Tag Archives: 6b) Mises.org

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released January figures for Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) today, including the price index based on that data.News headlines report the year-over-year percent change in the PCE price index: 2.4%. This gives the impression that price inflation is heading towards the Federal Reserve’s supposed target of 2%.But the data is released monthly, and this way of calculating inflation is slightly misleading. As Joseph...

A recent rash of libertarian-leaning right-wing podcasters’ rehashing of a shopworn takedown of socialism has bothered me to the point of launching into this essay. It goes something like “Why is this still a thing? When are they going to realize that IT DOESN’T WORK, and drop it?”This criticism deserves a closer look. Maybe socialism does too. By the way, I define the term as any economic paradigm that turns over the means of production to “society,” “the workers,”...

Originally published September 1977 in Libertarian Review.In any debate between a socialist and a free-market capitalist, all too often the socialist quickly puts the free-market advocate on the defensive, and the entire time is consumed by the free-market person fending off attacks on the ability of the market to prevent inequality, or business cycles, or even the ravages of affluence and "materialism." Being on the offensive, socialism emerges spotless and...

Imagine someone giving a State of the World address that begins with a reminder that people possess free will and ought to be doing a better job of exercising it. This could possibly raise doubts about the speaker’s mental stability—at least until the talk went into the dark details of civilization’s condition. If the state of the world reflects the choices people make, and if those choices are autonomous, originating from within the minds of individuals, then the...

In 2022, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used political favors and government grants to maneuver thousands of workers into jobs producing electric trucks. But consumers aren’t interested. Original Article: How Governor Whitmer Doomed Detroit Autoworkers [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

While South Africa’s political authorities pursue genocide accusations against other countries, those same leaders are destroying the nation’s economy and basic infrastructure. This is a failed state. Original Article: The "New" South Africa Is Now a Newly-Failed State: Don't Look for Things to Improve [embedded content]...

School choice would seem to have benefits, but as Thomas Sowell says: “There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.” Enthusiastic “school choice” proponents forget that with government money comes government control. Original Article: The Double-Edged Sword of School Choice [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Another Pentagon audit, another massive failure. But the Pentagon's problems are not just simple accounting. They reflect the reality of an unaccountable rogue empire that tries to prop up the US empire. Original Article: What Can We Learn from the Latest Pentagon Audit? Both Plenty and Not Much [embedded content] Tags:...

The “One-China” policy assumes Taiwan to be a runaway province. The people of Taiwan, however, see their country as sovereign, and their reasons have merit. Original Article: Is Taiwan a De Facto Sovereign Nation or a Province of the PRC? [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Some economists believe that the balance of payments is what determines currency exchange rates. In fact, exchange rates are always about the purchasing power of some currencies relative to others. Original Article: Does the Balance of Payments Determine Exchange Rates? [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter