Lately a lot of people have been talking about Paul Samuelson’s Journal of Economic Perspectives article on globalization and free trade. The actual paper is available here through MIT. What’s funny is that (a) this paper has NOTHING to do with outsourcing--i.e. despite his verbal analysis, Samuelson’s model doesn’t even deal with outsourcing, let
This CNN article explains that the TSA has a test program in which it issues cards to frequent fliers who volunteer for a background check. This allows such fliers to bypass the usual airport searches. Right now the program is free, but the government may eventually charge a “modest fee” for participants. In a static cost-benefit analysis, this is
I’ve been corresponding with a reader (R. Nelson) who says he once was a fervent free trader but has now lost the faith. Specifically, he claims that the US, Japan, Germany, and (if memory serves) other countries all grew rich behind protectionist walls, while Great Britain (he claims) lost its preeminence due to free trade. Of course, I’ve tried
In this interesting Wired article (which I discovered at Marginalrevolution.com), we learn of a new approach to road design: Anarchy is good! The fewer road signs, the safer people drive. There are several lessons here for Austro-libertarians. First, this is precisely the kind of thing that would happen in a free market for roads; various
In the comments on a recent blog post, people questioned my assertion that anyone calling him or herself an Austrian economist needs to read Rothbard’s treatise cover to cover. (To clarify, I was saying anyone who wants to be an Austrian economist...) This raises an interesting question: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions to be an
The current debate on Social Security privatization has crystallized what is the central question (among many questions) that supporters of economic liberty ought to be asking the Bush administration and its think-tank backers. It is this: If we are willing to put up with the fiscal consequences of partially defunding the present revenue stream
Who’s afraid of China? : “I set irrational goals, Michael and I together, to encourage our team so they don’t think of conventional solutions,” Rollins said in an interview. “If we asked for a 10 or 15 percent increase in productivity, we’d get conventional solutions. But if we ask them to double their productivity, then they have to rethink
This is an entertaining work that will surely promote Austrian ideas. It illustrates the Rothbardian (versus the Hayekian) strategy of appealing to the masses, not trying to work through the
I realize this is silly, but it was too funny to pass up. Check out this Bob Murphy homepage . The guy is me, except for his middle initial and, oh yeah, he’s against tax cuts, pro inflation, and pro-minimum
Paul Poenicke, a student from my honors seminar on Spontaneous Order, sent me this Slate article concerning the “unorganized” and surprisingly efficient market in “green gold” out of Kenya. A quote from the end of the article: Miraa is certainly a striking example of business ingenuity rising to meet formidable challenges. The chemicals that give
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.
