What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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Cries of “Trump is Hitler!” and attempted assassinations have dominated coverage of the upcoming presidential elections. This deprives an intriguing issue of attention. An August 24th New York Times article by culture columnist Claire Cain Miller states the issue: “In some ways, this presidential election has become a referendum on gender roles.” Gender gaps between how men and women vote are not new. But “it is now close to, or certainly in the ballpark of, the biggest gender gap we’ve ever seen,” according to Paul Maslin, a pollster at FM3, a public policy-oriented opinion research firm.The Politico article, “The ever-widening gender gap,” sketches a more specific picture,In 2004 and 2008…that gap was seven points. By 2012, that number increased to 10 points

A flare-up in the culture war has become an election issue and an August 16 ruling by the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) guarantees it will not go away.Title IX is a federal civil rights law protecting those who attend a school that receives federal funds against discrimination on the basis of sex. The intention of this 1972 law was to protect women against bias. Many changes to Title IX have occurred since then. On April 19 of this year, the Department of Education (DOE) issued a dramatically revised version of Title IX, with a planned activation date of August 1. Originally 37-words long, the new Title IX printed in the Federal Register takes over 400 pages of dense, triple-columned print.The original language provides that no one will, “on the basis of sex, be

A flare-up in the culture war has become an election issue and an August 16 ruling by the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) guarantees it will not go away.Title IX is a federal civil rights law protecting those who attend a school that receives federal funds against discrimination on the basis of sex. The intention of this 1972 law was to protect women against bias. Many changes to Title IX have occurred since then. On April 19 of this year, the Department of Education (DOE) issued a dramatically revised version of Title IX, with a planned activation date of August 1. Originally 37-words long, the new Title IX printed in the Federal Register takes over 400 pages of dense, triple-columned print.The original language provides that no one will, “on the basis of sex, be

From 1949 to 1962, two libertarian giants exchanged several letters until a sharp conflict caused the correspondence to cease abruptly. An American entrepreneur and a staunch libertarian-anarchist, Raymond Cyrus (R.C.) Hoiles (1878–1970) established an impressive newspaper syndicate that would eventually become known as Freedom Newspapers, Inc.—the largest libertarian communications network to date. The other, iconic Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises is so well-known as to require no introduction.(The letters have not been edited except to correct minor points of spelling and grammar. A link to the unedited letters has been provided for full context).September 7, 1949On September 7, 1949, Hoiles wrote to Mises via the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE),

The cost of a hoaxThe scandal surrounding Canada’s Kamloops Indian Residential School (1890-1969, British Columbia) is an ultracautionary tale about the damage inflicted by self-interested politicians and activists, backed by a media that toes the line. The 2021 scandal sprang from the alleged discovery of 215 graves of indigenous children. They were said to have died under suspicious circumstances at the Catholic-run school and then buried in unmarked graves behind the facility. Kamloops was one of the largest schools in the residential system through which indigenous children were culturally deprogrammed and indoctrinated to mold them into “proper” Canadians.When the story broke, the press fell over itself in a race to sensationalism. CBC News on May

There is a sea change in how society views false accusations of sexual abuse. And it’s about time.
The lawsuit John C. Depp, II v. Amber Laura Heard (2022) points to this transformation. Depp and Heard sued each other for defamation with “actual malice” over public accusations of domestic violence (DV) during their marriage; Heard also sued Depp’s attorney for making false statements. Unlike an earlier case brought by Depp in the United Kingdom, the American jury found unanimously in his favor and he was awarded $5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory ones, although the punitive damages were later reduced to $350,000 due to Virginia state law. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages from the attorney and $0 in punitive damages

The trans rights movement has quickly moved into government coercion and outright violence. There is nothing libertarian about what is happening in this movement today.

Original Article: "“Trans Rights” Means Trans Entitlements and the End of Civil Society"

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Domestic violence is a stain on society, but it is worse if we only care about violence committed against people of one sex.

Original Article: "Committing Domestic Violence against Men . . . Just for a Giggle"

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A “civil society” is a community of individuals who are linked together by common interests and activities. Common interests include being able to walk the streets safely (peace) and to exercise such rights as freedom of speech (individual freedom). These shared interests allow common activities to flourish, including commerce and the education of children.
Civil society is possible only because most people want to live securely, protect their loved ones, and prosper. This laissez-faire attitude used to be a defining characteristic of Americans, but an engineered and well-financed cultural war is destroying America’s renowned tolerance. If the common interests of society break down and peace and freedom are replaced by violence and privilege, then common

Decades ago, Hollywood brought the neglected problem of domestic violence (DV) against women into the spotlight and helped to create cultural change. Today, Hollywood encourages people to dismiss or laugh at the neglected problem of DV against men. After all, the man must have had it coming; either that or he is too weak to stand up for himself and so deserves no sympathy. A general acceptance of women beating up men continues.
A recent episode (aired on April 20, 2023) of a new hit TV series on Netflix epitomizes this attitude. The Diplomat is a semicomedic political thriller about a female US ambassador named Kate in London and includes glimpses into her marriage. Season one, episode three—“Lambs in the Dark”—has a long segment in which the ambassador slugs her

President Biden’s executive order to promote transgenderism on college campuses eviscerates long-held due process protections for accused students. This will not end well.

Original Article: "Due Process or Transgender Protection on Campus?"

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College campuses have long been battlegrounds between due process for those accused of sexual misconduct (innocent until proven guilty) and legal privileges for alleged victims who many automatically believe (guilty until proven innocent).
The front line is Title IX, the 1972 federal law designed to curb sex discrimination in schools. President Joe Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) wants to add gender identity to the mix. The players in this renewed conflict are Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, who has introduced a bill to champion due process rights on campus, and Biden’s DOE, who is expanding the definition of discrimination.
The specific issue addressed by the DOE is athletic eligibility. The issue is a political flash point that revolves around the

[unable to retrieve full-text content]President Joe Biden vowed to put a “quick end” to the Trump administration’s Title IX regulations and return to Obama-era ones at universities. If this happens, the sexual misconduct hearings will be deeply impacted.

“Trauma-informed justice” has percolated in academia and activism for decades. It is now knocking on the door of local police departments to demand changes that could upend the basics of how people relate to law enforcement. The approach converts the police into social workers or therapists and erases the due process upon which traditional Western justice hinges. It also increases the odds of wrongful convictions.
Trauma-informed justice—sometimes called “victim-centered” justice—involves an interview methodology in which the police prioritize empathy for an accuser who is automatically considered to be a victim. Rooted in trauma-informed feminist therapy of the 1960s, the methodology is especially favored for allegations of sexual abuse, such as domestic

Presidential election 2020 is the same as every other, except in the ways it isn’t. Allow me to expand on this.
What is the same? The purpose of all elections is to allow a band of people called the state to legitimize their claim of control over everyone and everything within a given jurisdiction. In his book The Rise and Fall of Society, the Old Right libertarian Frank Chodorov defines the state as “a number of people who, having somehow got hold of it,” use “the machinery of coercion to the end that they might pursue their version of happiness without respect to the discipline of the market place” (italics added).
The two somehows of getting and holding political power are to use institutionalized violence or to convince people to respect state authority.