Valiant Hearts is the rare game that combines engaging gameplay with a compelling narrative and a strongly anti-war message. I highly encourage readers to give it a try, even if you’re not usually interested in gaming. It’s available for all the major platforms, some of which are now offering the first chapter free, so if you want, you can try it
Eugenics has haunted the social sciences for the better part of two centuries. Historically, as a social movement, its most ardent advocates were the progressives, while in economics its most famous champion was John Maynard Keynes . Recently, the history of the eugenics movement has been studied in detail in Thomas Leonard’s masterpiece,
Hope is in short supply these days, while despair and hate are enjoying an enormous surplus. To give an example, there are currently two types of stories that fill my news feed. The first are about politics and the perpetual horrors it unleashes on the world: there’s a new scandal every day, and war, protectionism, and nationalism are on the rise,
Donald Trump’s Carrier deal has once again placed the issue of tax breaks front and center in economic policy debates. Free-market economists have been unanimous in their criticism of the deal, but some commentators argue it can be defended as a kind of selective tax relief. For example, Tho Bishop suggests that, if the policy involves tax relief
Terror attacks, civil wars, and political upheaval around the world are clear signs that debate about immigration isn’t going to disappear any time soon. However, troubled times can also be a good opportunity to revisit our basic arguments and assumptions about controversial issues. They’re also a way to remind ourselves of how much we can still
The current Liberty Matters debate on the work of Israel Kirzner offers some fascinating insights into the modern history of Austrian economics. It’s particularly valuable because it highlights the numerous strands of Austrian research that have developed from the writings of Menger and his followers, especially from Mises . Contrary to popular
Fans have been wondering for years if Valve will ever produce a new entry in the enormously successful Half-Life franchise. Questions about the existence of a new Half-Life project have even become something of a joke in the game industry. Yet as the years drag on, the possibility of a sequel grows less and less likely. But now, for the first
The growth of US military power has rarely, if ever, been the result of legitimate concerns about defensive strategy, let alone about the national welfare. Instead, it’s more often a consequence of a waste, corruption, and imperial ambition that together have produced the modern military-industrial complex. This history receives some well-deserved
The BBC series Planet Earth II is one of the most beautiful nature documentaries ever produced. Yet although the world it captures is gorgeous and filmed in incredible detail, it isn’t one that most people would care to live in. One theme in particular recurs throughout each episode: the harsh conditions endured by animals in the wild. From
Donald Trump’s airstrikes in Syria are tragic proof that he is just as eager to wage actual warfare as he is to wage economic warfare. Yet there should be nothing surprising about his recent attacks. Military intervention does not represent a reversal of Trump’s deeply-held values (if he has any), nor is it a subversion of good intentions by
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.
