Audio Mises Wire
Audio recordings of Mises Wire articles, offering contemporary news and opinion through the lens of Austrian economics and libertarian political economy.
The American Government's Shameful Economic Warfare Against Cuba
Cuba’s economy is collapsing in large part because the US government is engaged in illegal and immoral economic warfare against it.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/american-governments-shameful-economic-warfare-against-cuba
What Leads to Violent Populism?
As government grows and people on most sides of the political debates demand government punish their political enemies, we are seeing an increase in political violence. Government cannot prevent this violence; government is the violence.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/what-leads-violent-populism
Kurdistan’s Liberty: A Consequence of Its Pre-State Condition?
From a Misesian and Rothbardian perspective, can the absence of a unified and centralized state, under certain conditions, create greater space for political pluralism, institutional competition, and constraints on state power? Kurdistan might provide some answers.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/kurdistans-liberty-consequence-its-pre-state-condition
How Party Politics Fueled the Militarization of Race Relations
Instead of trying to seek peaceful relationships between southern whites and former slaves during the Reconstruction period, the Reconstruction governments armed the former slaves and helped to set off violence and strife.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-party-politics-fueled-militarization-race-relations
The Polish “Golden Liberty” and the Myth of Multicultural Equality
The free market isn’t an entity that exists in a vacuum, but a social condition that exists under a specific cultural strand that respects individuality and proportionality in regards to competition—willingness to accept loss when outcompeted.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/polish-golden-liberty-and-myth-multicultural-equality
Do Institutions Matter? Taking Another Look at the Claims of Daron Acemoglu
Nobel Prize winner Daron Acemoglu writes that western colonialism of African countries has permanently fixed their institutional direction. This ignores what we know about the history of these nations.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/do-institutions-matter-taking-another-look-claims-daron-acemoglu
You Are the Collateral, Forty-Three Cents on the Dollar
Keynesians claim that government debt is no problem because “we owe it to ourselves,” as though owners of US debt don’t care if they are repaid or not. Taxpayers, who actually will pay the debt, are left out of the equation.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/you-are-collateral-forty-three-cents-dollar
China’s Economic Miracle Has Run Out of Road
The temptation to think of China as an economic juggernaut needs a reality check. While China’s government-dominated economy has many impressive building projects, there are underlying malinvestments that the government continues to subsidize, leading to future problems.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/chinas-economic-miracle-has-run-out-road
The Tragic Path of New Keynesianism
Robert Hall and Michael Woodford certainly deserve the Nobel memorial prize. Their work has had a substantial impact, yet significance is not soundness.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/tragic-path-new-keynesianism
Natural Law Principles in the Conservative Tradition
A conservatism that does not recognize the efficacy of natural law is no conservatism at all.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/natural-law-principles-conservative-tradition
Whistling Past the Graveyard
Despite the real damage the Trump administration is doing to the economy, its cheerleaders in the Cabinet continue to insist all is well. This is beyond wishful thinking.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/whistling-past-graveyard
Home Sales: "High" Interest Rates Are Not the Problem. High Prices Are.
There is a simple way for housing markets to adjust to the new realities of higher interest rates. Prices need to come down. That's how markets are supposed to work.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/home-sales-high-interest-rates-are-not-problem-high-prices-are
“Socialism to Me”: Definition by Wishful Thinking
Many socialists define socialism by their ideal goals rather than the process—the expansion of the taking mechanism of the coercive state.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/socialism-me-definition-wishful-thinking
Repeal the Jones Act
Contrary to propaganda from unions and the maritime industry, the Jones Act creates hardships and is helping to drag down the US economy. The only proper outcome is to repeal it immediately.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/repeal-jones-act
Still the State's Greatest Enemy
Lew Rockwell revisits Justin Raimondo's great biography of Murray Rothbard.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/still-states-greatest-enemy
Equality Before the Law Does Not Mean Equality of Subjective Feelings
For more than a century, the Supreme Court has tried to interpret equality before the law in different and conflicting ways. While the law can divide people, it cannot be the source of bringing them together.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/equality-law-does-not-mean-equality-subjective-feelings
Libertarian Realism as Foreign Policy
“Libertarian Realism” in foreign policy is based upon the interests of those who actually make policy decisions, as opposed to discussing abstract ideals of a false “national interest.”
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/libertarian-realism-foreign-policy
Government Should Liquidate Itself
Government agents claim they are protecting us from enemies, foreign and domestic. If that is the case, then the best thing these agents can do would be to liquidate the government itself.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/government-should-liquidate-itself
Social Security Is Just a Transfer Payment from Workers to Retirees
There is no "trust fund" or contract. Social security is nothing more than a scheme to take money from current wage earners and hand it over to others. It is functionally a welfare program.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/social-security-just-transfer-payment-workers-retirees
Why Does Anyone Still Take Socialism Seriously?
Socialism's failures are well-known, but true believers abound that insist that this time we can make it work. The question is why anyone still believes in it at all.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-does-anyone-still-take-socialism-seriously
Conservatives: Was Ronald Reagan a Coward and Traitor?
