Tag Archives: 6b) Mises.org

War is a primitive human institution. From time immemorial, men were eager to fight, to kill, and to rob one another. However, the acknowledgment of this fact does not lead to the conclusion that war is an indispensable form of interpersonal relations and that the endeavors to abolish war are against nature and therefore doomed to failure. We may, for the sake of argument, admit the militarist thesis that man is endowed with an innate instinct to fight and to...

The following is a plea to Germany—the war is over and has been for three-quarters of a century. It’s time to stop prostrating yourself for the supposed “good” of Europe. It’s time to take complete control of your domestic and foreign policy, without interference from haughty, busybody world elites, and do what is best for yourself. You will be pleasantly surprised that what is good for yourself is also good for your neighbors and the world. Here are four failed...

The energy and climate goals that Western governments, the United Nations, and other organizations are pushing on Africa constitute a crippling blow to its economies. As the least developed region, Africa should unequivocally prioritize economic development. One would think that amid energy poverty in Africa, Western governments and “development” institutions would prioritize energy security for African countries over energy transition. African countries must have...

People decrying poverty in developing countries usually overlook the fact that there is a dearth of long-term economic thinking. Original Article: “Economies Cannot Produce Wealth without Patience and Long-Term Horizons” In a pioneering study, psychologist Walter Mischel demonstrated that delaying gratification in childhood led to success in later life. The experiment entailed placing toddlers in a room with treats and giving them the option of eating them...

The events of the last few years have resurrected a recurring worry among people mindful of their liberty, property, and personal dignity. This worry centers around the prospects of the emergence of the notorious “new world order,” a worldwide totalitarian plot hatched by globalist “elites” intent on destroying the surviving remains of free speech, free enterprise, and free thought. Before asking how justified such worries are, let us note that the “new world order”...

“The freedoms won by Americans in 1776 were lost in the revolution of 1913,” wrote Frank Chodorov. Indeed, a man’s home used to be his castle. The income tax, however, gave the government the keys to every door and the sole right to change the locks. Today the American people are no longer the master and the government has ceased to be the servant. How could this be? The Revolution fought in the name of the inherent natural rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of...

It’s often the case that lead users — the most sophisticated, committed, and energetic users — are an excellent source of innovation ideas. Those customers who are most engaged are thinking the most intensely and the most creatively about what they want from the usage experience. We came across a particularly instructive example: video game modders. Who are modders, what do they do, and what can we learn from them? Professor Gordon Miller has studied this important...

Nothing is certain except death and taxes, but antigunners exploiting tragedy to pass more gun control laws is close behind. On cue, the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Highland Park have brought demands for the typical disarmament stew of “assault weapon” and “high-capacity” magazine bans, licensing requirements, and universal background checks. Increasingly, red-flag laws or extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) are being added to that list of...

Joseph Sobran discovered these Garet Garrett essays “one night, long ago, at the office of National Review, where I then worked.” As the flagship of modern conservatism, National Review supported the Cold War and the hot war then raging in Vietnam. “Two questions occurred to me,” Sobran writes. “One: ‘Why haven’t I heard of this man before?’ Two: ‘If he’s right, what am I doing here?” I discovered these essays at 16 in a Seattle bookstore that specialized in...

The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is an important investment model that describes how investors expect to be compensated for the time value of money and risk. The more risk you take, the more you want to be compensated. The formula is expressed as follows: (A) Re = Rf + Beta * (Rm – Rf), where Rf is risk-free return, Rm is the market return, and Beta is a risk element. A pure risk-free rate of return does not exist. Any government could print money and “safely”...