Austrian Axioms 101
This article is unashamedly in Friedrich von Hayek’s category of “second-hand dealers of ideas”. In fact, it is lower than that being third-hand. More specifically, I, as the third-hand dealer, intend to summarize the axioms of Austrian economics by a
The Heroic Draft Dodgers of the American Civil War
In the wake of the American Civil War, one’s status as a veteran could bring significant social and economic benefits. Indeed, the Grand Army of the Republic would become an extremely influential interest group and helped fuel the early creation
Housing Hubris: Can Home Prices Spiral upward Forever?
For the Wall Street sequel, the subtitle was Money Never Sleeps. But the Oliver Stone reprisal of Gordon Gecko was the stuff of 2010. In America, a decade plus ago, money slept. Now, it truly doesn’t, with cryptocurrency prices gyrating
The Classical Liberal Theory of Empire
Ralph Raico examines the history and ideology of imperialism—and why the state loves war and empire so much. From the 2006 Supporters Summit: Imperialism: Enemy of Freedom, 27–28 October 2006, Auburn, Alabama. [33 minutes.]
Murray Rothbard versus the Public Choice School
Murray Rothbard was at one time good friends with Gordon Tullock, one of the founders of the public choice analysis of government, and he also corresponded on friendly terms with James Buchanan, another of the founders. Both Rothbard and the
Homicide Rates in 2020 Surged to a 24-Year High. It’s Another Sign of a Failing Regime.
Homicide rose at a remarkably fast rate in 2020. This may be a sign that the public is losing faith in the legitimacy of the regime. We see this from doubts about elections to outrage over riots and police abuse. Original
Monetary Policy Is in Turmoil
Monetary policy is in turmoil. Ever since the financial crisis erupted eight years ago,* major central banks have fundamentally reformed the way they create and absorb money. Their activism has failed to extinguish the fires. There are already plans to
Literature and the “Class War”
[Editor's Note: This essay, a prescient blast at the then growing problem of Marxism in literary criticism, was published as an appendix in Henry Hazlitt's 1933 book The Anatomy of Criticism: A Trialogue. The same arguments, of course, apply to claims
Joe Weisenthal Thinks Debasing the Dollar Is the Moral Thing to Do
Joe Weisenthal is an editor and host at Bloomberg who has recently been using his large Twitter platform to cast stones at the inflation hawks. In one recent thread, Weisenthal mocked the people worried about the falling purchasing power of the
Why Don’t Police Unions Protect Whistleblowers?
Sergeant Javier Esqueda of the Joliet Police Department in Illinois thought he was doing the right thing by leaking a video recorded from inside of a squad car that showed a black man, Eric Lurry, in medical distress from a