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"Economics must not be relegated to classrooms and statistical offices and must not be left to esoteric circles. It is the philosophy of human life and action and concerns everybody and everything. It is the pith of civilization and of a man's human existence." —Ludwig von Mises The strength of the Austrian school has always been grounded in its ability to speak clearly about the issues vital to preserving human civilization. While there is no substitute for the...

In 2023, Canada’s parliament passed two significant pieces of legislation, Bills C-11 and C-18, both of which have stirred debates and concerns regarding their potential impact on online freedom and political censorship. Bill C-18, commonly known as the Online News Act, was introduced in the forty-fourth Canadian Parliament and received royal assent on June 22, 2023. This legislation introduces a framework mandating digital news intermediaries, including search...

David Gordon explains Murray Rothbard's famous assertion that laws against libel and slander should not be on the books. Original Article: Rothbard on Suits for Defamation [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

It’s been more than three decades since the Berlin Wall fell and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. At the time, when everyone knew that the time for the “mothership” of socialism had come, China didn’t want to take the Soviet Union’s position but opted for an ambiguous role. In the three decades after the downfall of the Soviet Union, it was clear which country was at the top of the world. Those were the times to which the Beltway wanted to return. Having never...

Overview: Fears that the Israel-Hamas war was going to widen this past weekend sent gold and oil sharply higher at the end of last week. A reportedly more restrained Israeli entrance into Gaza has seen gold pullback back below $2000 (~-0.6%) and December WTI soften (~-1.7%). The US dollar is mostly softer. Stronger-than-expected Australian retail sales fan the risk of a hike next week and this appears to be helping the Australian dollar lead the advancing G10...

Even when Congress tries to restrict government agencies from illegally gathering information on people, the agencies simply exploit legal loopholes or just break the law—without consequences. Original Article: Government Agencies Exploit Data Brokers as End-Around to Legal Restrictions [embedded content] Tags:...

The boom-and-bust cycles are not natural to a market economy, contra Keynes. Instead, government through monetary manipulation creates them—and then politicians blame markets themselves. Original Article: How the Fed Undermines Prosperity [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Popular economic thinking holds that consumer spending is the most important driver of the economy. Actually, demand can’t exist without something first being supplied. Original Article: Why Must Supply Precede Demand? Understanding Economic Foundations [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

According to the U.S. Treasury, year-end data from September 2023 show that the deficit for the full year 2023 was $1.7 trillion, $320 billion higher than the prior year’s deficit. As a percentage of GDP, the deficit was 6.3%, an increase from 5.4% in FY 2022. This means that the United States will likely post the worst GDP growth excluding debt increases since 1929, or, in other words, that the country is in a recession disguised by bloated deficit spending. This...

November may be an in-between month. It will be a month of limited monetary policy actions and a period of heightened geopolitical tensions. Fiscal policy may be more interesting, with a Japanese supplemental budget, more measures expected from China, and a debate in Europe over the re-implementation of the Stability and Growth Agreement. In the US, the drama that played out in the House of Representatives could still leave the federal government with insufficient...