Interventionism

Only the developing countries had it right in Seattle: both the protestors and the leading delegates represent a threat to free trade and enterprise.

Once again, the federal government is scrambling to make good on its own past mistakes. And private industries are facing massive costs, and potentially massive lawsuits, because of their attempt to keep up with federal regulators' changing whims. The controversy over Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) shows once again that government's heavy-handed approach to environmental problems guarantees not solutions, but a continuing mess for which government will again posit itself as a solution-a clear example of Ludwig von Mises's theory of intervention.

Created in the name of free trade, and even backed by some free traders, the World Trade Organization has become what its fine-print promised it would  be: a vehicle for economic planning.

Does Alan Greenspan have a theory or is he just winging it? (Commentary by James Grant) 

In an interview with Mises.org, a leading German classical liberal explains how the government botched unification.

So long as the Fed has the power to print, the boom-bust cycle is here to stay. (Paper by Frank Shostak)

Regulators claim to guarantee equality of  information, but no market can live up to that standard.

MCI WorldCom and Sprint should be permitted to merge, regardless of what Washington regulators say. 

Government errors caused the problems and they still do. (Commentary by James R. Barth)
 

The long history of fiat money and the disasters it has left in its wake. (Column by Albert Friedberg)