Guns and Butter
Weekly commentary by Connor O’Keeffe, examining some of the biggest stories in the news through an Austro-libertarian lens.
Iran, the Midterms, and the Myth of Government by the People
Trump’s apparent willingness to restart his unpopular war with Iran after next week’s elections reveals a fundamental problem with modern mass democracy. And, in doing so, it helps clarify how public opinion actually affects government.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/iran-midterms-and-myth-government-people
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of War Collectivism: Power, Business, and the Intellectual Class in World War I through November 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
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Trump Is Right to Lift Diesel Sanctions on Russia. He Should Go Further
Lifting sanctions on Russian diesel may provide Americans a little relief from high energy prices. The same economic logic applies to the thousands of other sanctions Washington continues to enforce.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-right-lift-diesel-sanctions-russia-he-should-go-further
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy through October 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The Invisible Heroes of Our Tradition
We often remember the thinkers who defended liberty when its prospects looked bleak, and for good reason. But we should also remember the people who supported them and made their work possible without knowing what would follow.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/invisible-heroes-our-tradition
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy through October 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Why Our “Populist Moment” Keeps Failing
Populists have spent the past decade rebelling against a political system they correctly recognize as rigged. But they keep focusing on its surface-level symptoms while ignoring the institution at its center.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-our-populist-moment-keeps-failing
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy through October 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The Politics of Faking Success
Trump showed how effective it can be to simply declare success and let supporters believe it. Other politicians are taking notes, even as the problems they all pretend to have addressed continue to grow.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/politics-faking-success
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Why the AI CEOs Really Want to Be Regulated
The top AI CEOs aren't acting like they genuinely believe their technology will soon cause human extinction. But they are acting like the successful cartelizers of history, who recognized that state power is the best way to protect market dominance.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-ai-ceos-really-want-be-regulated
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mise...
How Neoliberals Fueled the Rise of Socialism
The neoliberal establishment has done much to define our highly-interventionist, inflationary, and crony system as true free-market capitalism. They shouldn’t be surprised, therefore, that people are turning against it.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-neoliberals-fueled-rise-socialism
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Profiting from Government Didn’t Begin with Trump
Trump has made his family billions by courting foreign and corporate money and accepting extravagant gifts while in office. But he didn’t bring self-enrichment to Washington, he simply made it much harder to ignore.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/profiting-government-didnt-begin-trump
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The Flock Camera Backlash Is a Very Good Sign
The backlash against automated license plate readers is not really about traffic cameras. It is about a public that no longer assumes the people in charge are acting in good faith.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/flock-camera-backlash-very-good-sign
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
5 Things Anthony Fauci Teaches Us About the American Government
Fauci is back in the limelight after the release of his diary before a Senate hearing last week. And that’s good, because the career of Anthony Fauci can teach us a lot about where power actually resides in America and how our system really works.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/what-anthony-fauci-teaches-us-about-american-government
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Gu...
Is This Country Having Its Socialist Moment?
Democratic socialist candidates are becoming a serious political challenge in Democratic Party primaries. Have Americans suddenly become convinced by the arguments in favor of command economies, or is there something deeper going on?
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/country-having-its-socialist-moment
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Origins of the Federal Reserve through July 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Greenspan Was The Perfect Fed Chair. That Is Not a Compliment
The Fed Chair’s job isn’t to stabilize the economy. It’s to use prestige, technical jargon, and mind-numbing dullness to cover for the central bank’s expropriation of the American people. And Alan Greenspan excelled at that.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/greenspan-was-perfect-fed-chair-not-compliment
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
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
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...
A Rothbardian Case Against Bad Data Center Policy
AI has created enormous demand for new data centers, and many communities do not want them nearby. The Rothbardian answer is not blanket permission or blanket prohibition, but a property-rights framework and the return of market forces that government policy has largely displaced.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/rothbardian-case-against-bad-data-center-policy
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Anatomy of the State through May 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at http...
Progressives and Conservatives Are Wrong About Taxing the Rich
Both progressives and conservatives show a complete unwillingness or inability to distinguish between those who got rich by genuinely creating value by serving others and those who are getting rich by expropriating wealth through force.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/progressives-and-conservatives-are-wrong-about-taxing-rich
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Anatomy of the State through May 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
How Antitrust Populists Drove Spirit Airlines Out of Business
Antitrust populists claimed blocking the Spirit–JetBlue merger would protect competition and consumers. But their effort led to an intervention that strengthened the very oligopoly they set out to fight.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-antitrust-populists-drove-spirit-airlines-out-business
2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Anatomy of the State through May 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebook
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The American People Should Not Be Forced to Fund Israel’s Atrocities
This Tax Day, as the American public reflects on what our government is using our money for, there is growing opposition to the behavior of the Israeli government. Yet we’re all still forced to send it some of our hard-earned tax dollars. Enough.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/american-people-should-not-be-forced-fund-israels-atrocities
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The Economic Destruction of Trump’s War Goes Far Beyond High Gas Prices
This war is not just making energy more expensive, it’s knocking out the higher order goods the global structure of production depends on. This has already locked in dangerous shortages in critical industries like healthcare, food production, and much more.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/economic-destruction-trumps-war-goes-far-beyond-high-gas-prices
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Our Problem Isn’t Kings; It’s the Presidency
