Audio Mises Wire
Audio recordings of Mises Wire articles, offering contemporary news and opinion through the lens of Austrian economics and libertarian political economy.
Rothbard and the American Revolution
As we celebrate the Centennial of the birth of Murray Rothbard, we look at his commentary on the American Revolution, where it promoted liberty and where the creation of the Constitution became liberty’s roadblock.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/rothbard-and-american-revolution
Operation Ajax (1953): The CIA’s Template—and Warnings for Today
The current US conflict with Iran has its roots in the CIA-backed coup in 1953, which removed a democratically-elected prime minister and replaced him with the Shah. The Shah’s government ultimately collapsed, leading to the current Islamic republic.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/operation-ajax-1953-cias-template-and-warnings-today
The Duke Lacrosse Case Exposed the Rot in Higher Education, the Media, and the Justice System
It has been 20 years since the Duke Lacrosse Case dominated the news media. It was a story in which false narratives of guilt pushed by corrupt police and prosecutors, radical members of Duke’s faculty, and the legacy media nearly railroaded three innocent men into prison.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/duke-lacrosse-case-exposed-rot-higher-education-media-and-justice-system
Rothbard and War
Those who believe in the free and unhampered market economy should be especially skeptical of war and military action. War, after all, is the ultimate government program.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/rothbard-and-war
The Iran War Exposes the Farce of American "Representative Democracy"
The current war is a timely reminder that the US ruling elites regard the US taxpayers and ordinary Americans as little more than inconvenient afterthoughts in US foreign policy.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/iran-war-exposes-farce-american-representative-democracy
War Guilt in the Middle East
Into the heart of the peasant and nomadic Arab world of the Middle East there came, on the backs and on the bayonets of British imperialism, a largely European colonizing people.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/war-guilt-middle-east
The Fight for Liberty and the Beltway Barbarians
Are we emphasizing “the negative”? In a sense, yes, but what else are we to stress when our values, our principles, our very being are under attack from a relentless foe?Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/fight-liberty-and-beltway-barbarians
Massachusetts 1690: The First Western Fiat Experiment
When the Massachusetts colony issued its own unredeemable paper money in 1690, it was with the promise that it would soon be redeemable in specie. Like all paper money issued by government, it lost value and the confidence of the people.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/massachusetts-1690-first-western-fiat-experiment
The Bill of Rights Against the States
We are told that the Bill of Rights is the bedrock of our freedom, yet this same Bill of Rights ultimately has been used as a weapon against state sovereignty and against our individual rights.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/bill-rights-against-states
In Defense of National Borders
The current outburst of protests against President Trump’s enforcement of immigration laws is overshadowing a question that is not being asked: Can we defend having national borders in the first place?Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/defense-national-borders
We Act in a World of Uncertainty, Not Probabilities
Human action involves people engaging in unique events in which outcomes often are uncertain, when expertise and planning often do not give us the results we anticipate.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/we-act-world-uncertainty-not-probabilities
Class Conflict, the Jacksonians, and Exploitation
In a truly free market, there is no class conflict. In the presence of the state, however, things are different because various groups jockey with each other to gain the favor of state agents.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/class-conflict-jacksonians-and-exploitation
Anarcho-Tyranny and the UK Grooming Gangs Scandal
The rise of the grooming gangs in Great Britain and the refusal of Britain’s Labor government to intervene speaks volumes about the contempt that British political elites have for their laws and the people who must live under a regime of anarcho-tyranny.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/anarcho-tyranny-and-uk-grooming-gangs-scandal
Rothbard and Eminent Domain: Confused History and Legal Sleight of Hand
Governments at all levels abuse their “privilege” of eminent domain, the taking of private property for government use. Murray Rothbard understood that government was not justified to seize property for such use in the first place.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/rothbard-and-eminent-domain-confused-history-and-legal-sleight-hand
Nock’s War on the State
Before Murray Rothbard, there was Albert Jay Nock laying intellectual broadsides against the tyranny of the state. While Nock (unlike Rothbard) never called for total abolishment of the state, he did want as minimal a state as could be had.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/nocks-war-state
The End of Artificial Employment
AI is not the killer—it is the coroner.Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/end-artificial-employment
Antebellum Federal Protections of Slavery
Unfortunately, slavery was not just propped up by policy in the slave states, but federally. It is often overlooked that the federal government—not just slave states—had implemented legal protections of slavery by policy for decades.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/antebellum-federal-protections-slavery
The Senate and the Loss of “Mixed Government”
Few Americans today realize that until the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913, US senators were appointed by their state legislatures, not by popular vote. This development had an unfortunate effect upon US politics, further damaging the original federalist governing arrangement.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/senate-and-loss-mixed-government
U.S. Actions Toward Cuba Are Criminal
Even though Cuba poses no threat to the U.S., the Trump administration continues its criminal policies of sanctions and other restrictions in an attempt to foist "regime change" on the country.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/us-actions-toward-cuba-are-criminal
Surviving Capitalism: The Scarcity Advantage
