Recently, I took up reading Michel Foucault ‘s Discipline and Punish , published in 1975. The most interesting part is the chapter on panopticism. Panopticism is a social theory of power, and how power structures evolve and spread throughout society. The name is derived from Jeremy Bentham ‘s “ Panopticon “. Bentham’s Panopticon was meant to be
(And by football, I mean soccer. Bare with me.) I am sure that not everyone will be as excited as me, but it is always nice to see something that relates to economics in news relating to your favorite sport. And, it does not hurt when the news has to do with central banking and government intervention. Marca , a Madrid-based sports newspaper,
One of John Maynard Keynes’ alleged contributions to economic science is a focus on “expectations.” What is meant by expectations is how individuals predict the uncertain future to be; expectations will influence what actions individuals will undertake in the present (since all action is intertemporal). Keynes, of course, considered these
I thought fellow Austrians would be interested in an excerpt from Krugman’s 1997 paper in Foreign Affairs , “Is Capitalism Too Productive,” Heterodox doctrines, in economics and elsewhere, often fail to get adequately discussed in their formative stages. Both the intellectual and the political establishment tend to regard them as unworthy of
I spent much of the weekend in Toronto, Canada, to speak at a Mises Circle held on Saturday . I spoke along with GMU Professor Larry White, Professor George Bragues, and Chris Horlacher (Maple Leaf Metals). The lectures, apart from mine (but, in my defense, it was my first time speaking at this type of event), were great. White spoke on the
Yesterday, Paul Krugman blogged about the economics of environmentalism and alternative energy, trying to twist the argument in his favor by claiming that there simply are not the incentives in place to attract investors into alternative energy industries. Writes Krugman, “If you seriously believe in markets, you should believe that given the
Many economists have already compared the years 1929–1932 to those of 2007–2009, and the current period of recovery to the time period 1933–1939. It was only a matter of time before they began to look for a comparison between the recession of 1937 and a potential “double dip” today. The 1937 recession was preceded by a decrease in deficit spending
“Liberty Leading the People” (1830) Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) Entrepreneurship is a building block for economic development. Individuals who invest and invent are instilled with a passion to create wealth. The integral role played by entrepreneurship in economic and human development is almost universally accepted. The main point of contention
With the United States and much of Europe buried in public debt, many wonder how world governments will solve their impending budgetary crises. The economics profession has split into two camps: those who promote more spending; and their opponents, the “deficit hawks.” The spenders have been the more vocal, largely due to their dominance in
Brad DeLong comments on Ron Paul’s (and Mises’) views on monetary expansion, inflation, and the business cycles, showing (once again) a complete lack of understand of Mises’ argument. I am bit hesitant to comment on the Mises blog, given that few readers here probably even care about what DeLong has to say. But, to me it is amazing that an
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.