In a world where central banks are given free rein over the supply of money and credit, and where any examination of these secretive institutions is considered interference with their “independence,” Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s comments about QE have not
Politics 
Orwell’s Big Brother: Merely Fiction?
[Rothbard’s review of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four (Harcourt, 1949) appeared in Analysis, September 1949, p. 4] In recent years, many writers have given us their vision of the coming collectivist future. At the turn of the century, neither Edward Bellamy
A Bankrupt Candidate for a Bankrupt Nation
“Voters vote on how they feel and what their instinct is,” Howard Dean said on Morning Joe, explaining Donald Trump’s popularity in the polls and in particular with the New Hampshire focus group that John Heilemann spoke with. I think
5 Unintended Consequences of Regulation and Government Meddling
Reprinted from the Freeman Voters frequently support measures that sound noble and beneficial but end up causing serious mischief — and often hurt the very groups the measures were intended to help. A well-known example is price controls, which include
Stephen Poloz’s Zen Moment
To cut or not to cut, that is the question. And fortunately for Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz, it was a pretty easy question. A lagging US recovery, China’s downturn, lower oil prices and “bad weather” all contributed to
Side-Effects Include: Household Debt
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz fancies himself a surgeon. He compares cutting interest rates to life-saving surgery for the economy. I consider it more like bloodletting, a terrible practice that is now widely accepted as pseudoscience. According to Canada’s
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My Advice for Greece
Leave both the European Union (EU) and the European Monetary Union (EMU). These are very flawed institutions. In his prescient book Tragedy of the Euro, Professor Philip Bagus uses the term “misconstructed”, which I think is very descriptive of
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Millions in Brazil Follow a Teen Leader to Freedom
Reprinted from the Freeman “I like a little rebellion now and then,” Thomas Jefferson famously wrote. The primary author of the Declaration of Independence and America’s third president regarded rebellion as “like a storm in the atmosphere.” It clears the
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The Republic Becomes the Empire
Reprinted from Mises.org. This article was originally published as “The Decline of the American Republic” in The Freeman, February 25, 1952. We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. If you ask when, the answer is that you
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The Temptations of Emperors: How Lincoln and Roosevelt Mocked Constitutional Restraint
Oh, how we fret! Rightfully, of course, for nothing is more frightening to the American Mind than the specter of overweening authority. During the second Bush Administration, the Left was beside itself with concern over executive overreach (from the Iraq
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The Curse of the Withholding Tax
Reprinted from Mises.org Did you have to write out a check to the IRS for $5,581 this past April 15? If you had to do such a thing next year, would you think of it as your civic duty or
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Hitler, Mussolini, Roosevelt
Reprinted from Reason Magazine Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt’s America, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hitler’s Germany, 1933–1939, by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, New York: Metropolitan Books, 242 pages, $26 On May 7, 1933, just two months after the inauguration of Franklin Delano
Baltimore, D.C., and Panem All in One
The teen fiction series The Hunger Games is a hit in the United States, and it’s not hard to see why. The books, and spin-off movies, share an anti-authoritarian message combined with a complicated story of young romance. What’s really
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The Don Fanucci of American Politics
Reprinted from LewRockwell.com This year marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the American “Civil War,” more accurately described as the War to Prevent Southern Independence. It is also the 31stanniversary of the movie, The Godfather, Part II. A
Critiquing a Monetary Reform for Iceland
The Prime Minister of Iceland recently commissioned a report by Frosti Sigurjonsson (henceforth referred to as “Mr. S”) to recommend a better money and banking system for Iceland. (I’m sorry, but isn’t Frosti a great first name for someone from
My letter to the NY Times re: Please, make me unemployed!
Re: In test for unions and politicians, a nationwide protest on pay Dear Sirs: I find it incredible that anyone, especially the vaunted New York Times, would treat with respect the fallacious concept that pay can be set arbitrarily-and enforced
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Don’t Forget the Reasons People Don’t Believe in Your Social Cause
When it comes to Austrian economist and political thinker Friedrich Hayek, conservatives and libertarians are at odds. While conservatives like Hayek’s opposition to big government, they may disagree with his views on social progress. In the same vein, libertarians agree
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Will the New Banking Proposals in Iceland Save it from Economic Instability?
A recent proposal out of Iceland has been making the waves around economics blogosphere. In it, Frosti Sigurjonsson critiques the current fractional-reserve banking system and proposes instead a system he calls “Sovereign Money”. But what is “sovereign money”, how is
