New York Times says: “On Social Security, 51 percent said permitting individuals to invest part of their Social Security taxes in private accounts, the centerpiece of Mr. Bush’s plan, was a bad idea ... a majority of those surveyed said they would support raising the amount of income subject to Social Security payroll tax above its current ceiling
From the Gene Callahan Blog , the astounding success of the Hoppe Petition (1,300+ signatures) prompts this observation about the student whose comments set off this witch trial: “ Mr. Knight is judged too harshly, for he believes what he believes precisely because he has come to adulthood in a culture which worships freedom from insult, a world
Bloomberg’s William Pesek says that “While last week’s meeting of the Asian Bellagio Group didn’t mark a coordinated effort to abandon the dollar, it may prove to be a watershed event for a region looking to stand alone. If there’s going to be a concerted effort to dump the dollar, it may be made within the context of this grouping.” (Thanks
I’m so grateful to Russell Roberts for bringing to my attention this fascinating lecture by Mario Vargas Llosa, given at the AEI. Llosa is a novelist and one of heroic 1,300 signers of the Hoppe Petition . The speech has its ambiguities, but who knew to what extent he was influenced by Mises? A great liberal thinker, Ludwig von Mises, was always
Socialism in Latin America is now called “pragmatism,” writes Colin McNickle in the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review in a column that borrows heavily from Mises. The hook here is the installation of Tabare Vazques as president of Uruguay. McNickle says old-fashioned anti-capitalism is the cultural force behind the rise of these types, but one wonders,
Robert Bork is quoted by the Washington Times on his reaction when he saw popular culture appear in the old East Germany: “You almost began to want to put the wall back up.” No, this comment is not fecitious; it reflects the heart of conservative-style central planning (see Hoppe on this). Keep in mind that this is the man who is considered to be
You know those tax cuts you barely saw a couple of years ago? They will soon be eaten up by the Alternative Minimum Tax. Not only that: your taxes could go much higher as this non-inflation-adjusted mechanism eats up ever more of your deductions. In 2006, 19 million people will pay it. By 2009, it will generate more revenue than the ordinary
Yesterday’s Las Vegas Sun carried an article on Carol Harter’s statement that the university has dropped its case against Hans-Hermann Hoppe. This is a victory of sorts, but the story also notes that her statement is not exactly a clarion call on behalf of the freedom to teach; indeed, it seems to leave an opening for future violations of its
Two lefty blogs, Daily Kos and Atrios , have figured out that some big businesses are pushing for nationalized health care as a way of reducing their labor costs. What’s not clear is whether these bloggers are happy about this lobbying trend. As for explanation, if the site managers are following trackbacks, see Mises on how interventionism begets
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.
