Christopher Westley formulates his own law of economics, which highlights how consumers apply much lower standards to government output, no matter what it is, than they do to the output that results from private markets. How else to explain hysteria about market failure and corporate mis-behavior as compared with unending government government failure?
The quest for greater realism in the social sciences: this is the core mission of Misesian scholarship in our times. At its heart this is a quest for the full truth, and even though we cannot expect to ever gain a full picture of anything here on earth, we should attempt to do so. If Misesians remain faithful to their mission, it will not fail to yield a rich harvest.
Machan is interviewed for television on a huge range of questions concerning the efficacy of capitalism and the free society. Only a smart part appeared on the broadcast. Here is the entire tour de force: everything you wanted to know about economic freedom from one of its most prolific defenders.
While protectionism may temporarily prop up inefficient industries and businesses, ultimately market forces will prevail, hurting even the favored industry. An insider tells the story of the copper industry--and how it ultimately lost out to fiber optics.
The historical record shows that commercial freedom is the best policy in peace and war. Cooperation is more fruitful than coercion. And if one wants the friendship or assistance of others it is better to appeal to their interests instead of their fears. Above all, foreign trade should be as free and unrestricted as trade within a nation.
Drug reimportation is not a panacea, nor is it likely to have any long-term effect upon the rising costs of prescription drugs. It is at best a temporary fix for those most in need of lower priced drugs. What will have a lasting impact, however, is the extent to which the entirety of the Washington conservative and libertarian alliance was willing to bypass the larger issue of free trade.
Every good libertarian should favor tax cuts. The money belongs to us in the first place, and it should be an occasion to celebrate when Washington wises up and gives some back. We've been promised a tax cut as long as memory serves, but it never seems to arrive. At last, here it is, thanks to Bush having pushed so hard for this as an economic stimulus measure.
Though news coverage of Enron has evaporated, its aftereffects remain. This supposed crisis led to an expansion of leviathan in the form of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Unfortunately, the high costs of this act are not getting anywhere near as much coverage as the 'crisis' that fueled support for it.
Because of their minority status, most budding Austrian economists must endure graduate training in the mainstream orthodoxy before earning their Ph.D.s. A recent graduate of New York University highlights the major differences between Austrian economics and the neoclassical, New Keynesian paradigm: method, choice, money, institutions, time, and the business cycle.
The authors of the Time article are correct in that coming energy crises are brewing. However, they are wrong when they assume that such problems occur because of the ineptitude of capitalists and the lack of political will by members of Congress. Whether it be gasoline or the making of bread, the production of goods is best left to economic, not political entrepreneurship.