The story of Anil Ambani destroys the belief that capitalism automatically favors the rich and excludes the poor. Once a billionaire, he made a series of bad business choices and the market punished those choices. Capitalism favors good choices.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/surviving-capitalism-scarcity-advantage
Monetary Decay and Imperial Survival
The American empire—with its global military footprint and permanent war economy—cannot be financed through honest taxation without provoking revolt.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/monetary-decay-and-imperial-survival
Why Mises's The Theory of Money and Credit Is Still Important Today
Ludwig von Mises’s first major work was The Theory of Money and Credit in which he explained the role of money in the economy and also pointed out what causes the boom-bust cycle. It remains an important classic in Austrian economics.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-misess-theory-money-and-credit-still-important-today
Why We Should Repeal the Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act, first passed in 1964, is falsely connected with freedom. In reality, this law severely restricts individual liberty and replaces it with coercive government acts.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-we-should-repeal-civil-rights-act
A Brief History of the Petite Bourgeoisie
From the Jacksonians to the Marxists, political theorists have understood that there is something unique about "small industry" between big business and propertyless workers. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/brief-history-petite-bourgeoisie
Olaudah Equiano’s Manumission: Regulatory Barriers to Freedom
If one man may legally own another, then he should likewise have the right to disown this property. To deny this right by law involves simultaneously affirming the right of one human to own another as his property but not the right to stop owning another human.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/olaudah-equianos-manumission-regulatory-barriers-freedom
The Turmoil at the Washington Post Does Not “Threaten” Democracy
Pundits are claiming that the demise of the Washington Post will weaken democracy and provide a boost for government corruption. As usual, the pundits are badly mistaken.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/turmoil-washington-post-does-not-threaten-democracy
The European Union Now Resembles the Soviet Union
The similarities between the EU and the USSR are striking, and they are not just a coincidence. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/european-union-now-resembles-soviet-union
Are Government Services Underfunded?
Statists love to claim that government services would be better if only they were “fully funded.” However, given their nature, government services always will be seen as “underfunded” no matter how much money politicians throw at them.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/are-government-services-underfunded
Trump’s Assault on Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Is it illegal to carry a gun to a demonstration against ICE? According to the Trump Administration, it is. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-assault-our-right-keep-and-bear-arms
The Challenge of Distinguishing History from Fiction
What happens when historical fiction becomes a more accurate portrayal than the version of history given by mainstream historians?Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/challenge-distinguishing-history-fiction
Calls for “Unity” Help the Federal Government Seize More Power
In the United States, since no state is allowed to ever leave, or to even control its own borders. This will lead to more centralized political power in every way.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/calls-unity-help-federal-government-seize-more-power
History Is Not a Mathematical Calculation
Understanding history is not about understanding formulas or narratives. Instead, we must understand the people who made history, their motives, and their goals.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/history-not-mathematical-calculation
Stop Fighting Your Neighbor: The Mechanics of State Power and How to Opt Out
The modern state doesn’t get its power from the consent of the governed. Instead, it creates crises and then uses coercion to demand obedience.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/stop-fighting-your-neighbor-mechanics-state-power-and-how-opt-out
Machiavelli Is Dead: Why Politics Without Property Rights, Rules, and Moral Limits Cannot Work
Modern political economy is based upon a Machiavellian belief in might makes right. Yet, political power cannot accomplish what free markets and private property rights have done in lifting billions of people out of poverty.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/machiavelli-dead-why-politics-without-property-rights-rules-and-moral-limits-cannot-work
The Ruthlessness and Brutality of the US Government
From time to time, the American people need to be reminded who is the boss. The boss is the US government. The citizenry are the serfs, the servants, the subordinates.Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/ruthlessness-and-brutality-us-government
Trump, Immigration, and ICE
Restoring the rule of law and Constitutional government on immigration—something wrecked by Trump's rule-by-decree with federal agents—is vastly more important than expelling illegal immigrants.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-immigration-and-ice
Why America's Two-Party System Will Never Threaten the True Political Elites
The fact  that the Republican and Democratic parties are allowed to circulate into key positions of government is proof enough that they are no threat to the true governing elites.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-americas-two-party-system-will-never-threaten-true-political-elites
The Idiocracy that Is California Politics
If California voters and politicians do not understand the current crisis, we will see the continuous march to perdition as California politicians refuse to acknowledge that they are killing the geese laying the golden eggs.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/idiocracy-california-politics
A Positive View of Sectional History
In most nations of any size, sectionalism is almost inevitable. How nations handle such divisions, historian Frank L. Owsley, determines if sectionalism is peaceful or becomes violent. It became violent in the US in 1861.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/positive-view-sectional-history
Why “Affordability” Is the Wrong Term to Describe Effects of Inflation
Politicians are touting “affordability” to describe the current regime of rising prices. However, most lawmakers who claim they are trying to make things more affordable demand policies that make things more costly.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-affordability-wrong-term-describe-effects-inflation