As YouTube and other digital media move beyond computer-savvy young people into the ranks of even stodgy businessmen, these subversive outlets become serious problems for the ruling elite. This trend is epitomized by the radical change in the Federal Reserve’s image. In just a few short years, the Fed has transformed in public opinion from a
After the catastrophic earthquake, the tsunami, and the nuclear-reactor scares, the Japanese currency ironically strengthened quite sharply. In response, the Bank of Japan and other major central banks last week launched a coordinated “intervention” into the currency markets in order to intentionally weaken the yen. In this article I’ll explain
Five months into the second round of quantitative easing — “ QE2 “ — it is useful to take stock of what it has, and has not, accomplished. In short, the monetary base is way, way up, price inflation is up, long-term interest rates are up, and bank lending is down . QE2 has thus begun to deliver on all the dangers of which the critics warned, but
A humorous financial story making the rounds concerns the apparent relationship between media mentions of the actress Anne Hathaway and jumps in the stock price of shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. The presumed culprits are algorithmic trading programs, which raises the question, What does Austrian economics have to say about
As Ron Paul’s “End the Fed” movement grows, more and more Fed economists are speaking up on behalf of the central bank. In a recent post , David Andolfatto of the St. Louis Fed argues that the systematic debasement of the currency has had a negligible effect on the average American. As we’ll see, Andolfatto’s evidence is completely irrelevant to
Legal requirements and prudence require most adults to carry various insurance policies. Although we may often take insurance for granted, it serves a valuable social function. Beyond its standard role recognized by all economists, insurance plays an important part in many Austrolibertarian proposals for privatizing traditionally state-run
Bernard von NotHaus was convicted last month in federal court on conspiracy and counterfeiting charges for his development of silver “Liberty Dollars.” He faces up to 25 years in prison. Earlier this week the feds moved to seize about $7 million of precious metals from the operation as well. Besides the government’s dubious legal maneuvers, its
An amusing story on NPR recently explained the origin of a new collection of Dr. Seuss stories. The tale involves an entrepreneurial dentist with a passion for Seuss and a knack for exploiting price spreads. Explaining profits that are fat? We here at Mises know a lot about that! Is There a Doctor in the Magazine? We can excerpt from the NPR
With the debate over the federal government’s budget as the hot topic of the day, the proponents of big spending have gone into overdrive with their mantra that Herbert Hoover was a small-government liquidationist. As often as this myth is repeated, it’s important to show that it is wrong: Herbert Hoover was a big-government man who did not trust
On Monday, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) announced that although the US government would retain its AAA debt rating, the outlook for the United States’ future was being downgraded from “stable” to “negative.” The move is a welcome if tepid acknowledgement of the fiscal train wreck of which Austrians have been warning for years. The S&P Announcement
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.
