In attempting to counter Marxists, some libertarians inadvertently align themselves with statist institutions and support immoral war efforts. This concession to evil contradicts the foundational principles laid out by authors like Murray Rothbard and should be challenged.A couple of months ago, I heard such a naïve perspective from an Argentinian libertarian in an X Spaces, reflective of a broader trend within the libertarian liberty movement. Recent foreign...
Read More »Calmer Markets to Start the New Week
Overview: The US dollar is firmer against most G10 currencies to start the new week. The euro is a notable exception. It is only slightly higher but confined to a narrow range around $1.07. On the other hand, most emerging market currencies are firmer, but for a few Asia-Pacific currencies, including those of China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The Mexican peso is consolidating but it is also lower on the day. The tone is largely consolidative. Equities have begun...
Read More »How Washington and the Fed Caused the Commercial Real Estate Crisis
Mainstream financial news today is replete with stories about “distress” in the commercial real estate market. But what is the precise nature of this distress, and what implications does it have for those outside of the respective industry or asset class? More importantly, what set of factors contributed to the distress, and what does that say about its potential alleviation?Broadly, “distress” in the commercial real estate context refers to the inability of a...
Read More »Saudi Arabia Drifts Away from Washington and the Dollar
Earlier this week, those of us who follow news about the US dollar’s global status noticed numerous claims that the US-Saudi petrodollar agreement had “expired” and that the Saudis would now sell oil for many currencies other than dollars. Some versions of the story even claimed the Chinese yuan would replace the dollar. The reports appear to have originated either in India or in publications that cater to crypto investors. Fervor over the story was large enough that...
Read More »Decolonizers’ Assault on Science
Those who have (wisely) not been following the “decolonization” debate may be surprised to learn that decolonizers characterize reason and rationality as cultural constructs that ought to be rejected, as these are said to be “based upon epistemological assumptions deeply rooted in the Western philosophical tradition” and therefore “perpetuate hegemonic thinking.” The decolonizers argue that reason and rationality ought to yield to “other ways of knowing” that are...
Read More »Week Ahead: BOE and RBA to Standpat, Political Anxiety Runs High, Giving the Dollar a Lift
Under other circumstances, the softer than expected US inflation readings and the subsequent sharp drop in US interest rates would have weighed on the US dollar. Instead, the greenback managed to do well, especially against the euro, sterling, and Japanese yen. The 0.6% rise in the Dollar Index was the biggest gain in two months. The Fed's hawkish hold, with the median dot shifting to one cut this year from three in March (and last December) means that some other...
Read More »AI: “Existential Crisis” or Excuse for Cronyism?
Several months ago, I was on a long car trip with my dad, and we listened to a podcast that gave some commentary on the following headlines from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal: “AI Poses ‘Risk of Extinction,’ Industry Leaders Warn” and “AI Poses ‘Risk of Extinction’ on Par with Pandemics and Nuclear War, Tech Executives Warn.”Obviously, this was in the wake of new AI technologies like ChatGPT and others. This is also not a new issue. In 2017, the Wall...
Read More »Economic Status Report: AI and the Fed
What is the Mises Institute? The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order....
Read More »Ron Paul Scholars Seminar 2024
2024 marks the fourth class of the Ron Paul Scholars Seminar. If you are a student interested in peace and prosperity, a non-interventionist foreign policy, the Liberty movement, and in making contacts in your peer group who are not stuck in the mental prison of our political duopoly, please consider applying to be a 2024 Ron Paul Scholar. This year’s event will take place on Friday, August 30.The Ron Paul Scholars Seminar is a one-day, interactive foreign policy and...
Read More »Has Interventionism Jeopardized America’s Future?
President George Washington famously warned against entangling alliances in his farewell address to Congress. However, now more than ever, it seems that escalations across the globe are tempting the United States to become increasingly involved in other countries’ dilemmas. American citizens and legislators must remember part of what made the American experiment so unique and resist those temptations. Here’s why.The US defense budget is unjustifiable. In 2021,...
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