Audio Mises Wire

The dystopian futuristic movie Elysium portrays a terrible future in which only the rich have medical care while the poor suffer on an overpopulated, polluted planet. The film’s theme—that only huge wealth transfers can bring medical care to low-income people—is fundamentally flawed. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/dystopia-misdiagnosed-how-rich-drive-health-innovation

If Hobbes is right about human nature, then he is wrong about the state as a solution. Ironically, his key arguments for the state are actually key reasons against it. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/hobbess-accidental-case-against-state

While giddy socialists are proclaiming that Zohran Mamdani's electoral victory is the beginning of a socialist takeover of the U.S., the Democratic Socialists of America have a long way before they can complete their stated mission. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/election-mamdani-what-it-means-and-what-it-doesnt-mean

When studying praxeology, something as trivial as the recipe for chocolate cake can become a way to better teach us Austrian economics. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/recipes-rothbard-what-chocolate-cake-can-teach-about-economics

Murray Rothbard’s view of the origins of World War II has an important lesson for us today. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/murray-rothbard-and-world-war-ii-origins

Henry Hazlett wrote in Economics in One Lesson that each generation has to relearn economic fallacies that government employs when implementing bad policies. New Yorkers are about to learn a lot of new lessons. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/all-means-elect-mamdani-and-watch-his-socialist-laboratory-work

Trump's team is citing the fentanyl crisis to justify its escalations near Venezuela. But virtually all illicit fentanyl is made and smuggled thousands of miles away. If war or regime change in Venezuela is good for the American people, why hide the true motivations? Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-administration-lying-us-another-war

The food stamp program is a way for Pepsico and the Coca-Cola company to legally rip off the taxpayers. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-food-industry-lobbyists-keep-food-stamp-gravy-train-going

For more than 60 years, the US government has enforced a trade embargo against Cuba, ostensibly to force the communist government into collapse. The only thing that has collapsed, however, is the logic in the US policy. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/brief-history-enduring-american-embargo-against-cuba

September’s fiscal surplus was not thanks to tariff revenue. In truth, it was thanks to Americans paying more in income tax. Tariffs were only 5.7 percent of revenue. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/no-tariffs-did-not-cause-septembers-budget-surplus

Despite the change in the White House, critical race theory is still with us, dominating the academic sectors and being ingrained in progressive culture. We need to better recognize what it is and how it works in order to better refute it. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-recognize-critical-race-theory

No one doubts that the US is a politically and culturally divided nation. Contrary to much of public opinion, politicians like Donald Trump did not cause the crisis. Instead, as Lawrence Mead writes, they are a symptom of the government's assault on our culture. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/recognizing-roots-current-us-political-turmoil

As a true market entrepreneur, as opposed to a political entrepreneur, James J. Hill successfully built a transcontinental railroad, outcompeting his government-subsidized competitors. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/myth-robber-barons-james-hill-versus-crony-competitors

Once again, the Trump administration’s “dealmaking” on international trade has blown up, this time pulling the rug from under US soybean farmers. This isn’t the first trade policy fiasco, nor will it be the last. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/america-hurts-farmers-and-discounts-chinas-soy-imports-while-providing-crutch-argentina

The concept of “planned obsolescence” makes no economic sense and is often an excuse for governments to harass and shake down innovative entrepreneurs. Much of so-called planned obsolescence is really entrepreneurship at work improving products for users and consumers. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/myth-planned-obsolescence

“I see that you are preparing the groundwork for supporting Nixon,” Rothbard wrote Meyer. “Again, for shame! Is this what conservative principles are coming down to...?"Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/new-rothbard-letters-show-his-early-opposition-both-nixon-and-reagan

There have been four gold busts under the fiat dollar money regimes since the “freeing” of the gold price in March 1968. Will the current gold boom end in a similar bust? Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/what-will-next-gold-bust-look

The US Constitution as originally written and understood no longer exists. The first wave of “progressives” reinterpreted it to their liking before later generations of progressives finished the job. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-progressives-broke-constitution-and-praised-themselves-it

Popular views of capitalism and free markets are not shaped by the facts, but rather by anti-capitalist intellectuals and the media. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/popular-media-romanticism-and-statist-insinuation

The yearning for a state-controlled system is not born of compassion for others but rather of infantile selfishness. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/economics-and-infantilization-culture

“Science” is now indistinguishable from politics. As the “acid rain” hysteria showed back in the 1970s and 1980s, “follow the science” is just a political slogan, unrelated to actual science. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/acid-rain-scare-and-science-industrial-complex

Once upon a time, American firms built with the long term in view, and the government did not try to hinder them. Today, thanks to reckless federal government spending, we are living hand-to-mouth, accumulating massive debts, and soon enough will be broke. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/going-broke

“The Civil War was really the watershed,” he wrote Meyer. “Lincoln was America’s first dictator, and almost all the Republican Acts were monstrous.”Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/letters-frank-meyer-reveal-rothbards-views-lincoln-slavery-and-popular-sovereignty

The recent assassination of Charlie Kirk has focused attention on political violence. Ludwig von Mises, not surprisingly, understood that tying morality to politicized state helps create the climate where political violence is prevalent. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/mises-separating-morality-and-state

During the Middle Ages, taxation was considered to be appropriate only as an extreme measure in times of emergency, and as a last resort. Kings were expected to subsist on revenues from their own private property. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-taxes-were-so-hated-middle-ages