tend to bundle it with political anarchism. There are—I believe—different possible explanations for that, but the most prominent ones seem to me the following two. First, it’s true that some Austrians can in effect be considered political anarchists as well. Second, the Austrian school is not
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Among the essential concepts Mises analyzes and dwells upon in Human Action (1949), there is the notion of capital. Mises conceives of capital as a factor of production intrinsically different from land and labor. In fact, capital is not nature given—its total amount increases or
The action axiom can be stated as follows (Cf. Rothbard [1962, 1970] 2004 , pp. 1–2, 7–8, 19–20; Rothbard, 2011 , pp. 113, 290; Mises, [1949] 1998 , pp. 14–16): “Human beings engage in purposive behavior—i.e., they choose which scarce means are to be more fruitfully (or economically, or rationally) employed in order to satisfy their most
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. On the back of the economic crisis brought about by the covid-19 pandemics, we are witnessing—once more—so-called economists, historians, and pundits attempting to proclaim the failure of capitalism. Their criticisms of the capitalistic organization of human cooperation and coexistence
Among the many insights Mises provides in his magnum opus , Human Action , there are crystal-clear considerations about the price mechanism, the role entrepreneurs play in fostering efficient resource allocation, and how socialism is detrimental to the economy, insofar as it disrupts the smooth interplay of prices, entrepreneurship, and
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Every once in a while, Mises is accused of having been a fascist by slanderers who are either ignorant or acting in bad faith—or even both. The petty argument these detractors bring forth is a quotation taken—out of context—from Mises’s 1927 book Liberalism : It cannot be denied that
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.