[A selection from Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow ] by Ludwig von Mises Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man’s social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of his life; he inherited it from his ancestors, and it never changed. If he was born poor, he always remained poor, and if he was born rich-a
The Rothbard Graduate Seminar , our signature event for advanced students in economics and related disciplines, began this morning with a terrific session on economic methodology. The week-long event combines plenary lectures on core Austrian concepts with student-led roundtable discussions that bring out the nuances, applications, challenges, and
Apple underwent a 7-1 stock split last night, such that shares that traded at $645 yesterday opened this morning at $92. Much of the media coverage took a playful tone, e.g., “Don’t freak out. Here’s why Apple’s stock is below $100.” I was particularly intrigued by the brief story on today’s NPR Morning Edition. As the host explained, it’s not
Murray Rothbard was a foremost defender of apriorism in economics and a critic of positivism, empiricism, and scientism ( 1 , 2 , 3 ). But he was not opposed to quantification, particularly in the study of economic history. In fact, he strongly supported the use of statistics in doing applied economics. I was reminded of Rothbard’s view of data
The belief that war, and government spending more generally, fosters economic growth by spurring innovation is one of those fallacies that won’t die, no matter how often it is challenged and refuted. Today’s New York Times gives us the usual spiel: Fundamental innovations such as nuclear power, the computer and the modern aircraft were all pushed
Milton Friedman has long accused Austrian economists, and Mises in particular, of “intolerance.” Indeed, this seems to be his main problem with the Austrian school. (At the 1992 meeting of the Mont Pelerin society, during a tribute to Hayek, Friedman even managed to get in a few pot-shots on Mises’s alleged intolerance.) Here’s how he put it in a
Prophetic words from Duke Law Professor Steven L. Schwarcz, writing in a symposium issue of the University of Cincinnati Law Review (Summer 2002): “Ultimately, the greatest danger of the Enron debacle is our possible overreaction, and consequent over-regulation. It’s human nature to overreact to dramatic events, like air crashes or, in this case,
From today’s Wall Street Journal: The Internet Boom Took Up Slack My analysis of the birth and death of the recent boom (” False Hopes for the Economy -- and False Fears ,” editorial page, June 3) is criticized by a proponent of Austrian cycle theory, Robert Batemarco (” The Credit Expansions that Fool Entrepreneurs ,” Letters, June 13). My
Old timers out there may remember this website , the oldest version of the Mises Institute home page stored at the Internet Archive . It was cached on October 18, 1996, about a year and a half after the site went live (the original URL was www.auburn.edu/~lvmises ). Browsing the site sure brings back fond memories!
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.