Audio Mises Wire

Many people are selling their gold to make ends meet. Others are buying gold as insurance against mounting price inflation.  Original Article: As the Dollar Falters, Gold Becomes Insurance, Not Speculation  

For most Americans, the debate is about what size the welfare state should be. But why is there a welfare state at all?  Original Article: Thinking Properly about Public Welfare  

Mainstream economists claim money has purchasing power because the government issuing the money has so declared. That makes no sense. Original Article: How Does Money in Our Possession Acquire Value?  

Despite statements from Biden and other progressives, profits in a market economy are not a form of plunder. Instead, they represent entrepreneurial gains that mostly benefit consumers. Original Article: Profit Is Not Plunder  

The decades of American and European intervention in Africa are coming to an end, and things are even worse for American interests there. Perhaps overthrowing governments and trying to dictate political outcomes wasn’t a good idea. Original Article: Blowback in the African Coup Belt  

In a recent symposium on Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty, philosopher Matt Zwolinski takes issue with Rothbard on Murray’s views of freedom and property rights. Original Article: Zwolinski Tries to Take Rothbard to the Mat  

While Austrian and feminist critiques of neoclassical economics have some similarities, they also differ strongly on important points. Feminist critiques are based upon what Mises called polylogism, while Austrian critiques are based upon praxeology. Original Article: Can There Be an Alliance between Austrian and Feminist Schools of Economics?  

In publicly opposing apartheid, William H. Hutt saw how legal segregation kept black South Africans from pursuing legitimate economic goals. To Hutt, apartheid deprived people of equality of economic opportunity, which kept them in poverty. Original Article: State Coercion and the Injustice of Apartheid  

Despite the accusations that Javier Milei is a fascist in libertarian clothes, many of his reforms have been successful in reversing some of the damage done to Argentina's economy by real fascists. Original Article: No, Milei Is Not a Fascist  

Somalia is a country invented by European intervention. The region known as Somaliland ought to be free to secede from this imperialist creation.  Original Article: Somaliland Needs Self-Determination  

Progressive historians, journalists, and politicians claim that the Industrial Revolution and the growth of industry brought poverty and exploitation to American workers. The truth is much different, even if it is rarely heard. Original Article: The American Labor Market: Fact vs. Fiction  

Congress claims to have targeted TikTok because China's government allegedly uses it to spy on Americans. Besides dealing with a nonexistent threat, the bill gives the federal government vast new powers to misuse. Original Article: The TikTok Ban Is the Next Patriot Act  

What better way to explain the relationship between higher-order and lower-order goods than with food? Here, we look at the falafel sandwich. Original Article: What Can Carl Menger Teach Us about Falafel Sandwiches?  

Progressives claim that profits are an unjust transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. In reality, entrepreneurs earn profits by directing resources from less valued to more valued uses to satisfy consumer needs. Original Article: Free-Market Profit Comes From Voluntary Exchange, not Exploitation  

In this review of Edward Chancellor’s The Price of Time, Joakim Book notes that a market economy cannot function correctly when central bankers manipulate interest rates. Original Article: Artificially Low Interest Rates Are Creating Economic Chaos    

Bolivia has been mired in poverty, hyperinflation, and state control of the economy for generations. It is time for a change, and the Alasitas Fair is leading the way. Original Article: How the “Informal” Economy Creates Free Markets in Bolivia    

On this day ninety-one years ago President Franklin D. Roosevelt via executive order seized gold legally held by Americans, criminalizing the use of sound money. Our economy and our nation has never recovered from this act. Original Article: Fixing FDR’s Biggest Blunder: From Gold Standard to Fiat Folly and Back  

According to a recent 60 Minutes broadcast, Russian agents are suspected of launching microwave rays at US diplomats abroad. The problem is that many of these stories are technologically implausible. Maybe skepticism is in order here. Original Article: Is “Havana Syndrome” Russian Aggression or Another Media Conspiracy Theory?  

A strategy for liberty must be both optimistic and realistic. Murray Rothbard understood that important point and laid out strategies and their moral justification. Original Article: An Optimistic Strategy for Liberty  

States know that treason and sedition laws are about much more than matters of law and order. They are essential components of enhancing state power.  Original Article: Abolish all Treason and Sedition Laws  

F.A. Hayek coined the term spontaneous order to point out that the prosperous societies are also societies where people are free to pursue their own goals. The result is, ironically, harmony that cannot come about through central state planning. Original Article: The Intellectual Humility of the Spontaneous Order

Government officials like to claim they are doing something about reducing poverty. The trouble is, of course, that what they are doing makes things worse. Here on Income Tax Day, we recommend that next time, they should do nothing. Original Article: The War on Poverty Makes Poverty Worse  

While these students are right to oppose the horrific Israeli attacks on Gaza, many of the protests reflect leftist groupthink and typical higher education collectivism. Original Article: What the Campus Protesters and Their Critics Get Right and Wrong    

Although mainstream economists hold that Adam Smith is the father of modern economics, it was Richard Cantillon that recognized the centrality of entrepreneurship in economic development.  Original Article: Creating Wealth: The Cantillon or the Smith Way    

Why have some Americans opposed this nation’s involvement in foreign wars? According to Jacob Heilbrunn of The National Interest, it is because those Americans love bloody dictators like Adolph Hitler. Order a free copy of Murray Rothbard's What Has Government Done to Our Money? at Mises.org/Money . Original Article: Opposing Military Intervention: Loving Dictators or Hating War?