The state is held together by violence and nothing else. There is no such thing as "the social contract." But even violence cannot make a state last past its time, as we saw with the USSR. Original Article: States Are Dying from Corruption and the Exponential [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »How Is the Fed Insolvent and Why Should We Care?
Alex Pollock has decades of experience in financial markets, including a position as President of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. He explains to Bob the mechanics of the Fed's current insolvency and its implications for ordinary Americans. Join us in Fort Myers on November 4 to cut through the campaign talking points and offer an uncompromising look at what is coming next. Use Code "FL2023" for $10 of-f admission: Mises.org/FL23 How Is the...
Read More »Statism Stands against Free Trade and Free Association
Free trade has its enemies on the left and the right. However, despite the supposed “sophistication” of their antitrade arguments, when we break them down, those arguments really are sophistry. Original Article: Statism Stands against Free Trade and Free Association [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »Physician Burnout: Another Consequence of Medical Socialism
Obamacare's forced electronic medical recordkeeping is denying patients the care they need. Original Article: Physician Burnout: Another Consequence of Medical Socialism [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »October 2023 Monthly
There are four large macro forces shape the investment and business climate here at the start of the last quarter of the year. First, the US economic outperformance has been stark. This has helped underpin US rates and bolsters the dollar. The divergence is likely to narrow in coming months as US growth slows rather than stronger growth prospects in other high-income countries. Second, Beijing has taken numerous measures, which although stopping well shy of the...
Read More »The Data Shutdown—Smokescreen?
This episode examines the impending Government Shutdown, which will suspend new releases of the government's "vital" economic statistics. How will the "Data Dependent" Fed manage its policy behind the cloak of missing data? Mark suggests it's best to consider that the Fed is playing its typical confidence game. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues. [embedded content]...
Read More »Last Day to Double Your Gift
The Mises Institute sends a big THANK YOU to everyone who already donated to our Fall Campaign this week. Your support helps us continue to make the sound economic principles of Mises, Rothbard, Hazlitt, and Hayek free to the world at a time when they are needed more than ever. If you haven’t had time to donate, please do so today. Hunter Lewis, a generous donor and author of numerous books, is passionate about educating a future generation of students and has...
Read More »Will Dollarization Work in Argentina?
In Argentina, the libertarian presidential candidate Javier Milei made headlines when he came in first in the primary on August 13. His economic program calls for a strong reduction in government spending and the role of government in general and would, if implemented, greatly improve the conditions of economic life in Argentina. There is, however, one weak point—namely, his proposed monetary reform. Faced with high inflation rates and a depreciating peso, Milei...
Read More »Is the Money in Your Checking Account Yours or the Bank’s?
When Silicon Valley Bank and other banks failed earlier this year, the debate over the sustainability of fractional reserve banking resurfaced. Under fractional reserve banking, banks keep only a fraction of customers’ deposits in reserve. The difference is bank credit, such as government debt, mortgages, business loans, and many other kinds of loans. This practice leaves the bank open to a run, in which panicky depositors attempt to withdraw their funds from the...
Read More »Assessing the BRICS Expansion: Debunking Expectations
At the conclusion of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on August 24, 2023, it was announced that the five-country grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, had invited six more countries to join: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Argentina. The new memberships, which will take effect in January 2024, were called “historic” by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, while Vladimir Putin, unable to travel due to an International...
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