Most of us are brought up believing that we live in a nation of laws, that certain objective rules govern society, and that enforcing those rules is the sole province of government and its agents. When we have a problem,
Archive for October, 2013
What’s Next in the Austro-Libertarian Movement
I remember in 2005 talking to a money manager who formerly had been in charge of a $200 Million dollar bond portfolio for a large mid-west bank. Somehow our conversation got onto the Federal Reserve and somehow I brought up
Comments are off for this post
Watch Toronto Austrian Scholar’s Conference Live On November 2
Can’t make it to Toronto for the 2nd annual Toronto Austrian Scholars Conference? No problem! Mises Canada will be live streaming TASC through eProf. In order to help fulfill its mission, the Mises Institute of Canada hosts the second annual Toronto Austrian
Eric Sprott Joins Mises Canada Advisory Board
The Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada is honoured and excited to announce that Eric Sprott has joined our newly formed Advisory Board. Mr. Sprott, the Chief Executive Officer, and Senior Portfolio Manager of Sprott Asset Management LP and Chairman
The Fed vs. Employment
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago president Charles Evans gave a speech a couple weeks ago at the 2013 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference where he said when the Fed took interest rates to zero, expanded its balance sheet
Comments are off for this post
Enron: The Perils of Interventionism
Reprinted from Library of Economics and Liberty In mainstream thought, the fall of the once-iconic Enron Corporation (1986-2001) has become “Exhibit A” against unbridled business. To capitalism’s critics, its collapse was about more than one company’s bad management. Enron exposed
Comments are off for this post
The Case for Optimism
Reprinted from Antiwar.com We all get depressed, at some point or other: I’m sure even Pollyanna had her down moments. What’s troubling is that many anti-interventionists seem to be in a permanent state of depression: given the history of the past decade or
Comments are off for this post
Ethics of Euthanasia in Quebec
There is a great debate occurring in Quebec over the ethics of assisted suicide. At least that’s what the press is calling it. Typically when a publication like The Globe and Mail discusses controversial subjects being tackled by politicians, the
Science is More than Mathematics
Reprinted from Mises.org Earlier this year, the distinguished Harvard biologist, E.O. Wilson wrote of the limitations of mathematics in the sciences in the Wall Street Journal. This native son of Mobile, Alabama — better known elsewhere as the Father of Sociobiology — argued
Comments are off for this post
Gravity and Our Limits
I recently saw the movie Gravity, with its engrossing storyline and fantastical visual effects. The film is expected to get the nod for multiple Academy Awards and is an undeniable hit at the box office. In a glowing review in
Comments are off for this post
In Defense of Quackery
Alternative medicine has been a popular target of late for the ongoing “which party is more anti-science” debate. While Republicans are derided for not buying into global warming or evolution, Democrats are attracting an equal amount of ridicule for their
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Two Crises
Five years ago economists started telling a now tired joke: what´s the difference between Iceland and Ireland? Six months and one letter. The punch line was a wakeup call of sorts to Irish citizens. Iceland´s banking system was in freefall,
Comments are off for this post
What Soviet Medicine Teaches Us
Reprinted from Mises.org In 1918, the Soviet Union became the first country to promise universal “cradle-to-grave” healthcare coverage, to be accomplished through the complete socialization of medicine. The “right to health” became a “constitutional right” of Soviet citizens. The proclaimed
Shadow Lending Hides the Fed’s Distortions
Central banks have made the world a strange place. After all, interest rates are supposed to provide signals to the marketplace. In a free market interest rates allocate capital. The natural rate, so named by Knut Wicksell, “reflects the underlying
Comments are off for this post
And Then There’s You
When you’re a kid, you pretty much take for granted that the world is a coherent place, filled with rational individuals who know what they’re doing. Why not think the opposite you might ask? I mean, whenever you meet new
Is the Spanish Recovery on Siesta?
With unemployment at 26%, and nearly one-half of youths without a job, Spain’s crisis is amongst the worst in the world. The country’s recession has recently “officially” ended, as the change in real output has just turned positive for the
Comments are off for this post
The Cost of Money Production Revisited
The United States is in the process of replacing its $100 bill. The Mint was supposed to bring a newly designed bill to the public in 2011, but several botched designs have delayed introduction. The latest mishap saw $3 billion printed but
Let’s Privatize the Oceans!
In 1787, writer and agriculturalist Arthur Young penned the following remark: “Give a man the secure possession of a bleak rock, and he will turn it into a garden; give him a nine years’ lease of a garden, and he
40 Years Later: Mises’s Lasting Legacy
Reprinted from Mises.org Each year in early October, the world looks to Sweden and Norway, where the annual Nobel Prize winners are announced in the fields of literature, medicine-physiology, physics, chemistry, and peace-making. The great Swedish entrepreneur, Alfred Nobel did
Comments are off for this post
