Interventionism

The problem with the Excel spreadsheet approach is not the intentions of policymakers, but that such tools cannot possibly replace the market process.

In free-market circles, most government intervention is dismissed as "socialist," with the result that the term has lost its true meaning.

Government schemes are powerless in gauging where comparative advantage lies, whether we are talking about trade or sports.

Under a system of tariffs, subsidies, and restrictions, we get companies like Coke and Pepsi producing collectivist drinks for the masses.

Many of Venezuela's woes stem from the Venezuelan state's reliance on price controls to enact its socialist goals. Famine has resulted.

The government wants to arrogate to itself the power, which, in an economy, is in the hands of the consumers.

Delving further into the jobs report, we see that many of the jobs that were supposedly created were jobs in government.

The view seems to be that if a higher minimum wage is mandated that employers will continue to make all of the same hiring decisions. Not true.

The major threat to any economy is not deflation, but the policies used to count it.

Recorded at Mises University 2016.