Mises Media
Podcasts, interviews, lectures, narrated articles and essays, and more. This is the Mises Institute's primary online media catalog.
Why Stable Systems Fail: The Illusion of Institutional Control
Systems do not collapse when they finally become unstable; they appear stable until the moment their failure can no longer be ignored.
Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/why-stable-systems-fail-illusion-institutional-control
Institutional Closure: Why Managed Directivism Breeds Its Own Collapse
As technology advances, progressives believe that this time, all of their social engineering and attempts to establish socialism will finally come to fruition. They are in for a rude surprise.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/institutional-closure-why-managed-directivism-breeds-its-own-collapse
A Harvard Economist Tests Austrian Capital Theory
Bob sits down with Harvard Economics Professor Pol Antràs to discuss his new paper applying Böhm-Bawerk's average period of production to international trade, testing whether countries with lower interest rates tend to export goods requiring longer, more roundabout production processes.
Related:
Professor Antràs' Paper, "An ‘Austrian’ Model of International Specialization": Mises.org/HAP554aBob's Article, "The Reswitching Question": Mises.org/HAP554bMarxism and the Manipulation of Man
In 1952, at the height of Soviet power, Ludwig von Mises stood in the San Francisco Public Library and systematically dismantled Marx—not just his economics, but his philosophy, his theory of history, and his manipulation of language. This is the fifth of nine lectures, published in 2006 as Marxism Unmasked.
Mises examines why Marxism went essentially unchallenged for decades—not because its arguments were strong, but because its opponents rarely engaged its philosophical foundations. He traces the intellectual lineage from Saint-Simon's totalitarian world council through Comte's positivism to Marx's dialectical materialism, showing how each system claimed to have disc...
Why the US President Loves “Inflation”?
The president has declared that he loves inflation. What economic fallacies is he likely adopting that leads to this conclusion?
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-us-president-loves-inflation
China’s Industrial Policy: Ambition, Inefficiency, and a Cautionary Tale for America
While China’s economy has boomed, many people wrongly associate that success with the Chinese government’s industrial policies. Intervention has created many problems there—just as it has done elsewhere.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/chinas-industrial-policy-ambition-inefficiency-and-cautionary-tale-america
The American Revolution and the Danger of Standing Armies
Among the key men involved in the American Revolution and the following periods, we find an oft-repeated concern that may seem foreign to us today—the threat of standing armies. This reality became concrete in the Newburgh conspiracy in 1783.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/american-revolution-and-danger-standing-armies
Oppose Graham Platner for His Socialism, Not Just His Outrageous Behavior
While Graham Platner has become controversial because of his reckless past and violent behavior, the real objection to his being elected a US Senator should be to his reckless socialist proposals that would have disastrous consequences.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/oppose-graham-platner-his-socialism-not-just-his-outrageous-behavior
The Warsh Era Begins
On this episode of Power and Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho discuss the first FOMC meeting under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Out? Forward Guidance. In? Task forces! What should we take away from Warsh's first time addressing the financial press, and will his tenure be an improvement from the past, or present new dangers to the public?
The Middle Ages, "Enlightenment," and Propaganda
Names for historical periods like "Renaissance" and "Enlightenment" did not descend to us out of the heavens. Historians and propagandists of centuries past created these names, often for political purposes.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/middle-ages-enlightenment-and-propaganda
Bond Market Sell Off: Welcome to the “Titanic Effect”
Because government monetary authorities have been interfering with interest rates for decades, investors have no more confidence in the bond markets, as they expect more interference and more unpredictability.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/bond-market-sell-welcome-titanic-effect
The Fed Holds the Interest Rate Steady, and Warsh Buys Time with New "Task Force" Scheme
Once we look beyond a small shift in rhetoric and emphasis, there is, so far, no reason to believe that the Fed is headed toward anything other than business as usual.
Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/fed-holds-interest-rate-steady-and-warsh-buys-time-new-task-force-scheme
Real Wages Fell for the Second Month as Price Inflation Surged
Sure, the earnings average was up year over year, but prices increased more than earnings did. In fact, price inflation hit a 38-month high in May.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/real-wages-fell-second-month-price-inflation-surged
The Musk Trillionaire Panic Is a Distraction
Elon Musk becoming the world’s first trillionaire has triggered a familiar round of progressive outrage. But the imprecise focus on wealth distribution obscures the real issue: how much of modern wealth is acquired through politics rather than production.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/musk-trillionaire-panic-distraction
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Why Justice Mattered to Rothbard
Economists like Harold Demsetz and Ronald Coase based their property rights views on utilitarianism. Murray Rothbard based his on justice.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-justice-mattered-rothbard
Raising Interest Rates Does Not Counter Inflation
When inflation surges, the first thing on the government's agenda is for the Federal Reserve to try to force up interest rates. However, as Frank Shostak writes, that might not be the best strategy.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/raising-interest-rates-does-not-counter-inflation
The Fear of the Signal: Why the State Urgently Wants to Bind Prediction Markets
Prediction markets, while obviously imperfect, still work well because people voluntarily put their money where their beliefs are. Naturally, the government wants to shut them down.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/fear-signal-why-state-urgently-wants-bind-prediction-markets
Sound Money, Artificial Intelligence, and the Pope
Unfortunately, the Pope does not understand the role that monetary inflation plays in fueling AI's excesses. If he did, he might lead a necessary anti-AI spiritual alliance for sound money.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/sound-money-artificial-intelligence-and-pope
April Money Supply Growth Hit a 49-Month High. And Prices Soared.
In spite of repeated claims from the Federal Reserve that monetary policy is at least moderately restrictive, there is no sign of any slowing in money-supply growth.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/april-money-supply-growth-hit-49-month-high-and-prices-soared
Moloch in the Regulatory State
Regulatory systems are infamous for creating “traps” in seem to be impervious to reform. Regulators seek to “drain the swamp,” but, instead, find themselves up to their necks in alligators.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/moloch-regulatory-state
The Fed's Real Job: Propping Up Dollar Reserve Currency Status
Bob sits down with economists Alexander Salter and Joshua Hendrickson to discuss their new paper arguing that the standard Austrian critique of the Fed while correct, is fundamentally incomplete. They argue that the Fed's actual institutional role is to backstop U.S. dollar hegemony: the deliberately constructed post-Bretton Woods system in which the dollar serves as the world's reserve currency, U.S. Treasuries as the global safe asset, and the Fed as buyer of last resort for sovereign debt worldwide.
Related:
Hendrickson & Salter, "Should We End the Fed? Can We?": Mises.org/HAP553aWhy Politicians Lie—and How Easy Money Keeps the Boom Alive
On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton opens with a review of John Mearsheimer’s Why Do Politicians Lie?, focusing on strategic deception in international affairs, especially in the Middle East, Israel, Vietnam, Iraq, and America’s own constitutional history. Mark argues that political lies are not merely moral failures; they are tools for empire, war, and state expansion.
On Side B, Thornton joins What The Finance to explain how runaway spending, Fed liquidity, and Austrian business cycle theory reveal the deeper mechanics behind today’s markets. He discusses the AI and data-center bubble, the Fed’s role i...
The Abolitionist Movement in the Antebellum South
Before the Nat Turner Rebellion and the rise of militant abolitionism in the North, there were more anti-slavery societies in the South than in the northern states.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/abolitionist-movement-antebellum-south
The Declaration of Independence versus Egalitarianism
Egalitarian interpreters of the Declaration not only empower the centralized state but promote a view of “equality” that shares a common ethical error with slavery itself—that legal castes of humans may be created and enforced against the liberty of others.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/declaration-independence-versus-egalitarianism
The NDAA's Attempt to Election-proof US-Israel Relations
On this episode of Power and Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho look at the debate over the latest National Defense Authorization Act.
