Turmoil in the international political arena has driven home the point that politics is about the art of compromise. Not the kind, voluntary type of compromise one is expected to make every so often in a happy marriage, or in business negotiations on a free market. Politics breeds a type of coercive compromise which can only be achieved by backing
February in Romania has brought 27 consecutive days of protests against the current government, at a scale unmatched since the Revolution in 1989. In a record day, more than 600,000 people gathered in the capital’s Victory Square and around the country to overturn a decision by the current ruling party to decriminalize some acts of corruption and
Higher education professionals have become increasingly specialized in ‘cheating the system’ over the past 50 years. The table below excellently summarizes the findings of Edwards and Roy in their recently published work on “ Maintaining Scientific Integrity in a Climate of Perverse Incentives and Hypercompetition .” The mismatch between the
The BBC is running a story titled “ Bizarre excuses for failing to pay the minimum wage ”. The article follows an investigation by HM Revenues and Customs in the UK, which is organizing a government awareness campaign for underpaid workers. Some of the excuses are indeed hilarious and evidently made up on the go, such as “ My accountant and I
Every once in a while, even The Economist gets it right. In a review of an intellectual biography of Marx ( Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion ), published this past fall, they argue that “the myth is more impressive than the reality”. Echoing, in fact, several arguments from the book—written, surprisingly enough, by a scholar with Marxist
A NBER working paper published this month purports to show how economists, who now undertake more and more policy work, should see their job in terms very similar to plumbers. The author, Esther Duflo, argues that “economists should seriously engage with plumbing, in the interest of both society and our discipline [since] plumbers try to predict
International trade hasn’t had a very good time lately. Encircled by Trump’s plans , by EU and China’s threats at retaliation , and by the utter failure of the WTO , international commercial relations are stymied under an increasing amount of regulations, tariffs, and restrictions. The outlook is bleak indeed, but it’s not the first time, nor will
A new piece in The Economist ’s series on the shortcomings of the economics profession tackles the tricky question of the boundaries of economic science. It points out two flaws in the modern study of prices and exchange: first, the idea that “prices are all we need to know” about the economy and economic well-being. Second, the issue that
As the Trump administration announces 25% tariffs on over $50bn of Chinese goods, and Europe and China prepare retaliation measures, The Economist concludes that “Rising tariffs are the worst of many threats to the world economy”, because, among other things, “Tariffs temporarily push up inflation, making it harder for central banks to cushion the
The Economist has lately been running a series of articles on the shortcomings of the economics profession. Its most recent piece argues the important point that “the [2008-2009] crisis exposed the economic profession’s continued ignorance of the business cycle.” One reason for this ignorance is, they observe, a lack of data: while crises do
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.