Reprinted from the Freeman To early 20th-century intellectuals, capitalism looked like anarchy. Why, they wondered, would we trust deliberative, conscious guidance when building a house but not when building an economy? It was fashionable among these socialist intellectuals to espouse
Archive for August, 2015
The implications of a reduction of Chinese holdings of US government debt
Dear Readers, Below is my response to a reader of my blog, who asked about the implications of China reducing its holdings of US treasury debt. Pat Barron Dear Lawrence, I think that in the simplest terms, China is exiting
My letter to the Financial Times, London re: The FT sides with counterfeiters and confiscators
Re: The case for retiring another barbarous relic Dear Sirs: I was appalled at your supposed “case” for eliminating cash, which you yourselves describe as the peoples’ “go-to safe asset”. And what IS your case? One, “cash…limits the central banks’
What Individualism Is Not
Reprinted from Mises.org The bottle is now labeled libertarianism. But its content is nothing new; it is what in the nineteenth century, and up to the time of Franklin Roosevelt, was called liberalism — the advocacy of limited government and
What Happened to (the price) of my Beer?
Introduction Brief contemporary and historical examples of the unintended consequences and effects price controls have on goods, services, people and societies in general. Canada, and more specifically the Province of British Columbia, is home to beautiful natural landscapes such as mountains,
The Slow-Motion Financial Suicide of the Roman Empire
Reprinted from the Freeman More than 2,000 years before America’s bailouts and entitlement programs, the ancient Romans experimented with similar schemes. The Roman government rescued failing institutions, canceled personal debts, and spent huge sums on welfare programs. The result wasn’t
When Work Is Punished: The Ongoing Tragedy Of America’s Welfare State
Reprinted from Zerohedge.com Wage growth - or a persistent lack thereof - has become something of a hot topic in America. Thanks to the nationwide push for a higher pay floor (personified by mobs of angry fry cooks demanding $15/hour
How the 1% Provides the Standard of Living of the 99%
This essay originally appeared on Dr. Reisman’s blog on October 19, 2011, under the title “How a Highly Productive and Provident One Percent Provides the Standard of Living of a Largely Ignorant and Ungrateful 99 Percent.” It was subsequently included
Down with Legal Tender Part 2
[This article is excerpted from chapters 4, 5, and 6 ofDenationalisation of Money: the Argument Refined.] Private Money Preferred There certainly can be and has been money, even very satisfactory money, without government doing anything about it, though it has
My letter to The Times, London re: Legal tender laws protect unsound money
Dear Sirs: I will not take the time required to refute point-by-point Mr. Ed Conway’s latest attack upon a gold-backed currency. It is obvious that he is completely ignorant of monetary theory and history. Rather, I will ask Mr. Conway
Down with Legal Tender Part 1
[This article is excerpted from chapters 4, 5, and 6 ofDenationalisation of Money: the Argument Refined.] When one studies the history of money, one cannot help wondering why people should have put up for so long with governments exercising an
L’externalité, le bien public, et l’intervention de l’État
Un argument classique en faveur de l’intervention de l’État dans l’économie consiste à stipuler qu’il faut corriger les « échecs du marché ». Sans grande surprise, les économistes contemporains en dénombrent plusieurs. Je veux ici présenter deux exemples analytiquement similaires de ces
The Man Who Almost Stopped Julius Caesar
Reprinted from the Freeman In the estimations of many historians, two men hold the honor as the most notable defenders of the Roman Republic. Marcus Tullius Cicero was one. Marcus Porcius Cato, or “Cato the Younger,” was the other. Since
Henry Hazlitt: Journalist of the Century Part 2
This speech was delivered at a Mises Institute Conference commemorating Henry Hazlitt, held on November 28, 1994, in New York City. Reprinted from Fee.org The Times Years Hazlitt was only the editor for a short while, before he decided to
Trump: The Art of the Bureaucrat
Donald Trump says America’s problems are managerial. The political class is “stupid,” and “horrible negotiators.” He can fix the country’s problems instantaneously with his own entrepreneurial ability and by drafting into government service the likes of multi-billionaire Carl Ichan. Trump
Henry Hazlitt: Journalist of the Century Part 1
This speech was delivered at a Mises Institute Conference commemorating Henry Hazlitt, held on November 28, 1994, in New York City. Reprinted from Fee.org Henry Stuart Hazlitt wrote brilliantly and presciently for more than eight decades on culture, government, economics,
FDR Goes to War
Reprinted from the Freeman With the passage of time Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s historical shrine has eroded somewhat, and here and there its foundations have been undermined by researchers who reject the idolatry that long marked historical scholarship about the 32nd
Austrians vs. The World On Canadian Fiscal Austerity
I don’t know whether this is something the average Canadian discusses over coffee, but the sharp fiscal turnaround in the mid-1990s is still providing fodder for today’s economists to argue. In September 2014, I summarized the Canadian budget triumph, in
The Market and the State
Originally published in German in 1968. Reprinted from Mises.org For every species of animals and plants the means of subsistence are limited. Hence every living being’s vital interests are implacably opposed to those of all members of its own species.
The End of Economic Freedom Part 2
Reprinted from LewRockwell.com This first appeared in The Libertarian Forum, Vol III, NO.8, September, 1971 The Function of the Price System The free price system, the free fluctuation of all prices, wages, and rents, which has been so blithely destroyed
