Audio Mises Wire

A common complaint is that the 1964 Civil Rights Act started in the “right direction,” valuing so-called equality of opportunity, but then went off the rails with “equality of result.” In truth, the act cannot be reconciled with a libertarian society. Original Article: The “Equality of Opportunity” Fallacy  

The current explosion in rental and home prices is the direct result of government intervention aimed at making it easier to buy a house. Mises wrote that government intervention into the market tends to make things worse. He was right. Original Article: It All Began When the Government Tried to Make Housing More Affordable  

Environmentalists insist on banning fossil fuels and refrigerant gasses in order to end heat waves. That means people will face future heat waves (which will always be with us) without air conditioning, bringing even more heat-related deaths. Original Article: Banning Fossil Fuels Will Make Heat Waves More Dangerous, Not Less

What began as supposedly a free trade union has been turning into an authoritarian, interventionist nightmare. A recent speech by a top European Union commissioner shows the sad direction the EU is heading. Original Article: Draghi’s Globalist EU Speech Urges Concentration of Power

Contrary to Milton Friedman’s thesis that the decline in the money supply caused the Great Depression, the real reason was the collapse of real savings, which was due to loose monetary policies by the Federal Reserve. Original Article: The Collapse of Real Savings Caused the Great Depression

Even as the Federal Reserve continues to manipulate interest rates to “fight” the results of the business cycle, Austrian economics teaches that business cycles occur because of the manipulation. They never learn. Original Article: The Impact of Interest Rates on Economic Growth: An Austrian Perspective

While President Biden’s inflationary economy continues to falter, the president proposes to outlaw bank overdraft fees, ostensibly to help lower-income Americans. Bank fees, however, are not the biggest threat consumers face; inflation and intervention are the real threats. Original Article: Biden’s Blarney on Bank Fees

Stephanie Kelton, the most visible promoter of MMT, is being derelict in her academic duties by not replying to Per Bylund’s critique of her theories in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Original Article: Is Stephanie Kelton Failing Her Academic Responsibility?  

Caitlin Clark, with her array of basketball skills, has filled arenas in her inaugural WNBA season. However, the idea of merit clashes with the leftist, egalitarian mindset that dominates in the league, and the early reaction to her success has been discouraging. Original Article: Caitlin Clark, Bullying and the Business of Basketball      

The expansion of "civil rights" places emphasis upon "positive rights" that apply to specific groups with political privilege. This is a far cry from the concept of rights that helped build a free society in the United States. Original Article: Phony Civil Rights   

The US and Iran have been mortal enemies since 1979. It is clear that the belligerent approach to dealing with Iran has failed. We need to engage policies that promote peace, not warfare. Original Article: The 45-Year-Old Cold War with Iran Is a Failure. It’s Time for a New Approach  

Lysander Spooner was one of this country’s most important libertarians. His views on economics, while flawed, are free market in principle and have some insights Austrians can appreciate. Original Article: Lysander Spooner’s Flawed War on Poverty  

The tainted blood scandal in the UK should be a warning to people about the dangers of the National Health Service. Instead, we hear endless promises of reform that never will happen. Original Article: The UK Blood Scandal Exposes British Elites  

Philosopher Harry Frankfurt definitely was not a product of modern academe, where wokeness and outright humbug rule. He understood that the equal-outcomes portion of DEI was neither possible nor desirable. Original Article: Harry Frankfurt, Humbug, and the Battle against Wokery  

Is charity a right held by everyone or should charity be confined to private, voluntary action within a free market? David Gordon argues for the latter. Original Article: What Price Charity?  

President Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme is really Robin Hood in reverse, transferring wealth from people from lower-income groups to those who are relatively affluent. Original Article: Joe Biden’s Reverse Robin Hood Student Debt Cancellation  

What does the state do when in a financial fix? Unlike the rest of us, it legally counterfeits. By so doing, it transfers wealth to those who are politically connected—and then lies about it. Original Article: The State’s Best-Kept Secret  

Commercial real estate in the USA is facing a major crisis which could not have been possible without the enabling of the Fed and the draconian restrictions imposed during covid. As commercial real estate prices collapse, the usual suspects call for even more bailouts. Original Article: How Washington and the Fed Caused the Commercial Real Estate Crisis  

The abolition of chattel slavery was a great advancement for human liberty. But many of those celebrating Juneteenth today still accept the core assumptions that underlie slavery. Original Article: The Problem with Juneteenth  

Murray Rothbard noted that the culture wars are not the result of conservative intransigence but rather of progressive elites’ insistence on forcing new cultural rules on people who don’t want to be coerced. Original Article: Resisting the Brave New Culture  

As if the government has not done enough destruction in the housing market, there now is a scheme to have the government nationalize second mortgages. Given the previous disaster with primary mortgages, we do not anxiously await the outcome of this proposal. Original Article: The State Wants to Nationalize Second Mortgages. What Possibly Can Go Wrong?  

In its attempt to claim that the concept of free trade is full of fallacies, The American Compass builds its anti-free trade case upon...fallacies. Original Article: The Fallacies of Conservative Protectionists  

The socialist elites that dominate our institutions insist that private property is nothing more than a social construct held together by violence. As usual, they misunderstand that scarcity itself, which is the basis for economics, is also the basis for private property. Original Article: Private Property Comes from Scarcity, Not Law  

The decolonization movement seeks to destroy both economics and science, all in the name of social justice. In the end, however, what they get is not justice and certainly not order, but rather chaos, and deadly chaos at that. Original Article: Decolonizers’ Assault on Science  

As AI continues to develop, the prophets of doom claim that it will “take over” and create a dystopian society. Far from being an “existential threat,” AI is a tool that can be used for good or ill. Original Article: AI: “Existential Crisis” or Excuse for Cronyism?