Total public debt reached $34,001,493,655,565.48 at the end of 2023, with over $2.5 trillion added since the end of 2022. The U.S. Treasury reported $6.1 trillion in outlays, but only $4.4 trillion in receipts for the 2023 fiscal year, resulting in a deficit of almost $1.7 trillion. Figure 1: Cumulative receipts and outlays of the U.S. government
About a month ago, I called out Paul Krugman for blaming economic pessimism on Republicans. He compared the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index to what he sees as a “surreally good” economy and came to the conclusion that the survey respondents must be warped by partisanship. Instead of honestly reporting about their views about the
Jonathan Weil at the Wall Street Journal reports that Republic First Bancorp (not to be confused with First Republic Bank, which failed earlier this year) is in trouble . It is suffering the same kinds of problems that sank Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank in March 2023. What’s funny is that even though Republic First
Last year, Joseph Salerno cautioned against the use of year-over-year CPI inflation rate calculations . This way of calculating the annual inflation rate is backward looking, because the most recent monthly rate is heavily outweighed by the previous eleven months’ rates. In contrast, calculating the annual inflation rate by compounding and
Having trouble finding an old Mises Wire article? It appears that Google has demoted and delisted Mises.org content, especially if it is over two years old. For example, try finding Ryan McMaken’s 2016 article, “ Has the CIA been Politicized? ” with a Google search. You will probably find webpages that have reprinted the article, and you may see
Kudos to Emre Kuvvet for acquiring the Fed’s mythical “Doomsday Book” by FOIA request and sharing it. Emre published a short article on it in the WSJ today, and he has a longer article coming in the Spring 2024 issue of the Independent Review . It’s “an internal document used to guide the Federal Reserve’s actions during emergencies.” It is mainly
Everybody is dunking on Paul Krugman’s latest column , “Beware Economists Who Won’t Admit They Were Wrong,” and rightfully so. He is frequently tricky and slippery (and terribly out of touch). This column is no exception. Krugman is sticking to the rhetorical move that was aptly exposed by Bob Murphy months ago: Krugman begins by declaring
Reports from Harvard and Yale reveal that about 80% of students at both institutions receive As, with mean GPAs reaching 3.7 at Yale and 3.8 at Harvard. This is a trend that has stretched across decades and across higher education in general. While there was a large jump in the proportion of A grades in 2020, grade inflation has been occurring for
The Babylon Bee advertises itself as “Fake news you can trust.” The outlet produces the best satirical news, and this is especially true ever since big Democrat donors acquired large stakes in The Onion and turned it into the comedic equivalent of FDA-approved fiber cereal. At least it keeps us regular ly updated on the fact that The Left Can’t
We all strive for satisfaction and purpose in our lives. We want to do what we love, love what we do, and do it well enough to pay bills and buy groceries. The Japanese have a word for this “sweet spot”: Ikigai, which translates to “a reason for being”. Artists have rendered the overlapping criteria like this: The main four overlapping circles are
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.