In the last edition of The Freeman , David Levin and Michele Boldrin argue that “innovation could thrive” without an IP regime. And they propose that an “ open-source “ model can accomplish this feat. Two heads are better than one... F or those unfamiliar with the open-source paradigm, in a nutshell, its proponents suggest that in terms of
The ancient transgressions of murder, pillage, bestiality, thievery, and rape still shout from the headlines. O Tempora, O Mores, as the ancients proclaimed in dismay a couple millennia ago: meaning what crummy people, what crummy times. They ought to read this morning’s paper — they’d yearn for ancient Rome. Then as now, the human heart is
Sophistpundit gives What Has Government Done to Our Money ( print , audio ) a mostly favorable review , but he does have this reservation: [Rothbard] makes a good case for opening up currency to the free market, but I think that his clear fixation with gold is a real flaw in the work. There is no denying the historical significance of gold as the
William Graham Sumner wrote: All schemes for patronizing “the working classes” savor of condescension. They are impertinent and out of place in this free democracy. There is not, in fact, any such state of things or any such relation as would make projects of this kind appropriate. Such projects demoralize both parties, flattering the vanity of
One of the great heros of American classical liberalism was William Graham Sumner (1840–1910), author of this weekend’s read . Wikipedia calls him “the leading American advocate of free markets, anti-imperialism, and the gold standard.’ Also : Sumner opposed the Spanish American War and the subsequent U.S. effort to quell the insurgency in the
Me and my angelic wife are heading to our favorite Sunday restaurant, the Ding How II. Since it is Sunday, churches with full parking lots line the boulevard to the restaurant. I’m speeding by, because my stomach is sending a wireless message to the brain that the body needs refueling, fast. Therefore, I’m driving like a madman. Hey, there must be
While we’re revisiting the Industrial Revolution and the distortions of its historians, let me recommend Ralph Raico’s talk on the subject from the 2001 Mises University ( MP3 ). Also, in Robert LeFevre’s talks on the fear of a free market, he spends 4 sessions reviewing the Industrial Revolution: part 1 , part 2 , part 3 , part 4 (also all MP3).
In “How I Stole a Great Idea From Lew Rockwell,” Gary North writes: The Mises Institute in 1996 produced a superb 45-minute movie on the Federal Reserve System. It is the best introduction to what the FED really is and how it operates that I have ever seen. Yet I never saw the movie on a movie screen or a TV screen. I didn’t even know it existed.
Libertarians have always had a sense of history. Mainly because they puzzle over the USA of the 19th Century and its transformation into the USA of 2007. Many explanations are offered. A Pulitzer prize winner, Robert A. Caro, has made a unique contribution to this political conundrum in a multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. What a book! the
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.