To call Trump’s actions king-like is to greatly understate the problem. What we actually face is a massive, self-amplifying executive branch that makes deranged presidents far more dangerous than an actual king could ever be.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/our-problem-isnt-kings-its-presidency
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The Immorality of Trump’s War with Iran Matters
Anyone who cares about American greatness must also refuse to allow us to become the kind of society that shrugs off the crimes our government commits in our name and with our money.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/immorality-trumps-war-iran-matters
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
No, We Cannot “Afford” This War with Iran Either
Leftists sarcastically asking where the money for this war will come from are right about the GOP’s hypocrisy, but wrong to imply that it actually means there's plenty to spend on all these government programs. We can’t afford any of this.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/no-we-cannot-afford-war-iran-either
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Launching a War on Iran Was No Act of Courage
As recent history shows, there are few things more courageous for a president to do than face down the ever-accelerating, wealth-draining, conflict-amplifying warfare state in DC. Trump has decided to go in the opposite direction.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/launching-war-iran-was-no-act-courage
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Trump’s War with Iran Is Even More of a Disaster than People Realize
The problem with this new campaign in Iran is not merely that it will likely have bad near-term consequences, but that it represents the American government doubling down on the imperial project that is causing our accelerating national crisis.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-war-iran-even-more-disaster-people-realize
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Trump’s Iran Buildup Is Based on a Lie
If the Iranian regime were truly trying to sacrifice their entire country to commit a nation-level nuclear murder-suicide against Israel and the US, they would be acting very differently.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-iran-buildup-based-lie
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Voter ID is Common Sense, But it Won’t Fix Anything
While the Voter ID debate consumes the airwaves with political debate, the real issue is not who is elected, but the unelected elites that hold power. Even if Voter ID passes, the new law will not change the real structure of power.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/voter-id-common-sense-it-wont-fix-anything
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
People Are Not Upset Enough About the End of New START
The administration dismissed concerns about the last nuclear treaty between the US and Russia formally expiring last week. But even if this isn’t an exceptionally dangerous moment in itself, the end of New START reflects an incredibly disturbing trend.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/people-are-not-upset-enough-about-end-new-start
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Everyone Agrees Our Elites Are Terrible, So Why Are We Stuck with Them?
The latest release of Epstein files again highlighted how disgusted and frustrated people have grown with the current elites. Yet they remain essentially untouchable. Why?
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/everyone-agrees-our-elites-are-terrible-so-why-are-we-stuck-them
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Trump’s Embrace of Economic Leftism Will Destroy the Legacy He’s Desperately Trying to Build
Trump is clearly focused on building a legacy in his second term with his domestic vanity projects and dramatic foreign interventions. But his actual legacy is shaping up to be defined by his lack of progress on affordability.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-embrace-economic-leftism-will-destroy-legacy-hes-desperately-trying-build
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Greenland: Trump’s Folly
Even hawkish foreign policy scholars admit that changing the US security setup in Greenland is unnecessary. Its supply of raw materials is also nothing special. There isn’t even a ton of money to be made for crony companies. This is purely about Trump’s ego, and it will cost taxpayers a lot.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/greenland-trumps-folly
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
The Central Banking Establishment Is Genuinely Worried About Trump, but Not for the Reasons They Say
Central bankers are not afraid Trump will “politicize” the Fed and turn it into a crony arm of the government that warps the economy to benefit those close to power. They’re afraid his blind inflationism and lack of subtlety will make it impossible to hide the fact that it already is.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/central-banking-establishment-genuinely-worried-about-trump-not-reasons-they-say
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
There Are No Good Outcomes in Trump’s Latest Attempt at Regime Change in Venezuela
The Trump administration wants Americans to believe that this latest intervention into Venezuela was a quick and definitive success. But, given enough time, there is essentially no way this can go well.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/there-are-no-good-outcomes-trumps-latest-attempt-regime-change-venezuela
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
What Happened to Climate Change?
Only a couple years ago, climate change was a major political issue. Now it’s strangely absent from public discourse. Why did this happen? Because, at least for now, it stopped being the most useful way for elites to justify their power grabs.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/what-happened-climate-change
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Obamacare Was Not a Failure
As Congress scrambles to extend emergency subsidies to keep Obamacare afloat, it can be tempting to view the bill that made healthcare less affordable as a total failure. But that wasn’t the true purpose of the ACA. It was always meant to prop up the faltering crony healthcare system.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/obamacare-was-not-failure
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
How to Actually Solve the Affordability Crisis
Politicians in both parties are promising to address the affordability crisis. But neither is focusing on, or even discussing, the true causes. Here’s what they are and how to fix them.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-actually-solve-affordability-crisis
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
50-Year Mortgages Won’t Make Housing More Affordable
President Trump has proposed a 50-year mortgage for new homebuyers, ostensibly to make housing more affordable. Actually, this financial instrument will make housing more costly and do nothing to address the root of this entire problem: the artificial housing shortage.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/50-year-mortgages-wont-make-housing-more-affordable
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Trump’s Tariff Power Grab
The justices that Trump appointed to the Supreme Court have shown a recent intolerance for the kinds of semantic leaps his administration is relying on to justify its tariffs. Will they remain consistent or fall in line behind the president?
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-tariff-power-grab
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
We Have Not Properly Reckoned with the Economic Insanity of 2020
The governmental response to the covid pandemic was to cripple the economy. To compensate for the damage, the Federal Reserve unleashed massive inflation in an attempt to do what the Fed always does in a crisis: bail out the economic actors.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/we-have-not-properly-reckoned-economic-insanity-2020
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
Is Bari Weiss at CBS a New Direction or a Misdirection?
Bari Weiss’s appointment to head CBS News has brought cries of anguish from the usual suspects on the left and approval from some on the right. But will she really bring the kind of change that will challenge the political establishment? Probably not.
Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/bari-weiss-cbs-new-direction-or-misdirection
Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB
