Although Ludwig von Mises wrote approvingly of the just qualities of democracy, the incompatibility of democratic forms of government with wealth creation has been noted even within the institute bearing his name (e.g., Democracy—The God That Failed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe). World on Fire by Amy Chua (Doubleday 2003) is perhaps the most sweeping
I guess we always knew it: speed has never been the strong suite of government, unless it’s something like enacting a Freon ban on the basis of junk science. The announcement of the permanent withdrawal of the British-French supersonic airliner from service joins a long list of similar, failed public enterprises, although at 34 years, this
Some of the worst attacks on our personal freedom come in the form of edicts as to whom we can trade with, and whom we must make war on. This is referred to by the famous dictum attributed to Bastiat: “When goods are not allowed to cross borders, armies will.” The truth of the dictum has been demonstrated in history, both ancient and recent, time
At my neighborhood supermarket the other day, I was at first puzzled, then a bit amused at the sight on the shelf of “Fair Trade Coffee.” No, this isn’t a catchy brand name like “Morning Call.” This is, I found on inspecting the unusually wordy label in detail, coffee whose supplier claims to have overpaid the producers for it. By this is not
As Martha Stewart languishes in jail, one supposes her duties in the prison laundry or garden allow her little time for reading the Wall Street Journal if, indeed, she’s allowed to receive it in her mail. But if she had time to work her way back to Section D of the edition of October 26, she might have happened upon a small article on the second
Oliver Twist is alive today and recovering in a hospital in Beijing. The Dickensian saga of 13-year-old Xu Qian Qian fills one column on the front page of the Wall Street Journal for December 7, 2004 and, with color photos and maps, a full page inside Section A. Here is documented the story of one of the millions of disabled children in China,
Welfare/warfare states such as today’s America are distinguished by the ever-tightening grip the collective exercises over the course of their citizens’ lives, as the expression goes, from the cradle to the grave. Such governments are also distinguished, of course, by their propensity to expend not only the interests and energies of their people
Enron : $1 billion write-down of retained earnings, followed by $618 million quarterly loss. 21,000 put out of work in ensuing bankruptcy. CFO Andrew Fastow sentenced to ten years in prison. Jeff Skilling and Kenneth Lay arrested and charged with federal crimes. Worldcom : $10 billion inflation of profits through failure to record expenses. CFO
Cuba and Taiwan, a world apart but both on the 23 rd parallel, are thorns in the side of the mainland behemoth off whose southeastern coast each lies. Like the behemoths themselves, the islands have much in common, and great differences. The situation each presents today speaks volumes about the temper and nature of its dominant neighbor’s
After years of grueling war, victory must be close at hand. America’s fighting men and women have defended the flag and advanced freedom’s cause on battlefields across the globe in their hundreds of thousands, and of these, thousands have rendered their last, full measure of devotion. Congress has placed the economy on a war footing with annual
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.