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For free traders, the advent of the World Trade Organization was always a two-edged sword. On one side was the possibility that the bureaucracy might deter arbitrary acts of protectionist folly, if only by its ability to draw attention to them and debate them in a forum attended by political elites around the world. To some extent, it may have

As the war on terror drags on and on, saecula saeculorum , many people calling themselves libertarians have decided that it’s not such a bad thing after all. (The pundits calling themselves conservatives were among the first enlistees, and the left, as might be expected , is all for it too.)  What, some libertarians ask, is the point of government

The Bush administration’s $1.5 billion bailout of Uruguay ‘s banking system cries out for explanation. If there has been one issue that the administration has been pretty good on, it is international bailouts. There are many on-record comments from the likes of Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill that these bailouts are wasteful, destructive, and

As sure as grey winters follow green summers, the Republicans are working to lower expectations following their election sweep. The Washington Post delivers the pathetic if predictable news in its headline “GOP Revises Agenda of Extensive Tax Cuts”—and you just know that the revision is not to the benefit of taxpayers. Rather than pursue extensive

For at least two decades, the conservative wing of education experts has touted one magic bullet (apart from vouchers): high-stakes testing. The idea is to subject students (and teachers too) to a standardized test that would create incentives to learn the basics, compel curriculum committees to toss out the fluff, yield reliable data for

The libertarian tradition stands solidly against conscription, a form of public enslavement imposed mostly for the purposes of “public service” or waging war. Aside from the known waste and inefficiency of these programs, no government can be trusted with such a power, which is inherently contrary to individual rights. For that reason, we can

The drive to war, the threat of terrorism, the stock-price meltdown, the continuing recession, and the decline of liberty—all add up to a moment of grave insecurity in which government power thrives and grows. Underneath it all is widespread confusion about what happened to turn the prosperous and relatively peaceful 90s into the current madness,

During the airport-security reform debate of 2001, Congress had the option of permitting the airlines more discretion in securing themselves from the threat of hijacking . Airline security had been imperfect—Federal Aviation Administration  regulations prohibited commercial pilots from carrying guns, for example—but airlines themselves were

Delivered at the 2003 Mises Institute Supporters Summit. There once was a time, not too long ago, that in order to have light, one had to rely on the sun or a burning flame to provide it. So too, there was once a time when, in order to read a text of anything, you had to have a physical copy in your hands. It had to be sent through the mail or

Many people find themselves mystified as to why the Mises Institute puts books online for free that it is also trying to sell (elaborating now on some thoughts first put on the  blog ). For example, here is Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.’s  Speaking of Liberty  (which you can also purchase ). Here is Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s  The Myth of National Defense