The original Mont Pelerin Society meeting in 1947 featured Ludwig von Mises, whose warnings about the dangers of socialism and totalitarianism had gone unheeded. In the wreckage of World War II, the truth of his message should have been obvious. It wasn't.
With Europe moving toward conflict in 1938, a number of economists and other intellectuals met in Paris to try to revitalize liberalism. Ludwig von Mises also was there as a lonely voice defending laissez-faire and the free market economy.
Contra Marx, the laws of economics are immutable and are the same no matter what historical epoch exists. Economies cannot flourish unless market prices, private property rights, and profits and losses are unhampered.
On this day 106 years ago, the warring parties of World War I agreed to an armistice, ending more than four years of slaughter in the trenches. As Ludwig von Mises recalled, governments also slaughtered their own currencies to pay for the bloodshed.
While most of us know George Orwell as an authoritative critic of totalitarianism, few people know he was a committed socialist and a lifelong defender of communist Leon Trotsky. While he understood totalitarianism, he never understood socialism.
Tariffs don‘t just raise consumer prices. They also affect capital flows and, on numerous occasions, have triggered stock market crises. What tariffs don‘t bring is prosperity.
The “trads” will help in electing Trump as president, but they will have no real power because their beliefs are threatening to the secularism of the regime.
Einstein's name is synonymous with brilliance, yet his great intelligence did not translate to logical economic thinking. Instead, Einstein embraced socialism, thinking that one could guide an economy like one guides a mathematical equation.
Anthony Blinken‘s term as US Secretary of State will be ending, although not soon enough.
Modern historians romanticize the reign of the Tudors in England, but in reality, they were brutal to their subjects and they centralized power to the detriment of the people. Governments today continue this march against freedom.
