“[L]iberty…is an act of faith in God and in His works.”This is how Frédéric Bastiat—a French economist known for his pioneering libertarian economic thought—concludes The Law, his most famous work. Reading his various writings and pamphlets, we can very often notice a recurring mention of God, or at least of a Creator, and of the morality that today we call “Judeo-Christian”; however, this faith found in his works can be found just as often in his life. This article...
Read More »Dollar-Bloc Currencies are Disappointed by the Lack of New Chinese Fiscal Stimulus
Overview: The US dollar is mixed but is mostly consolidating. The Australian dollar is a notable exception. The lack of new fiscal initiatives from China weighed on the Aussie, which is off for the fourth consecutive session. The other dollar-bloc currencies have also seen the recent losses extended. On the other hand, the Japanese yen and euro enjoy a firmer bias. After a dreadful drop in factory order, German industrial production surprised to the upside (2.9% vs....
Read More »How Howard Marks Thinks About Risk…And You Should Too
When most people hear the word “risk,” they think about wild market swings, scary headlines, and losing money overnight, but Howard Marks, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Oaktree Capital Management, takes a different approach. In his new video series How to Think About Risk, Marks digs deep into what risk is and how investors should handle it. Spoiler alert: It’s not just about volatility. The CFA Institute recently summarized the video stream, but I wanted to...
Read More »Survey Says: Disconnects Abound in School Opinions and Knowledge
Recently, EdChoice published its 2024 iteration of its annual Schooling in America report that surveys thousands of American adults and school parents regarding dozens of school-related topics and preferences. Within this report are numerous interesting results but also consistent reminders of disconnects between reality and belief, between public- and private-school parents, and between people’s words and actions.On the Wrong TrackThankfully, over 64 percent of...
Read More »Government Jobs and Part-Time Work Are Behind the Latest Jobs Gains
Last Friday’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor statistics was labeled “shockingly good” by MSNBC, and as a “blowout” report by Reuters. According to the BLS, the US economy added 254,000 jobs in September, seasonally adjusted. That’s the biggest increase in six months.Defenders of the status quo seized upon this latest number as evidence that the US economy is in great shape. Uber-establishment economist Mark Zandi, for example, declared “One couldn’t paint...
Read More »Japanese Yen remains on the front foot against USD; lacks bullish conviction
The Japanese Yen recovers further from a two-month trough touched against the USD on Monday. Geopolitical tensions benefit the safe-haven JPY and exert downward pressure on the USD/JPY pair. The BoJ rate hike uncertainty caps gains for the JPY and should limit any further losses for the major. The Japanese Yen (JPY) remains on the front foot against its American counterpart for the second successive day on Tuesday, albeit it lacks bullish...
Read More »Freedom of Association and Cancel Culture
Murray Rothbard conceptualized liberty as an emanation of property rights and self-ownership. Freedom of association is, therefore, best understood as “a subset of private property rights.” Just as property rights are absolute and limited only by respect for other people’s property rights, freedom of association is absolute and constrained only by other people’s freedom to associate or not associate with whom they will. Unless we are all to live as slaves, human...
Read More »The Mirage of Honest Government
For more than 70 years, America has been on the verge of honest government. In election after election, politicians have promised to finally take this nation to the moral high ground once and for all.In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower captured the presidency based in part on his promise to end “the mess in Washington”—festering corruption from 20 years of Democratic presidents. Housewives were swayed to support the Republican ticket with red, white, and blue scrub pails with...
Read More »Lausanne public transport to go all-electric by 2030
The additional investment required to decarbonise the Lausanne fleet is around CHF130 million ($152 million). Keystone-SDA Listen to the article Listening the article Toggle...
Read More »The Second Trump Shooter Believed Exactly What the Establishment Media Wanted Him to Believe
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....
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