Mises Search

The more time you spend with Austrian economists or libertarian intellectuals, the more you realize that Murray Rothbard’s influence has been underestimated. No, his name is not a household word but his influence is felt in another way: those who read him experience what amounts to the intellectual challenge of their lives. Whether that means

A dramatic change in the political and social landscape can happen nearly overnight. When does it happen? When the ideological conditions are right. At that point, no power on earth can stop it. What is seen is the upheaval. What is unseen is the long work of preparation. That preparation is everyone’s job. You can assist us in doing ours with a

At some point in the days following the November election, it became conventional wisdom that the Republicans lost control of the House because of the war. That is also said to be the reason that President Bush’s poll numbers have sunk lower than Clinton’s ever were, and are tending towards Nixon-level depths. Can we take a moment to observe how

There’s been much talk about the Rumsfeld memo written before his departure, the one that recommended change in the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy. But there’s been little talk of the strange specifics in the memo, specifics which provide profound insight into the workings of the imperial state. For the naïve among us, here is your

[This talk was given at the LRC Health and Wealth Conference in Foster City, California, December 2, 2006.] With the Democrats taking charge in Congress, we will surely hear talk of mandatory national health insurance, more spending for health care for the poor and elderly, and more taxes on individuals and business to pay for the whole scheme.

The Christmas season makes us unusually conscious that we live in times of relentless innovation. It’s true that we can be overwhelmed by it all, but would we have it any other way? Unfortunately, some would. They oppose the free-market process that makes improvement possible. They seize on some innovation that they don’t like, and instead of

The angel Clarence introduces himself to a skeptical George Bailey in the 1946 Frank Capra film It’s a Wonderful Life   As the war drags on and the state expands its reach in nearly every area of life, I’m detecting another moment of despair sweeping through libertarian ranks. Why aren’t all our efforts making a difference? What are we doing

Many people around the world, actually most people, have been convinced for some time that the US is being run by a power-mad lunatic. The video of the Saddam killing, which crystallized the extent to which extremist Shiites have taken over the country, has galvanized millions and confirmed the worst suspicions about what is going on in Iraq. How

The lessons of Iraq pose challenges for our understanding of the state. Consider the gap that separates the Bush administration’s original theory with the reality on the ground today. The idea was that the Iraqi government would be “decapitated,” and that once Saddam and his few henchmen were crushed, the country could breathe free and get on with

Those of us who loathe Republicans, especially Republican presidents, have some hope against hope that the Democrats will nominate a candidate who can save us from the certain doom of eternal Republican rule. Sadly, it seems that Bill Clinton, as much as we hated him at the time, was the last of a kind: a fairly normal and plausibly electable