Mises Search

In his classic Economics in One Lesson , the great Henry Hazlitt wrote that the lessons of clear economic thinking had to be relearned each generation. As gasoline prices continue to rise out of control, especially in the Midwest, Hazlitt’s words prove to be true once again. It had to happen, of course. Even until recently, many news accounts and

The Microsoft saga has taken another interesting turn and, as usual, the observers are drawing the wrong conclusions. It turns out that Lawrence Ellison of Oracle, a rival of Microsoft, hired Bill Clinton’s former dirt digger Terry Lenzer to investigate groups that spoke out in favor of Bill Gate’s embattled company. After the initial leak that

In the summer of 1979, his presidency in tatters and his poll numbers falling, President Jimmy Carter announced what he termed a “bold, new” energy plan. As gasoline prices were rising and Americans were seething while sitting in those infamous gas lines, Carter declared that he would come up with new ways to produce “alternative energy” using tax

If one has had any doubts, let them be put to rest: the rule of law is now dead in the United States. A Miami, Florida, jury ordered the tobacco companies to pay damages to smokers a sum in excess many times of the companies’ net worth, this as “punishment” for producing what attorneys called a “killer product.” In truth, the very state apparatus

As the political silly season moves into high gear with the political conventions scheduled for next month, the candidates have been bombarding us with promises for new “free” government programs. Do we want lower prescription drug prices for senior citizens? The federal budget surplus will pay for this giveaway. Do we want more policemen to help

There is a rumor afloat that the economics profession has finally been “won over” to a free market view of the world. After all, the University of Chicago has dominated the list of Nobel Prize winners in economics, and we all know that Chicago is a free-market department. Elsewhere, I have been told, the other “prestigious” economics programs have

For those of us who see television news and commentary as a vast, statist wasteland, the work of John Stossel has been welcome relief. Each week on the ABC show 20/20, Stossel has his “Give Me a Break” segment in which he comments acerbically on the latest follies of government regulation and taxation. Stossel’s brief commentary, along with the

In recent days, political polls have seen Al Gore shoot past George Bush, especially in polls of potential women voters. Gore, according to those interviewed, has the “better ideas,” while Bush seems to be mired in a real slump. Perhaps we should be surprised at such numbers. Gore, after all, has given us proposal after proposal to increase the

Education vouchers have become one of the hot points of the current political campaign, and supposedly they pit the liberal Democrats against the Republican conservatives. Liberals argue that vouchers will harm public education, while conservatives believe that a voucher program is a key to improving education opportunities to children from

A mathematician and an economist were asked, “What is the sum of two plus two?” The mathematician immediately answered, “It is four.” The economist, on the other hand, closed all windows and doors and asked quietly, “What do you want it to be?” Just when we think this story is simply another silly economist joke, reality sets in. The latest