In perusing the essays in this volume, one reads over and over of Rothbard’s enthusiasm, his optimism, his zest for life, and especially his sense of humor. He was an enthusiast for many things—Austrian economics, libertarianism, politics, chess, German Baroque church architecture, jazz, and watching sports. He was never depressed—always
The Free Market 13, no. 12 (December 1995) If it had the will, Congress could kill the redistributionist monster, the Welfare State, that’s consumed at least $5 trillion in wealth since the Great Society. How? Cut anywhere and everywhere, abolish whole agencies, and return the $350 billion saved from next year’s spending to the taxpayers in the
The Free Market 13, no. 1 (January 1995) What program consumes the largest share of the federal budget? What program is predicted to go belly-up in short order by every knowledgeable observer? What program are the leaders of both parties committing to protect until it bankrupts the country and destroys what’s left of intergenerational amity?
The Free Market 13, no. 2 (February 1995) When anti-socialist, post-Soviet reformers of the Baltic states sought to reign in government power, they looked to solve the money problem first. Moscow held unlimited power to flood their economies with cheap money, and to fund itself as an imperial power lording it over other peoples. That had to end
The Free Market 13, no. 3 (March 1995) How can business comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act? It can’t. The ADA has created an inescapable trap for companies, a bottomless pit for liberty and property, and an unremitting excuse for harassment and control. John Casey, writing in the University of Puget Sound Law Review (Winter 1994),
The Free Market 13, no. 4 (April 1995) After two years of pretending to be for free trade, the Clinton administration, backed by the Republican leadership in Congress, finally ‘fessed up. In their dealings with China and Mexico, they shredded two centuries of economic wisdom, repudiated every principle of sensible economic relations, and kicked
The Free Market 13, no. 5 (May 1995) Steve Stockman, among the best of Washington’s freshmen Congressmen, holds a daily prayer session that staff members attend voluntarily. Last year, nobody could have stopped it. But thanks to the “Contract With America,” Congress now has to comply with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ACLU says Stockman may be
The Free Market 13, no. 6 (June 1995) A poll in March reported that most people would prefer “deficit reduction” to “tax cuts.” Polls and the media lie all the time, but this one refutes itself. If people really wanted to be taxed, they would pay up without being threatened by audits, fines, special agents, and jail terms. No need to speculate
The Free Market 13, no. 7 (July 1995) To understand the House Republicans’ budget “revolution,” pay careful attention to this number: $55 billion. That’s the amount federal spending will increase next year. A year later, according to their plan, the budget ticks up another $38.1 billion. It goes up an average of $45 billion every year
The Free Market 13, no. 8 (August 1995) We have the makings of a world central bank, thanks to the government officials from industrialized countries (the G-7) who met at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in June. U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, as usual, got just what he wanted. The officials didn’t call it a world central bank, a creepy term that
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.