The idea that the federal Bill of Rights is the only thing standing between freedom and tyranny in America is deeply ingrained in the American mind. It is ubiquitous in our speech, for instance, as can be seen in how we use phrases like "my Second Amendment rights" or "I want to plead the Fifth [Amendment]." It is also assumed that unless the federal Supreme Court has intervened to declare that a legal right exists, then the right is virtually non-existent within the...
Read More »Libertarian Scholars Conference 2025
The Mises Institute will host a one-day Libertarian Scholars Conference on March 20, 2025 in Auburn, Alabama. The first Libertarian Scholars Conference was held in New York City in 1972 under the aegis of the Center for Libertarian Studies. The conference was held annually (except for 1973) throughout the 1970s in New York or Princeton, New Jersey (1977, 1978), with the 8th and last “national” conference taking place at the Hotel Diplomat in New York. In the early...
Read More »Two Cheers for Vivek Ramaswamy for His Commentary on the Fed
The 2024 presidential primaries have never been in much doubt, but Vivek Ramaswamy emerged from his presidential campaign poised for the future. In part, Ramaswamy distinguished himself with his criticism of the Federal Reserve. For most of the election cycle, scarcely a word has been said about the Fed by other 2024 presidential candidates. It is therefore worth reviewing what Ramaswamy had to say about monetary policy during his campaign.As Jonathan Newman noted,...
Read More »Austrian Economics Research Conference 2025
The Austrian Economics Research Conference is the international, interdisciplinary meeting of the Austrian school, bringing together leading scholars doing research in this vibrant and influential intellectual tradition. The conference is hosted by the Mises Institute at its campus in Auburn, Alabama, and is directed by Joseph Salerno, academic vice president of the Mises Institute and professor emeritus of economics at Pace University.The conference begins on...
Read More »California’s Latest Hustle: Utility Bills Based on Ratepayers’ Income
Utility bills—for electricity, natural gas, water, and garbage—have by long-standing tradition been based on customer usage, measured in kilowatt-hours of electricity, therms or Btu of natural gas, hundred cubic feet of water, or number of garbage cans. Every residence and business has electric, gas, and water meters that measure utility usage.But changes are afoot in the utility business as federal and state governments urge Americans to convert from fossil fuels to...
Read More »Is the Violence in Haiti a Preview of a Libertarian Society?
As the internationally recognized government in Haiti loses its grip on power, the small Caribbean country is descending into violence. The media reports about the situation are quick to, either implicitly or explicitly, place the overall blame for the violence on the absence of state institutions.Situations like this are often used to dismiss libertarians. Before Haiti, it was Somalia that experienced a so-called stateless period in the 1990s and early 2000s.While...
Read More »Tapping 401ks to Pay the Bills
For lower income folks the landing is already hard. Chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab Liz Ann Sonders posted on X (and reported by Almost Daily Grant’s) that the tally of domestic temporary help employees slipped to a three-plus-year low of 2.748 million down from 3.181 million as of March 2022. The 14% comes in 4th in the category’s downward drops percentage-wise since 1990; to the early 2000s, the 2008 financial crash and the Covid debacle, each...
Read More »Dollar Extends Gains Against the Yen but Broadly Firmer Ahead of the FOMC
Overview: The US dollar remains bid ahead of the outcome of today's FOMC meeting. No change in policy is expected, but the forward guidance, partly delivered in the updated projections, is the focus. In the last iteration (December), the Fed "dot" was for three rate cuts this year. Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday today but dollar's gains against the yen have been extended and the greenback is nearing the peak seen in the last two years slightly...
Read More »Reimagining Public Safety – The Case for Privatizing Security
Since the conclusion of World War II, each biennial session of Congress has ushered in a staggering 4-6 million words of additional legislation. However, amidst this flood of legal text, the State's focus on expanding regulations and enforcing compliance has overshadowed its fundamental obligation: provision of security—the cornerstone of what progressives call the social contract.This neglect is starkly evident in the steady decline of the national homicide...
Read More »The Case for Secession: How Breaking Away Maximizes Liberty
Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito Website powered by Mises Institute donors Mises Institute is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent the law allows. Tax ID# 52-1263436 [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
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