Economics

Price Controls Attack the Freedom of Speech

by Richard M. Ebeling September 18, 2019

We increasingly live in a new “dark age” of economic ignorance, and even stupidity. Few things exemplify this trend as much as the call for price controls over the interactions of multitudes of people in the marketplace of supply and demand. There are few government interventionist policies as likely to disrupt, distort, and imbalance the actions of tens of millions, indeed, ...

Minimum Wage Nonsense

by Christine Smith August 26, 2019

Once again, the call for raising the federal minimum wage is in the news, with most Democratic Party candidates for president endorsing its doubling from $7.25 to $15/hour. Some candidates have suggested it be increased even more, depending on the region of the country. Of course, this is because of great compassion and empathy for the American worker. Right? After ...

Milton Friedman: The Forgotten History of the Godfather of Conservative Libertarianism

by Brian Miller August 9, 2019

“I would like to say to Milton and Anna : Regarding the Great Depression. You’re right, we did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, acknowledging the central bank’s role in causing the Great Depression

The Case for a Coercive Green New Deal?

by Richard M. Ebeling August 7, 2019

Social and economic crises, real and imagined, often seem to bring out the most wrongheaded thinking in matters of government policy. Following the 2008 financial crisis and with the fear of “global warming,” there has been a revival in the case for “democratic” socialism. But now its proponents are “out of the closet” with a clear cut and explicit ...

Ludwig von Mises’s Human Action: Marking 70 Years of Continuing Relevance

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 2019

German September 2019 marks 70 years since the appearance of Ludwig von Mises’s Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, one of the truly great “classics” of modern economics. Too often a “classic” means a famous book considered to have made important contributions to some field of study and that is reverentially referred to but is unfortunately ...

Austrian Economics on the 45th Anniversary of Its Rebirth

by Richard M. Ebeling June 24, 2019

This June marks the 45th anniversary of the revival of the Austrian School of Economics. During the week of June 15-22, 1974, the Institute for Humane Studies brought together about 50 people in South Royalton, Vermont to listen to a series of lectures by three of the leading figures of the, then, existing remnant of the Austrian School. The ...

Who Actually Pays Tariffs?

by Laurence M. Vance May 20, 2019

Donald Trump’s economic ignorance knows no bounds. And especially when it comes to the subject of trade. Trade is always a win-win proposition. In every exchange, each party gives up something valued less for something valued more. Each party to a transaction values differently the goods or services being exchanged. Each party anticipates a gain from ...

F.A. Hayek on Individual Liberty

by Richard M. Ebeling May 1, 2019

The rebirth of a belief in and an enthusiasm for socialism and government planning among a noticeable number of academics, intellectuals, young people, and elected officials raises many of the fundamental issues surrounding freedom and command, market competition and political control. Once more, a call is heard for doing away with free enterprise, this time in the name of a ...

The Global Economy Desperately Needs Freedom

by Richard M. Ebeling March 7, 2019

How many bureaucrats are there in the world? The global population currently numbers more than 7.5 billion people. Out of that number it is estimated that the global labor force equals almost 3.5 billion, or a half a billion less than half of all the people on the planet. While it varies very greatly from one country to another, ...

The Myth of Aggregate Demand and Supply

by Richard M. Ebeling February 28, 2019

It has been more than 80 years since the beginning of the Keynesian revolution in economics with the publication of John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money in 1936. During those eight decades many defenses and criticisms, restatements and refutations have appeared, some by many of the most prominent economists of the last century. Yet, ...

Carl Menger: A Biographical Appreciation by Friedrich von Wieser

by Richard M. Ebeling February 25, 2019

Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926) was one of the leading contributors in the “second generation” of the Austrian School of Economics. This memorial appreciation of Carl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School, was published in German not long after Menger’s passing in 1921. Wieser explains the state of economics before Menger’s writings on economic theory, the lasting importance ...

Ludwig von Mises as the Victim of Quinn Slobodian’s Intellectual Dishonesty

by Richard M. Ebeling January 16, 2019

We live at a time when one of the worst accusations that can be thrown at someone is the charge of “racist.” Have that word tied to your name and it not only results in moral condemnation, it potentially throws into discredit almost anything and everything that person has said or done. That makes it a serious matter when ...