Spoken Mises

Most people, despite their aversion for war, are not pacifists. If they have been attacked, they will fight back; and, once battle is joined, matters usually get out of hand. This gives the political leaders their opportunity. They have only to provoke an enemy into an attack. By doing so, they will be able to rally their nation to "defend" against an assault they have themselves instigated.

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Provoking War (2.93 MB)

In a recent column, Paul Krugman tries to explain the "Bush bust." Instead of clear, cogent economic theory, we are fed a mass of contradictory ideas, a bit of political partisanship, and explanations that simply make no sense. Austrian economists hold that there are certain principles which can be understood and which are based upon immutable laws of human action. Unfortunately, in Krugman's world, events happen with no real explanation.

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Booms, Busts, and "Krugpot" Economics (2.29 MB)

Hazlitt once pointed out that the good ideas in economics have to be relearned every generation, and indeed it seems that a disaster cannot pass without common economic fallacies rearing their ugly heads. The broken-window fallacy seems to reappear every time terrorism or a natural disaster causes mayhem and destruction. Do we have to compound the misery by ignoring one of the most basic lessons economics has to teach us?

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Broken Glass Everywhere (1.64 MB)

There are many strong arguments for opening up ANWR but here is the strongest: because of its impact on oil prices in the future, relaxing federal prohibitions would cause current oil producers to change their pumping decisions right now. Even though the additional barrels from ANWR wouldn't physically hit the market for years, current knowledge of this fact will alter current behavior, leading to rapid relief at the pump.

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ANWR Drilling Would Provide Quick Relief (1.74 MB)

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The Seen, the Unseen, and the Hidden Costs of Statism (1.10 MB)

There are many aspects of government. The one least considered is what may be called the biological aspect, in which government is like an organism with such an instinct for growth and self-expression that if let alone it is bound to destroy human freedom — not that it might wish to do so but that it could not in nature do less. No government ever wants less government — that is, less of itself. No government ever surrenders power, even its emergency powers — not really.

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Insatiable Government (6.56 MB)

Insofar as austerity has been imposed on the whole British people, it consists in refusing to permit either consumers or producers freedom of choice. The consumer is not free to spend his money on things he himself wants but only on things government officials think are good for him. The producer is not free to make what he wishes but only what government officials think is good for the country.

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England vs. the Price System (1,020.00 KB)

A debate has been raging for some time among those in the finance industry about whether the United States is currently experiencing inflation, deflation, stagflation, reflation, hyperinflation, or maybe even some other sort of "-flation" that only Dr. Seuss could imagine. Given the confusion, this article will add some color to the debate by offering usable definitions of the terms inflation and deflation and then attempt to show what is occurring in today's economy.

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Inflation Deflation Red-flation Blue-flation (3.34 MB)

Anyone who peruses the top mainstream economics journals will quickly realize that economic theory has been crowded out by mathematical formalism. The neoclassical economists' uncompromising quest for precision in their models has been achieved at the expense of the accuracy of their predictions. The old joke of the drunk searching for his keys near the streetlight is an appropriate metaphor.

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Austrian Realists (1.98 MB)

Far less than 10% of the world's oil reserves are in countries that allow private companies to operate freely. This means that the latter and, through them, consumers, are denied access to far more than 90% of the world's oil reserves. State-owned companies control more than 65% of the world's oil reserves — e.g., in Saudi Arabia. As for the 25% left, they are mainly situated in countries such as Iran, Russia, Venezuela, etc., where, because of above-ground political factors, private Western companies have the greatest difficulties working efficiently — as demonstrated by BP's recent problems in Russia.

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"Let the Market Solve the Energy Crisis" (1.52 MB)