Mises Search

Most economic concepts never make it out of the academic journals, let alone into the public eye and public opinion. The concept of “moral hazard” is a rare exception: largely due to the financial crisis, this once- technocratic insurance term has become almost a household word . This is all to the good, because moral hazard is a great example of

Austrians never tire of emphasizing Mises’ point that the entrepreneur is the driving force of the economy. But surprisingly, even though we write a lot about the theory and current practice of entrepreneurship, relatively little work has been done to apply the Austrian approach to economic history. For this reason, entrepreneurship scholars

Some of you may remember a British television show from the 1980s, Yes, Prime Minister . It was (and is) a delightfully funny look at all the problems both of bureaucracy and of (especially democratic) government in general. After a twenty-year hiatus, the creative minds behind the original show, writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, have reunited

Disenchantment with the democratic process is a common theme of contemporary politics. The major complaint behind this trend is the idea that “our” political institutions have been subverted by powerful interests that deny voters a meaningful voice in the decision process. Concern is likewise growing that democratic decisions do little to

The Federal Trade Commission has recently been investigating sponsorships between video game developers and popular internet personalities known as “influencers.” The parties under investigation include sponsors like Warner Bros. as well as influencers like Felix Kjellberg—better known by his online moniker PewDiePie—creator of what is to date the

All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again. The upcoming presidential election has pitted two of the most unlikeable candidates in recent memory against each other. Laura Roslin and Gaius Baltar each represent some of the worst impulses of humanity, and the prospect of having either as president of the colonies is simply

Racial identity is intertwined with almost every economic and political problem currently under debate, from police violence to immigration controls. In fact, it’s possible that racism and racial conflict are in the public eye now more than at any other time since the Civil Rights Movement. Recent events should give us pause to consider the

The Netflix series Stranger Things is the surprise hit of the year. It’s especially refreshing for libertarians, who can finally enjoy a show where the main villain is government itself: at last, the antagonist isn’t the market or even a corrupt politician, just government. Maybe its best plot twist is that there’s nary an evil corporation to be

It’s not clear how Mises would feel about every individual facet of the current election, but we can say without hesitation that he would not support either major candidate. It should be obvious that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump oppose virtually every tenet of classical liberalism and sound economics. Unfortunately, justified opposition to

Libertarians enjoy accusing each other of blind devotion to their favorite ideas and thinkers. In fact, it almost seems like a major pastime in the liberty movement to make this charge, and to revel with others in self-congratulatory “gotcha!” moments directed toward members of the outgroup. I find this state of affairs frustrating, all the more