If we’ve been at war with Iran for 47 years, Ronald Reagan was a coward and a traitor. To be consistent, mainstream national conservatives using such language about Iran ought to condemn one of their heroes; otherwise, they don’t believe their own rhetoric.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/conservatives-was-ronald-reagan-coward-and-traitor
Modern Monarchy Is State Privilege, Not Private Property
Norway’s new monarch may prove to be an effective leader, but we are reminded that his hereditary privilege is being financially supported by involuntary taxes.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/modern-monarchy-state-privilege-not-private-property
The Continuing Relevance of Rothbard’s Foreign Policy
While he was living, Murray Rothbard saw issues of war and peace as being fundamental to a free society. Nothing has changed since he made that declaration.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/continuing-relevance-rothbards-foreign-policy
Every Man a Slave? Huey Long as a Model for the Wrong Kind of Populism
J. D. Vance raised a few eyebrows invoking Huey Long as a populist. The problem is that the populist from people like Long and Bernie Sanders is that it is based on confiscation and destruction of wealth and property. Murray Rothbard proposed a real populism.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/every-man-slave-huey-long-model-wrong-kind-populism
The 1787 Constitution as Counterrevolution: America's Thermidorian Reaction
One of the most important and aspects of Murray Rothbard's work on the American Revolution is his framing of the Constitutional Convention as a counterrevolution against the radicalism of the 1770s.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/1787-constitution-counterrevolution-americas-thermidorian-reaction
How Conflicting Interpretations of Dred Scott Undermine State Sovereignty
The 1857 Dred Scott case remains one of the most controversial Supreme Court decision in US History. However, overlooked is the fact that it elevated federal sovereignty above sovereignty of the states.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-conflicting-interpretations-dred-scott-undermine-state-sovereignty
Wildfires and Collectivism: Why They Are Related
As state control over forests and brushlands continues apace both in Spain and the US, the dangers of wildfires grow worse. Environmentalists, naturally, blame capitalism.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/wildfires-and-collectivism-why-they-are-related
Prosperity Will Return Only When Entrepreneurs Are Free to Act on Economic Uncertainty
Our economic future desperately depends upon entrepreneurs being free to act. Unfortunately, our ruling classes seem to prefer economic chaos.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/prosperity-will-return-only-when-entrepreneurs-are-free-act-economic-uncertainty
Mainstream Economics: Money as Medium of Exchange, Unit of Account, and Store of Value
Mainstream economics does a disservice when students are taught that money is a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account without explaining why and how money came to function in those categories.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/mainstream-economics-money-medium-exchange-unit-account-and-store-value
California’s New Tire Rule will Result in Higher Costs and More Highway Deaths
The California Energy Commission is mandating that starting in 2029, California drivers must purchase environmentally approved tires that are less safe than current tires. The results are predictable: higher costs for drivers and more fatal accidents.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/californias-new-tire-rule-will-result-higher-costs-and-more-highway-deaths
Covid Was a Praxeological Test. Too Many Libertarians Failed.
No, covid was not the exception to the rule that liberty comes first. Just because the CDC insisted we give up our freedom for what turned out to be a false security did not justify the government’s heavy-handed approach, something that libertarians should have understood all along.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/covid-was-praxeological-test-too-many-libertarians-failed
How War Propaganda Justifies Conscription into Unjust Wars
The drive for military conscription has always depended upon the use of propaganda, since governments cannot make an honest and genuine case for the wars they start.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-war-propaganda-justifies-conscription-unjust-wars
Government by Consent of the Governed—Later On
We are told that Americans live under a state that claims “consent of the governed,” but when does the government seek our consent for anything?
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/government-consent-governed-later
9/11 and the Idealized “War on Terror”
Twenty-five years after 9/11, many seek to rehabilitate the War on Terror by appealing to the horror of 9/11, the right to respond, and the ideal of fighting terrorism. Many now demand that we judge an idealized “War on Terror” by its intentions rather than the war that actually occurred.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/911-and-idealized-war-terror
Slavery Was Not the Difference: How Legal Innovations Made America a Superpower While Brazil Stagnated
Both Brazil and the US had slavery in the 1800s, but the US economy flourished while Brazil’s languished. If slavery was the engine for US economic growth, as leftists claim, then why didn’t Brazil's economy match that of the US?
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/slavery-was-not-difference-how-legal-innovations-made-america-superpower-while-brazil-stagnated
Price Inflation Has Been above the Two-Percent Target for 65 Months in a Row
The latest reminder of the Federal Reserve's record of failure, which now extends longer than five years, comes with the most recent inflation measure.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/price-inflation-has-been-above-two-percent-target-65-months-row
Congress Tries to Replace Anarcho-Tyranny in College Sports with Its Own Brand of Tyranny
In the name of “saving” college sports, Congress steps well past its bounds to micromanage the NCAA.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/congress-tries-replace-anarcho-tyranny-college-sports-its-own-brand-tyranny
The Crony Capitalists Who Financed the Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin wrote that the capitalists would provide the rope by which they would hang themselves. That certainly seems to be the case with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which received strong financial help from the center of crony capitalism itself: Wall Street.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/crony-capitalists-who-financed-bolshevik-revolution
The AI "Threat" is Replacing Covid and "Global Warming"
Get ready to hear a lot about how we need government regulation to ensure that only state-approved, expensive, crony "capitalist" firms are allowed to develop AI.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/ai-threat-replacing-covid-and-global-warming
Understanding Entrepreneurship Has Major Implications for Economic Analysis
By ignoring the entrepreneur, mainstream economists are also removing a vital part of economics theory. It is like designing a car and leaving out the engine.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/understanding-entrepreneurship-has-major-implications-economic-analysis
