In the classic 1939 film, The Roaring Twenties , a desperate James Cagney tells Priscilla Lane, “You want the Brooklyn Bridge, all you gotta do is ask for it. If I can’t buy it, I’ll steal it.” Like a desperate lovesick puppy trying to force the object of his affection to fall in love with him, President Joe Biden has promised the American
Canadians can mark it on their calendars: Sept. 20, 2021, was Groundhog Day. “The more things change, the more they remain the same” is the old adage from French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Despite emphatically stating that he would not force the country into an election two years ahead of schedule, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau desired to
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. China was one of the first major countries to recover from the coronavirus-induced economic collapse—but at what cost? The country has taken on enormous levels of public and private debt, eased monetary policy, and issued billions of dollars in new bonds. Yet, as the world’s
Following former president Donald Trump’s election defeat, the legacy media and Swamp creatures glowingly declared that populism is dead and buried, never to be resurrected on a massive scale ever again. But were the victories of Trump and Brexit matches that ignited the flames of populist movements? Despite the rest of Europe essentially
It is often said by cynical economists and political commentators, usually of the right or libertarian persuasion, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. There is no more odious and damaging economic policy that comes from the heart than rent control. For years, limiting the cost of living spaces was done at the local level, but one
There’s a retirement crisis in America today. The national savings rate is at a putrid 3%, consumer debt levels are hitting all-time highs , and stock portfolios are shedding their value amid the popping market bubble. When you factor in the collapse of public pension systems and Social Security nearing insolvency , it’s going to be a grim winter
By the end of March, Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet at a formal signing ceremony to ratify a historic trade agreement between the world’s two largest economies . It has been one long year since the United States fired the first salvos in the trade war, leading to months of tit-for-tat tariffs, endless deliberations,
The mercantilists contend that President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports are to shrink the trade deficit, protect American businesses, and boost exports to the rest of the world. But the latest developments in international commerce show this is not going to plan. Instead, the president’s levies are triggering unintended consequences for several
The fiscal black hole surrounding Social Security and Medicare had been talked about long before mankind got its first glimpse of the interstellar phenomenon. Like the particles and electromagnetic radiation absorbed in the galactic monster’s path, the American people face an event horizon, a point of no return. Unless drastic actions are taken by
Japan’s economy is a lifeless corpse. In the 1990s, Tokyo propped up zombie banks: institutions that are solvent in name only. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, Japan ensured these companies remained open. Today, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is presiding over a zombie economy, and he thinks he has a solution to inject new life into the rotting
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.