This week the American public was forced to come to grips with what Ron Paul and others had long warned: the deep state exists, it is a threat, and it will undermine anyone who stands in its way. Though we can count on apologists in both government and the media to excuse away the Vault 7 Wikileak revelations, it is becoming increasingly hard to argue with Harry Truman: the CIA was a mistake. Of course the issue of government control extends far beyond the confines of America’s security apparatus. From central banks, to legislative disasters, to the increasingly absurd plans of the out of touch elite — a powerful coalition of forces have effectively corrupted the operating system of liberty that was responsible for the success of Western Civilization.
This is precisely why the Mises Institute exists, to combat this grave reality. Luckily the tradition of Mises, Rothbard, Hayek, and the rest of the Austrian school is thriving.
A great demonstration of this is happening this weekend in Auburn, as scholars from around the world have gathered for the annual Austrian Economics Research Conference. Scholars, both traditional academics and professionals outside of academia, are presenting the latest research in the Austrian tradition in fields such as healthcare, finance, and the blockchain.
Our keynote lectures from AERC can be watched live at mises.org/live, and will be available later on our Youtube Channel.
Our next Mises Weekends features one of our AERC lectures, David Hart on Fédéric Bastiat: The Unseen Radical. We think we know Bastiat from The Law, but his work in economics and social theory actually spans thousands of pages. And he was a thoroughgoing radical in his personal and professional life. Hart makes the case that Bastiat was not only a serious and under-appreciated thinker, but also a proto-Austrian to whom we owe a huge intellectual debt. This is a very entertaining and revealing look at one of the true founders of modern libertarian thought.
And in case you missed any of them, here are the articles featured this week on the Mises Wire:
- Why Understanding "Roundaboutness" Is so Important by Mark Thornton
- Rothbard Explains the Proper Response to Climate Change by Curtis Williams
- Repeal and Replace Needn't Be Complicated by Hunter Lewis
- NFL Free Agency and the Market Process by Tho Bishop
- The War on Cash Finds Its General by David Gordon
- The "Operating System" for Western Civilization by Hunter Hastings
- Central Bank Embrace of Blockchain is All About Control by C.Jay Engel
- Truman Was Right About the CIA by Jeff Deist
- Higher Costs Don’t Mean Higher Prices by Per Bylund
- Bill Gates's Robot Tax Is a Terrible Idea by Jonathan Newman
- World Power, World Policy, and the United States in 1917 by T. Hunt Tooley
- Sound Money Is Rising at the State Level by Clint Siegner
- Dwight Schrute Shows Us Why Speculators Are So Important by Christian Newman
- Trump vs. The Deep State by Ryan McMaken
- Arizona Challenges the Fed’s Money Monopoly by Ron Paul
- How the Market Creates Jobs and How the Government Destroys Them by Walter Block
- Can Yellen Keep the Boom Going? by Brendan Brown
- Watergate Redux? by Hunter Lewis
