What if America’s elite told the truth? It seems a ridiculous question to ask. It’s obvious to most of us here that our politicians, bureaucratic managers, and state-associated business leaders hardly ever tell the truth. What use is it for us to ask, “What if?” There seems to be a considerable amount of social pressure urging us to abandon our better judgment, not for the sake of reason, but for cooperation. If we don’t, the uncritical mob will label us “conspiracy...
Read More »Secession Is Inevitable. War to Prevent It Is Optional.
The answer lies not in doubling down on political unity, maintained through endless violence or threats of violence. Rather, the answer lies in peaceful separation. Original Article: "Secession Is Inevitable. War to Prevent It Is Optional." This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. [embedded content]...
Read More »Odds Are Rising That the Fed Will Trigger the Next Bust
From March 17, 2022, to the end of January 2023, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) increased its federal funds rate from practically zero to 4.50–4.75 percent. The rise in lending rates came in response to skyrocketing consumer goods price inflation: US inflation rose from 2.5 percent in January 2022 to 9.1 percent in June. Notwithstanding inflation falling to 6.4 percent in January 2023, the Fed continues to signal to markets that it will continue to hike rates to bring...
Read More »Real Estate Markets Are Addicted to Easy Money
On Friday, residential real estate brokerage firm Redfin released new data on home prices, showing that prices fell 0.6 percent in February, year over year. According to Redfin's numbers, this was the first time that home prices actually fell since 2012. The year-over-year drop was pulled down by especially large declines in five markets: Austin (-11%), San Jose, California (-10.9%), Oakland (-10.4%), Sacramento (-7.7%), and Phoenix (-7.3%). According to Redfin, the...
Read More »Making Nonsense from Sense: Debunking Neo-Calvinist Economic Thought
Neo-Calvinist economic thought claims that prices and private property cause scarcity. However, they provide no methodology for their claims. Original Article: "Making Nonsense from Sense: Debunking Neo-Calvinist Economic Thought" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. [embedded content]...
Read More »Are Large Hospitals the Problem with US Healthcare?
Is the main problem with the US healthcare system that hospitals have gotten too large since the 1990s? That seems to be the remarkable conclusion of two of the nation’s most distinguished health-policy analysts, David Dranove and Lawton R. Burns. Dranove is an economist and Walter J. McNerney Distinguished Professor of Health Industry Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Burns is a sociologist and James Joo-Jin Kim professor of...
Read More »The “Meritocracy” Was Created by and for the Progressive Ruling Class
The American Left has decided that the so-called meritocracy is a bad thing. In a typical example from the Los Angeles Times this week, Nicholas Goldberg points to a number of issues exploring how merit is not actually the key to power and riches in America: The United States is supposed to be a meritocracy. The story goes that if you work hard and play by the rules, especially with regard to education, you can compete, rise and succeed here. . . . But Americans are...
Read More »The New Racism of the Elect
In the name of "fighting racism," a number of writers and pundits are making social relationships between people of different races and ethnic groups more contentious. Original Article: "The New Racism of the Elect" This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. [embedded content] Tags:...
Read More »We Are All Counterfeiters Now
Intellectuals and politicians often try to verbally summarize or justify conventional thinking in pithy ways. Milton Friedman (in 1965) and Richard Nixon (in 1971) both said different versions of the phrase “we are all Keynesians now.” . . . Friedman and Nixon were describing the thoughts behind the implementation of Great Society redistribution programs and an inflationary monetary policy designed to offset the cost of those programs. —Brian Wesbury and Robert...
Read More »Roald Dahl and James Bond Books Are Getting Woke Rewrites. Copyright Law Ensures You Can’t Stop Them.
Thanks to copyright laws, the estate of Roald Dahl can not only rewrite his books, but can also essentially outlaw the old versions. Only books in the public domain are safe from this. Original Article: "Roald Dahl and James Bond Books Are Getting Woke Rewrites. Copyright Law Ensures You Can't Stop Them." This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. [embedded content]...
Read More »