Mises Wire

Mainstream economists believe that economic theory is valid when it “predicts” economic actions or trends. Austrian economists, however, say that the purpose of economic theory is to explain economic events.

Unsurprisingly, Javier Milei’s free-market and antistate initiatives face opposition in Argentina. Whether he is successful depends on his being able to politically outlast his collectivist opposition.

Individual rights originated in Western thinking. Today, it is the West that produces the ruling class that disdains individual rights and replaces them with collectivism.

Tom Woods has put his considerable skills to work exposing the dangers caused by the Federal Reserve System. George Ford Smith reviews his latest book that gives intellectual ammunition to his case.

People often stubbornly hold to false beliefs, one of them being that government regulation of driving prevents chaos. However, the opposite seems to be true: government involvement in anything, including driving a car, creates the chaos we claim we want to avoid.

A common knock on libertarianism is that it is so individualistic that it rejects the concept of community. (Think of the political cartoon in which the libertarian lifeguard let people drown.) In truth, strong communities also need free individuals.

The New York Times recently characterized House Republicans that voted to extend government domestic spying and continue to fund wars in the Middle East and Ukraine as “the adults in the room.” This is ironic, as real adults would not spend the country into oblivion. 

The only answer lies in eviscerating their budgets, abolishing their enabling legislation, and encouraging aggressive lawfare against the regime in retribution for these agencies' many crimes.

Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia turns fifty this year, and this libertarian classic has stood the test of time.

While conservatives and followers of Austrian economics often have much in common, many conservatives are against free trade and free exchange. Austrians need to carefully explain why those beliefs are harmful.