Merry Christmas from everyone at the Mises Institute. After a year dominated by the political pageant, we hope your holidays are dedicated to what's most important: family, friends, and communities that transcend the pettiness of politics.
Perhaps no story captures the incredible spirit of the season like the Christmas truce, the often overlooked tale of British and German soldiers putting down arms for a shining moment during WWI. In the face of barbarisms like war and terrorism, we can never lose sight of the power of the human spirit — and the impact of ideas. As Lew Rockwell noted this week:
We live at a historic moment. The state preens and grows, yet its lies are believed by a smaller percentage of the public than ever before, especially by good young people. The Mises Institute, with the example of men like Hazlitt, our technological know-how, an unbeatable network of scholars, and the great body of work that constitutes our heritage, is uniquely poised to take advantage of this crucial opportunity.
As Hazlitt said, “The times call for courage. The times call for hard work. But if the demands are high, it is because the stakes are even higher. They are nothing less than the future of liberty, which means the future of civilization.”
If you want to help the Mises Institute in this battle of ideas, please consider making a tax-deductible year-end donation today.
On Mises Weekends, Jeff is joined by Ronald Stöferle to discuss Austrian economics and its application to financial markets. As our great friend Dr. Bob Murphy said on an earlier show, knowledge of economics is necessary — but not sufficient — to be be a good investor. Ronald, who co-authored the book Austrian School for Investors, bridges the gap between understanding the economy and understanding how to invest money, in a highly readable and succinct format.
By understanding money, value, interest rates, business cycles, and capital from an Austrian perspective, the smart investor knows far more about fundamentals than many fund managers and investment advisers. Most of those managers and advisers are dangerously ignorant of monetary policy, and don't understand inflation — so they're stuck trying to time booms and busts. This book won't only change the way you look at making money, but how you look at Austrian economics itself.
And in case you missed any of them, here are the articles featured this week on the Mises Wire:
- Italian Literature and Libertarian Theory by David Gordon
- Will Latin America Finally Embrace Markets? by José Niño
- A Message From Lew Rockwell by Llewellyn H. Rockwell
- Has the CIA Been Politicized? by Ryan McMaken
- Why Are Dollar Bills Worth Anything? by Frank Shostak
- How Unions Used Licensing to Crush Ethnic Barbershops by Ryan McMaken
- Living With Your Parents by Mark Thornton
- Ten Fundamental Laws of Economics by Antony P. Mueller
- Market Borders, not Open Borders by Jeff Deist
- Justin Raimondo: What Trump Means by Justin Raimondo
- Paul Krugman’s Latest Conspiracy: Trump Is A Gold Bug by Tho Bishop
- Congress's War on Internet Gambling by Laurence M. Vance
- Europe's War on Tobacco by Bill Wirtz
- Will A Stronger Dollar Cause a Trade War with Europe? by Brendan Brown
- Economic Science Has Been Hijacked by Alice Salles
