Reckless bank lending and credit for dubious projects flag a future Chinese economic crisis (FinTimes$, letter by me): “During October 2003 the annualised increase in China’s broad money supply topped 21 per cent and domestic financial institutional lending climbed by a yearly rate of 71 per cent. Consistent with a burgeoning boom and bust
Well-intentioned or not, it is simply fallacious to deem government construction projects or social programmes as productive “investments”. As the only entities in society — besides criminals — that exist through the involuntary exaction of private property, governments rely on compulsion to achieve their ends. Unlike private enterprises,
Though details are still scant. Expenses expected to be 0.3-0.4%. One unfortunate point: “Finally, strange though it may sound, gold — even gold bars in a vault — are classified as “collectables,” (artwork also falls under this category) and are therefore taxed at a higher 28 percent capital gains rate in the U.S. after being held for more than
Bruce Bartlett, a supply-side economist who has written on the Austrian School, has reversed himself on the Iraq war. Then : “Iraq is clearly the most terrorist-friendly nation on Earth. The fact that Iraq’s people deserve liberation is also important — even if it makes me sound like a Wilsonian liberal, something I have always hated. Still, that
The Free Market 26, no. 2 (February 2005) It is a sign of the times when the Chinese government, which was just granted market economy status by debt-laden Argentina, takes America to task over its gaping budget and trade deficits. When interviewed by the Financial Times, published Nov. 22, Li Ruogu, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of
Spreading democracy is one of the mantra’s of U.S. foreign policy. Austrians, of course, know otherwise. The military is often used not for alturistic aims, but to secure the financial interests of unscrupulous firms that have an influence over government policy. I found a most frank example in a recent article in The Economist, “The view from
My letter appearing in today’s Financial Times : Sir, Although I endorse Sir Samuel Brittan’s call to distinguish between Santa Claus and government “handouts”, his analysis is seriously flawed (”There is no such thing as the state”, December 17 [ $link ]). Sir Samuel’s description of the state, specifically “a mechanism for transferring claims to
During the first week of March Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan aired his views on tax reform in front of Bush’s appointed panel on the topic. Greenspan advocated the introduction of consumption taxes, to which I replied with this letter to the Financial Times of London. Sir- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments advocating 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.