SNB & CHF

[This article is Chapter 1 of Breaking Away: The Case for Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities. Now available at Amazon and in the Mises Store.] Because of their physical size, large states are able to exercise more state-like power than geographically smaller states—and thus exercise a greater deal of control over residents. This is in part because larger states benefit from higher barriers to emigration than smaller states. Large states can...

Despite all of the inflation-fighting talk from the Fed, the truth is that the government benefits from inflating the currency. We need to know how to defend ourselves. Original Article: "Can We Protect Ourselves from Inflation?" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Although commonly used, Max Weber’s definition of the state—an entity that has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a given geographical area—can mislead people into thinking that the state is the only or even the primary reason for security and order. This is illustrated in the trends in the nonstate provision of security, as revealed by my Google alert for the phrase “private police.” Lately, incidents of car and bike theft have led individuals to...

No matter how many times you have read a book by Ludwig von Mises or Murray Rothbard, you will find new insights if you read the book again. I found this to be true when preparing for Rothbard Graduate Seminar (RGS) this year. One of our readings was Rothbard’s For a New Liberty, and this year some of Rothbard’s arguments that I hadn’t concentrated on before attracted my attention. Usually, if you are looking for Rothbard’s views on ethics, Ethics of Liberty is the...

Recorded by the Mises Institute in the mid-1980s, The Mises Report provided radio commentary from leading non-interventionists, economists, and political scientists. In this program, we present another part of "Ten Great Economic Myths". This material was prepared by Murray N. Rothbard. In recent decades we always have had federal deficits. The invariable response of the party out of power, whichever it may be, is to denounce those deficits as being the...

Jonathan Newman joins The Human Action Podcast to discuss his recent Twitter controversy over the claim that market prices can be "wrong" (i.e. in disequilibrium) if they are "sticky." Jonathan Newman's Twitter controversy on sticky prices: Mises.org/HAP399a Joe Salerno on Mises's Monetary Theory: Mises.org/HAP399b Bagus and Howden on market disequilibrium and sticky prices: Mises.org/HAP399c [embedded content] [embedded content]...

Recorded by the Mises Institute in the mid-1980s, The Mises Report provided radio commentary from leading non-interventionists, economists, and political scientists. For more episodes, visit Mises.org/MisesReport. [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Modern progressives don't like to refer to their long-held support of eugenics. In fact, American progressives influenced the Nazis, who launched their own murderous eugenics schemes. Original Article: "The Boston Brahmins, WASPs, and Nazis: The Pursuit of Eugenics" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Overview:  Long US dollar positions were pared yesterday as rates unwound the gains scored in the wake of the Bank of Canada's surprise hike on Wednesday. It is consolidating today as the market looks toward next week’s central bank meetings (FOMC, ECB, and BOJ) and a flurry of data. It is also possible that China shaves the benchmark one-year medium-term lending facility rate. Broadly speaking the greenback is still tracking rates, and the more than 4% initial drop...

The flowers of entrepreneurship bloom in the strangest places. Kirznerian entrepreneurs attending the rain-soaked Taylor Swift concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, determined there would be a market for the rain which had fallen near the pop diva. The New York Post reported, “Some entrepreneurial fans are capitalizing on and trying to flog [rain] online for $250.” This $250 price is the ten dollar bill analogy Israel Kirzner stressed, as...