AI, Creative Destruction, and the Politicization of Economic Change
Not surprisingly, the present government is rapidly politicizing artificial intelligence. We don’t have to look far for disastrous results.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/ai-creative-destruction-and-politicization-economic-change
Potential Lockdowns, Polarization, And What Should be Done
The covid lockdowns were useless for public health, but they vastly strengthened government’s stranglehold over our lives. We cannot allow this to happen again.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/potential-lockdowns-polarization-and-what-should-be-done
How American Progressives Influenced Hitler
Despite attempts to whitewash its past, progressivism was a poisonous ideology from the beginning. One of its worst legacies is eugenics, which not only created social strife in the US, but also was exported to Germany, where the Nazis embraced it.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-american-progressives-influenced-hitler
Medieval Europeans Paved the Way for Freedom in the West
Contrary to the myth that kings routinely ruled over cowed subordinates by "divine right" in the Middle Ages, civil governments of the period faced countless institutional obstacles to the exercise of power.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/medieval-europeans-paved-way-freedom-west
A Scholarly Takedown of MMT: Emmanuel Maggiori on the Theory's Fatal Flaws
Bob sits down with economist Emmanuel Maggiori to discuss his new book If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?, a carefully researched, point-by-point critique of Modern Monetary Theory that engages MMT on its own terms, drawing on the MMTers' own textbook, papers, and responses to critics.
Related:
If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?: Mises.org/HAP552aBob's Mises Daily Article, "The Upside-Down World of MMT": Mises.org/HAP552bJonathan Newman and Bob's MisesU Lecture on MMT: Mises.org/HAP552cAnarcho-Tyranny is Killing College Sports
The current free-for-all in Division I NCAA sports is not the product of a free market, but rather is chaos being imposed by the courts and government agencies.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/anarcho-tyranny-killing-college-sports
We’re Freaking Doomed without Freedom from State Rule
As AI continues to grow, we are told to fear private transactions and to depend on the state for safety and security. The reality is that we need to fear the state and what it will do to us as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/were-freaking-doomed-without-freedom-state-rule
Taxpayers vs. Tax-Consumers: Rothbard’s Real Theory of Taxes and Spending
Mark Thornton replays his Rothbard University lecture on government spending and taxation, using Rothbard’s framework of binary intervention to overturn the standard civics-story that taxes are “the cost” of government and spending is “the benefit.” Mark argues both are economically destructive and distortionary, and that treating them as neutral is a category mistake. Drawing on John C. Calhoun’s class analysis, he distinguishes net taxpayers from net tax-consumers, explaining how political finance systematically transfers wealth, reshapes production, and undermines saving, family formation, and long-run growth. The lecture closes with a vivid “wagon” analogy: as more people move from pulling to ridin...
Charles Lee: The Alternative “George Washington” You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
This key decision of the Continental Congress matters because the way a war is fought affects the outcomes; the choice to fight like a state means either losing or winning like a state.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/charles-lee-alternative-george-washington-youve-probably-never-heard
The Federal Reserve is Why the People are Unhappy
According to the University of Michigan’s latest Index of Consumer Sentiment, a record number of Americans have negative views of the economy. This is yet more evidence that the American people are dissatisfied with their economic condition.
Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/federal-reserve-why-people-are-unhappy
The Subjective Nature of Time: From Bergson to Mises
Time is a unique resource in economics because we cannot create more of it and are subject to its limitations. Ludwig von Mises and the Austrians understand the role of time in economic better than most other mainstream economists.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/subjective-nature-time-bergson-mises
The Great Disconnect: When Wealth and Productive Ability Diverge
Thanks to the Fed’s creation of asset bubbles, the US economy is producing many billionaires. However, the savvy entrepreneur is becoming increasingly scarce.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/great-disconnect-when-wealth-and-productive-ability-diverge
Economic Calculation and a Southern California Beach Girl
Can a communist system flourish under a liberal government? Bernie Sanders says yes, but Melanie Armstrong, author of Chicken in a Strange Way, gives a resounding no.
Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/economic-calculation-and-southern-california-beach-girl
Warsh’s Concerning Interest in Redefining “Inflation”
Although it's true that many government-driven price hikes in recent years aren’t “inflation” in the strict sense, the pain they cause is just as real. Warsh’s push to narrow what the Fed counts as inflation—so it can justify even more inflation—is alarming.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/warshs-concerning-interest-redefining-inflation
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https...
Trump’s Iran Predicament Is His Own Fault
Trump is trapped in a genuinely difficult situation as he tries to reach a deal with Iran. But it is a crisis of his own making. Also, the establishment figures now condemning him should not be allowed to pretend they had nothing to do with it.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-iran-predicament-his-own-fault
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podc...
