Spoken Mises

The performance of the US economy in the 20th century owes much to the predominant role of the US dollar in the international monetary system, and a large part of attaining this role was the result of the political and military supremacy that the United States had gained after World War I. However, Antony Mueller argues that in a world where the economic strength of the United States is diminishing relative to other countries and regions, there will be less and less of a place for US dollar privilege.

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Dollars and Politics (2.62 MB)

Recently, several commentators have condemned price gouging in New Orleans as if they were reporting an inherently unjust practice that no reasonable person would accept. So, once again, writes Angelo Mike, it needs explaining why price gouging is not only not bad, but is essential to the welfare of everyone involved. Without it, people don't get the essential goods they need after disasters. Free markets here are humane and necessary.

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"Price Gouging" Is Essential and Humane (1.39 MB)

One of the major problems experienced by the Fox show's gaggle of bureaucrats is whether or not to ignore liberty in exchange for the capture of terrorists, write Matt McCaffrey. "The common good" is a phrase constantly invoked (as it is in America today) by these characters, whose violations of personal liberty include, but are certainly not limited to, illegal searches, theft, kidnapping, destruction of property, and torture. The show calls to mind the brilliant propaganda films of Leni Riefenstahl.

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The Orwellian Ideology of 24 (1.21 MB)

The early British factory system may be said to have been the most obvious feature of the Industrial Revolution. W.H. Hutt writes that there has been a general tendency to exaggerate the "evils" which characterized the factory system before the abandonment of laissez faire. Also, factory legislation was not essential to the ultimate disappearance of those "evils." Conditions which modern standards would condemn were then common to the community as a whole, and legislation not only brought with it other disadvantages, not readily apparent in the complex changes of the time, but also served to obscure and hamper more natural and desirable remedies.

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The Factory System of the Early Nineteenth Century (8.77 MB)

Bernanke's failure to pin himself down to a firm definition of exactly what he means when referring to the gold standard leaves his writing flawed from a scientific standpoint, says Cyd Malone. Science requires exactitude, consistency, and clarity; all are inseparable from its very nature. Science defines its terms clearly and sticks to them — if you can't do that then it isn't science. The gold standard is the essay's whipping boy, its harmful effects his main warning, yet like "enemy combatant" it is loosely defined, at best.

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Lost In Translation (3.56 MB)

Jamaica is a nation where Jim Fedako's students believed the solution to the country's ills was to "ask for more money from President Bush." Jim knew better. US aid rarely makes it to a small school in the countryside. There were too many dollar-hungry bureaucrats driving late-model Fords circling the government agencies and NGOs of the capital, Kingston, to allow much money to escape their grasps. And, it would not have mattered even if some money filtered through; the money always went for the PC when it was bicycle repairs that were needed. Mises long ago explained this inability for central planners to lead an economy in any direction other than down Chaos Avenue.

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Does the Third World Need More Laptops? (1.37 MB)

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If the State Falls, Does Society Crumble? (1.34 MB)

Social security schemes around the developed world are facing a major crisis due to greater longevity, declining retirement ages and — lo and behold — below-replacement fertility rates, writes Oskari Juurikkala. Unfortunately, low fertility rates do not merely hasten the insolvency of public pay-as-you-go schemes, but lack of offspring also implies the decline of centuries-old nations. What has social security got to do with fertility rates? Actually, a lot.

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Making Kids Worthless: Social Security's Contribution to the Fertility Crisis (2.71 MB)

We've often heard that monetarists and Austrians agree that the government is to blame for the Great Depression. A deeper look, says Mateusz Machaj, shows that this is nothing but empty rhetoric. Here he debunks the popular view that Milton Friedman proved that the Great Depression was not a market failure and that Friedman made a very strong argument against interventionism.

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Friedman for Government Intervention: The Case of the Great Depression (1.56 MB)

The man on the street passionately believes that we ought to sell more stuff to foreigners than we buy from them, writes Robert Murphy. But he also believes quite strongly that it's good if foreign companies build factories here, rather than Americans exporting capital abroad. So when we free market economists point out that the two positions are mutually exclusive, that at least causes the protectionist to scratch his head. Remember: a positive trade deficit must yield a positive capital account surplus, i.e., a net inflow of foreign investment in US assets.

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Isn't the Capital Surplus a Good Thing? (2.67 MB)