The mantra of “school choice” is getting louder. The wholesale failure of the K-12 public school system to adequately educate children, no matter how much money is spent per pupil, is universally acknowledged by all but the most diehard teacher union bureaucrat. Educational reform is a leading topic of governors, state legislators, members of
Two large works were published in the 1800s on the subject in question. The first, Protection or Free Trade: An Examination of the Tariff Question, with Especial Regard to the Interests of Labor, was written by Henry George in 1886. The second, The History of Protective Tariff Laws , was written by R.W. Thompson in 1888. Yet today, over one
Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War , by Mark Thornton and Robert B. Ekelund. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 2004. xxix +124 pages. The continual stream of books about the Civil War generally focus on soldiers, generals, weapons, uniforms, medical procedures, and battlefield maneuvers—along with the usual
The best tax is always the lightest. — Jean-Baptiste Say There cannot be a good tax nor a just one; every tax rests its case on compulsion. — Frank Chodorov There can be no such thing as “fairness in taxation.” Taxation is nothing but organized theft, and the concept of a “fair tax” is therefore every bit as absurd as that of “fair theft.” —
What the World Should Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy , Baylor University Press, 2008 George W. Bush was not the first president to have a “faith-based” foreign policy. Most people know that Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was the US president from 1913 to 1921. Some perhaps know that he was the governor of New
A version of this review of Voucher Wars: Waging the Legal Battle over School Choice by Clint Bolick (Washington D.C.: Cato Institute, 2003) appeared in the Journal of Libertarian Studies 18.2 Voucher Wars: Waging the Legal Battle over School Choice is the story of the twelve-year legal battle for school choice that culminated in the 2002 Zelman
In 1920, Ludwig von Mises wrote a comprehensive critique of the economics of socialism that launched the “ calculation debate .” The significance of his seminal essay, “ Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth ,” as Mises Institute Senior Fellow Joseph Salerno writes in a postscript , is that it “extends far beyond its devastating
The Republicans are expanding the welfare state almost as much as they are increasing the warfare state. In a recent report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , chief actuary Richard Foster predicts that the federal government will soon be paying for half the cost of all health care in the United States. A major contributing
Did you have to write out a check to the IRS for $5,581 this past April 15? If you had to do such a thing next year, would you think of it as your civic duty or would you consider it a crime that only the government could get away with? A Typical Taxpayer This figure of $5,581 is not an arbitrary one. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, real
Since my recent article on the evils of the withholding tax, I have been inundated with e-mails by supporters of the “ FairTax ,” including a request that I endorse “The Fair Tax Act of 2005” currently pending in the Congress. But like the calls for “fair trade” instead of “free trade,” the FairTax is a fraud because it is based on the fallacy
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.