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[ Originally published September, 2011. ] Several years ago, the police entered the office of a young professor at a reputable university and arrested him for an online crime. They took the professor away, booked him, and then offered him a deal: admit guilt and get off easy. The professor said to the few people to whom he was permitted to speak

“There isn’t anyone around who is willing to stand up and say, ‘I’m a fascist; I think fascism is a great social and economic system.’” Everyone knows that the term fascist is a pejorative, often used to describe any political position a speaker doesn’t like. There isn’t anyone around who is willing to stand up and say, ‘I’m a fascist; I think

[ Originally published August 02, 2003 .]   For today’s generation, Hitler is the most hated man in history, and his regime the archetype of political evil. This view does not extend to his economic policies, however. Far from it. They are embraced by governments all around the world. The Glenview State Bank of Chicago, for example, recently

The downgrading of US debt this summer didn’t have huge economic consequences, but the psychological ones were truly devastating for the national elites who have run this country for nearly a century. For a state that regards itself as infallible, it was a huge blow that market forces delivered against the government, and it is only one of

“ In fact, that 1 percent includes some of the smartest, most innovative people in the country — the people who invent, market, and distribute material blessings to the whole population. But there is another 1 percent out there” The “occupy” protest movement is thriving off the claim that the 99 percent are being exploited by the 1 percent, and

After Ludwig von Mises’s death in 1973, the Austrian School — and therefore the undiluted cause of liberty and prosperity — was in the doldrums. There were great Austrian economists teaching — preeminently Murray N. Rothbard — but they were isolated, and the pro-Fed Chicago School was in the ascendant. The great books were difficult to come by,

Socialists want socialism for everyone else, but capitalism for themselves, while capitalists want capitalism for everyone else, but socialism for themselves. Neither Ted Kennedy nor Jane Fonda practices a vow of poverty, nor are they taking any homeless into their mansions, while too many big companies try to short-circuit the market with

Not too long ago, the myth of Lincoln was accepted everywhere. The Greatest President, the Savior of the Union, the you get the idea. His true role — as dictator, the launcher of a horrific and unnecessary war (other countries abolished slavery peacefully), an inflationist and pioneer of the income and inheritance taxes, a centralizer, a police

[This talk was delivered at the Mises Circle in New York City on September 14, 2012.]   The 20th century was the century of total war. Limitations on the scope of war, built up over many centuries, had already begun to break down in the 19th century, but they were altogether obliterated in the 20th. And of course the sheer amount of resources that

More than 30 years ago I had lunch with the widow of Ludwig von Mises in her favorite restaurant, the Russian Tea Room in New York. I asked her permission to start an institute dedicated to her husband and his ideas. She gave her enthusiastic blessing. The next person I asked was Murray Rothbard, who literally clapped his hands in delight. Then I