There have always been things that “society” at large, meaning governmental authorities with the power to enforce their ideas, have considered more important than the individual liberty of the citizenry. If an idea is deemed sufficiently vital, it is easy
Once again, a conflict in Eastern Europe threatens world peace. The dispute about Ukraine’s status as an independent country puts the old problem of national sovereignty in Eastern Europe back on the agenda. Once again, the project has failed to
American exceptionalism is a common theme in any policy debate surrounding the United States. We have to protect American manufacturing, protectionists ignorant of economics argue, because America is exceptional. We have to pass expansive welfare programs to care for the
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In his Ethics of Liberty, libertarian theorist Murray Rothbard makes short work of popularly employed “lifeboat situations.” Devising untenable situations to trip up ideologues is a common tactic of debaters (admittedly, I am prone to the same behavior from time
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“The Planetary Society” is trying to whip up public action in the United States to pressure the federal government to restore spending programs for NASA. The website tells the reader, “For decades, Jupiter’s moon Europa has cried out for exploration.
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One of the key things that separates humans from animals is the ability to make plans and then act on those plans. That humans have intentions is the basis of all morality, economics, and law. As such, it is important
From today’s Open Europe news summary: German Energy Minister warns that there is “no reasonable alternative” to Russian gas German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, yesterday warned that there is “no reasonable alternative” to Russian gas imports,
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Reprinted from Mises.org After the stock market collapse of 2008 and a decline of 3.4 percent for U.S. GDP in 2009, investors rushed to stash funds in emerging markets (EM) where economies were growing at a 3.1 percent annual rate.
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“It’s time for Canada to offer a new deal to its young people.” That’s how the uber-liberal state worshippers at the Broadbent Institute introduced a new plan to fix the Great North’s ailing economy and boost the job prospects of
No change. Oh, you want more? Well, OK, I suppose I can give more of an explanation than that. Groucho Marx used to tell a joke on himself that “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would admit
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Did the government of Canada use the Bank of Canada to fund World War 2 with interest-free loans? It’s a claim that is often made by the Canadian Greenbackers (or Loonies, as I like to call them). The Loonies maintain
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Dear Sirs: In his recent essay, “To Work Is to Live”, Kevin D. Williamson gave about as nifty an explanation of Say’s Law as you will find anywhere. We buy goods with other goods, and money is merely the indirect
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Reprinted from LewRockwell.com Presentation by David A. Stockman to The Committee for the Republic, February 11, 2014 Flask in hand, Boris Yelstin famously mounted a tank outside the Soviet Parliament in August 1991. Presently, the fearsome Red Army stood down—an
From today’s Open Europe news summary: Swidlicki: Clegg/Farage debate risks establishing false ‘all-or-nothing’ choice and ignoring public appetite for EU reform Writing on Liberal Democrat Voice ahead of the first EU debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage tonight, Open
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I just finished reading Insanity: the Idea and Its Consequences by Thomas Szasz, the renowned libertarian psychiatrist. In it, he stresses the importance of human action, praxiology, and even takes Ludwig von Mises to task for falling into the trap
I said at the beginning of my first talk that this is not a critical age. It is an age of partisanship and not of detachment, an age in which it is especially difficult to see literary merit in a
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Central bankers have managed to obscure the effects of money printing. But market efficiency gains can’t hide the problems forever. Six years into recovery and the economy worldwide is punk, despite central bankers’ belief they can inject just the
From today’s Open Europe news summary: In an interview with Die Welt, Jean-Claude Juncker, the EPP’s candidate for European Commission President, argues, “As Europeans we have been active in many areas except for social policy where we have taken a
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