Mises Search

Is the Mafia like a state that uses violence to enforce its agenda? Or is it more like a private business that specializes in the market provision of security? Robert Murphy reviews a book on the topic by Diego Gambetta and concludes that the author has everything right except the fundamental analytics concerning what distinguishes public and

Whenever people whine about the need for government-funded student loans, I always wonder why there aren’t easier private routes. Well, there’s MyRichUncle. I haven’t researched this, so maybe it’s not truly private sector, but on the surface it appears to be a pretty straightforward scheme to foster mutually advantageous

In some of my circles I hear a lot about the wickedness of business concentration and the terrible fate of the small businessman or shop owner in a free economy. Here’s an interesting argument to the contrary in the world of publishing. It turns out that Amazon.com, a veritable behemoth, is the best thing that ever happened to small publishers! We

Of course one can never trust court rulings—the State can turn just about anything to its advantage in the long run—but on the face of it this seems to be a good turn of events for Canadian health care. (Thanks to Pete Johnson for the

I apologize for posting something that isn’t completely germane for this blog, but this New Yorker article on the White House’s plans for Iran is truly frightening (especially to people in the Middle East). One of my game theory students tipped me off to it because some of the analysis is “strategic,” but I told him that I didn’t think the

I can’t believe no one else has posted this—and perhaps someone did and I just missed it—but Domino’s founder is trying to establish a community where abortion is prohibited. I’ve talked with Walter Block before about this type of thing, and I believe his only concern was that children born into the community might suffer “unlibertarian” things

In an effort to spice up the otherwise dreadfully boring section in my micro class on different industry types (price takers vs. searchers, oligopoly, etc.), I always have an “experiment” to demonstrate the difficulties of cartel formation. These aren’t controlled experiments so I don’t bother keeping accurate figures, but I can share some

I don’t know how much of this is due to genuine disapproval of his policies, and how much is due to, “We really like The Police .” In any event, click on “Every Breath You Take” to see business geeks being surprisingly

CANTOR’S DIAGONAL ARGUMENT: AN EXTENSION TO THE SOCIALIST CALCULATION DEBATE by Robert P. Murphy. The socialist calculation debate is one of the most famous episodes in the history of the Austrian School. Provoked by Ludwig von Mises’s original salvo in 1920, the debate forced socialist theorists to refine their position TOWARD A CALCULATIONAL

Drunk driving is ever in the news ( Paris Hilton arrested ) and the news typically conflates the non-crime of drunk driving with the real crime of actually hurting people and injuring property with a car. So it’s a good time to revisit my 2000 article calling for the legalization of drunk driving