Being perceived as anti–working class is a cardinal sin in American politics. Working-class people are seen as the unappreciated engine of American growth. Hillary Clinton discovered this lesson when she was criticized for calling Donald Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables.” But interestingly, expressing contempt for the upper class is quite tolerable. Rich people are frequently ridiculed by comedians and depicted as snobs in popular culture. Shows like...
Read More »Trump, Dominion, and the Weaponization of Defamation
On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop talk about recent court cases involving defamation claims, justifying libertarian skepticism of the entire concept. As Ryan noted in a recent Wire article, the Dominion lawsuit in particular, is a particularly chilling case for free speech, with a taxpayer-funded company effectively silencing public critics. This, along with the recent Trump verdict, are an illustration of the continuing escalating...
Read More »Government Budget Deficits Cannot Stimulate True Economic Growth
A central tenet of Keynesian economics is that governments must run budget deficits to stimulate economic growth. But government spending actually shrinks the economy. Original Article: "Government Budget Deficits Cannot Stimulate True Economic Growth" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »Rothbard’s Button Doesn’t Exist, but It Needs to Be Invented
With totalitarianism accelerating on a global scale and having kicked off in earnest with government attacks on their own populations during the still-running ruse of the covid vaccine, the state as a necessary feature of civilization stands before us shamelessly as a blood-dripping monster. And acting as tyranny’s bulldog is the state’s handmaiden and echo chamber, the legacy media. Are future generations destined to live in an Orwellian nightmare? Relying on the...
Read More »NATO’s Great New Idea: “Let’s Start a War with China!”
ATO’s post–Cold War history is that of an organization far past its “sell-by” date. Desperate for a mission after the end of the Warsaw Pact, NATO in the late 1990s decided that it would become the muscle behind the militarization of “human rights” under the Clinton Administration. Gone was the “threat of global communism” which was used to justify NATO’s 40-year run, so NATO re-imagined itself as a band of armed Atlanticist superheroes. Wherever there was an...
Read More »Canada’s Legal Counterfeiting Ring Is a Product of Progressive Democracy
Canada created its central bank during the Great Depression, ostensibly to stabilize the currency and protect the banking system. Today, that system is falling apart, thanks to inflationary central bank policies. Original Article: "Canada’s Legal Counterfeiting Ring Is a Product of Progressive Democracy" [embedded content]...
Read More »Is There an Optimum Growth Rate of Money?
It is widely held that a growing economy requires a growing money stock because economic growth increases demand for money. Many economists also believe that failing to accommodate the increase in the demand for money leads to a decline in consumer prices. This could destabilize the economy and produce an economic recession or even a depression. Some economists who follow Milton Friedman—also known as monetarists—want the central bank to target the money supply...
Read More »Are Libertarians Abandoning Free Trade?
A bedrock of Austrian economics and libertarianism has been free trade. Unfortunately, some people who claim to value liberty no longer value unhampered exchange. Original Article: "Are Libertarians Abandoning Free Trade?" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »Socialism, Minority Groups, and Personal Liberties
Socialists have managed to acquire the loyalty of a coalition of disparate groups by championing the principle of personal liberty. Especially in the United States, many women, disabled, gay people, transgender people, racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrants are among the proud supporters of the socialist cause, foolishly believing that capitalism or the free market is antithetical to their livelihood or lifestyles. They could not be more wrong. Unfortunately,...
Read More »The Ruling Classes Are Inflation Deniers and the Ship of Fools Sails On
Even after two years of "transitory" inflation, America's ruling classes insist that prices are falling and that all of this is temporary. We don't believe them. Original Article: "The Ruling Classes Are Inflation Deniers and the Ship of Fools Sails On" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »