In the debate over whether or not China will soon rise to challenge the United States as the world’s hegemon, it is often assumed that states with large aggregate economies are necessarily more militarily powerful ones. This stems from decades-old methods that remain popular among scholars and pundits who write on international relations and foreign …
Read More »Articles by Ryan McMaken
There Is No Such Thing as Treason
6 days ago“Treason” is quickly becoming a favorite word among Washington politicos and their media allies. One need not look hard to find countless examples. For example, a late-night talk show host called the January 6 Capitol riot the “treason finale” of the Trump era. A Washington Post columnist concludes “the founders” would have “denounced it as …
Read More »The Capitol Riot Wasn’t a Coup. It Wasn’t Even Close.
6 days agoCoups are nearly always acts committed by elites against the sitting executive power using the tools of the elites. It’s clear the elites want Trump gone, and Wednesday’s riot was no coup. Original Article: “The Capitol Riot Wasn’t a Coup. It Wasn’t Even Close.” This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated …
Read More »Larry Summers Reminds Us That Federal “Stimulus” Mostly Exists to Help Wall Street
7 days agoFor people who remain mystified as to how populists like Donald Trump get elected, they need not look much further than this. Original Article: “Larry Summers Reminds Us That Federal “Stimulus” Mostly Exists to Help Wall Street” This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.
Read More »Medical Errors and the Cult of Expertise in the Age of Covid
10 days agoMany healthcare professionals have happily embraced the same attitude as cops: “We’re experts, don’t you dare question us.” But the 100,000 yearly medical-error deaths suggest this expertise ought to be questioned more often. Original Article: “Medical Errors and the Cult of Expertise in the Age of Covid” This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by …
Read More »Why Trump Voters Don’t Trust the People Who Count the Votes
11 days agoIf the FBI and the Pentagon have already demonstrated their officials are willing to break and bend rules to obstruct Trump, why believe the administrative class when they insist elections are free and fair and all above board? Original Article: “Why Trump Voters Don’t Trust the People Who Count the Votes” This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored …
Read More »The Capitol Riot Wasn’t a Coup. It Wasn’t Even Close.
11 days agoOn Wednesday, a mob apparently composed of Trump supporters forced its way past US Capitol security guards and briefly moved unrestrained through much of the Capitol building. They displayed virtually no organization and no clear goals. The only deaths were on the side of the mob, with one woman—apparently unarmed—shot dead by panicky and trigger-happy Capitol …
Read More »Why Trump Voters Don’t Trust the People Who Count the Votes
13 days agoPerhaps not since the nineteenth century have so many American voters so fervently doubted the outcome of a national election. A Slate headline from December 13 reads: “82 Percent of Trump Voters Say Biden’s Win Isn’t Legitimate.” If even half true, this poll means tens of millions of Americans believe the incoming ruling party in Washington got its political …
Read More »Medical Errors and the Cult of Expertise in the Age of Covid
14 days agoEver since the covid panic began in February of this year, medical personnel such as doctors and nurses have been treated to a level of hero worship generally reserved for the government’s soldiers and cops. We were told they were heroically slaving away to treat covid victims. And although many of these nurses were apparently spending …
Read More »2021’s Deficit Spending Is Already Out of Control. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.
18 days agoDeficits still matter, largely because they require monetary policies that lead to bubbles, inequality, and the slow Japanization of the US economy. Original Article: “2021’s Deficit Spending Is Already Out of Control. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.” This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.
Read More »Larry Summers Reminds Us That Federal “Stimulus” Mostly Exists to Help Wall Street
20 days agoLarry Summers is a former Secretary of the Treasury (under Clinton), a former World Bank technocrat, and an advisor to both Obama and Biden. He is also formerly the president of Harvard, where he now teaches. Over the past two weeks in Washington, the battle has raged over whether or not the latest so-called stimulus …
Read More »Pelosi’s “Mandate”: What “Consent of the Governed” Really Means
22 days agoWhat does “the consent of the governed” mean? In 2020, 53 percent of US residents either voted for someone other than Trump or Biden, or didn’t vote at all. It also means about 75 percent of the population did not vote for Biden. Original Article: “Pelosi’s “Mandate”: What “Consent of the Governed” Really Means”. This …
Read More »The US Money Supply Was up 37 Percent in November
December 16, 2020In November, money supply growth rate was essentially unchanged from October and remains near September’s all-time high. The stabilization we find in money-supply growth in recent months comes after eight months of record-breaking growth in the US which came in the wake of unprecedented quantitative easing, central bank asset purchases, and various stimulus packages. Historically, the growth rate has …
Read More »It Should Shock Us That There’s Any Consumer Price Inflation at All
December 16, 2020Thanks to lockdowns, high unemployment, and general uncertainty and fear over covid-19, the personal saving rate in the United States in October was 13.6 percent, the highest since the mid-1970s. This is down from April’s rate of 33.7 percent, which was the highest saving rate recorded since the Second World War. Moreover, among those who …
Read More »Why Beltway Conservatives Hate the Trump Populists
December 11, 2020In 2016, establishment conservatives went “all in” on defeating Trump. But they lost, and as a result lost control of the conservative movement and the GOP. Original Article: “Why Beltway Conservatives Hate the Trump Populists”. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros.
Read More »There Is No Conflict Between Classical Liberalism and Religion
December 9, 2020Since at least as early as the 1960s, pundits and intellectuals of the conservative movement have employed a caricature of “classical liberals” as amoral hedonists who make an idol of freedom. Modern observers might be forgiven for thinking that this critique has only been leveled against the people we now call libertarians—some of whom are …
Read More »Why Beltway Conservatives Hate the Trump Populists
December 8, 2020The 2020 election has put on display a growing rift within the conservative movement and the Republican Party. As theWashington Examiner notes this week, “The dividing lines have only deepened since media organizations called the election for his challenger Joe Biden.” This rift is between populist Trump supporters and the old conservative establishment, which tends …
Read More »Why GOP Loyalists and Candidates Keep Moving Left
December 4, 2020Unless the Left’s opponents focus on changing voters’ ideological drift to the left, candidates who want to actually win elections will have to keep moving left also. Original Article: “Why GOP Loyalists and Candidates Keep Moving Left”. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.
Read More »Why Governments Hate Decentralization and “Local Control”
December 2, 2020In recent decades, many have claimed that advances in communications and transportation would eliminate the different political, economic, and cultural characteristics peculiar to residents of different regions within the United States. It is true the cultural difference between a rural mechanic and an urban barista is smaller today than was the case in 1900. Yet recent national elections suggest that geography is …
Read More »Why Commies Hate Your Thanksgiving Dinner
December 1, 2020In 1923 Lenin released a propaganda pamphlet titled Down with the Private Kitchen. It explained how private dinners with one’s family are reactionary, bourgeois, and generally something requiring total destruction. Original Article: “Why Commies Hate Your Thanksgiving Dinner”. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.
Read More »In October, Money Supply Growth Remained Near All-Time Highs
November 30, 2020In October, money supply growth fell slightly from September’s all-time high, although growth still remains at levels that would have been considered outlandish just eight months ago. October’s easing in money-supply growth comes after eight months of record-breaking growth in the US which came in the wake of unprecedented quantitative easing, central bank asset purchases, and various stimulus packages. Historically, …
Read More »Why Commies Hate Your Thanksgiving Dinner
November 26, 2020The Thanksgiving holiday in the United States has a checkered past. Its more recent origins lie largely in government attempts at pushing propagandistic narratives. For example, Abraham Lincoln demanded Americans be thankful for “the advancing armies and navies of the Union” during the Civil War. George Washington instructed Americans to give thanks for the new constitution …
Read More »Was the Election Free and Fair? The American Foreign Policy Establishment Doesn’t Care.
November 25, 2020There’s at least one good reason to support Donald Trump’s ongoing lawsuits challenging the election results in several states: the US foreign policy establishment doesn’t want you to. As Newsweek reported last week, “A group of more than 100 national security experts” from Republican administrations have condemned the president’s challenges to some states’ vote-counting process. …
Read More »Pandemics Are Over When the Public Decides They’re Over
November 24, 2020Government bureaucrats have their own standards for declaring when a pandemic has “officially” ended. But the de facto ending comes when the public stops paying attention. Original Article: “Pandemics Are Over When the Public Decides They’re Over”. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack.
Read More »Pandemics Are Over When the Public Decides They’re Over
November 21, 2020In Colorado, reported cases and hospitalizations of covid-19 patients are at higher levels than ever before. And yet politicians are worried that if they issue new stay-at-home orders, the public won’t obey them. For instance the Denver Post last week reported Colorado Democrats admitted the public isn’t listening very closely anymore: [State senator Steve] Fenberg and many …
Read More »Covid Deaths Mount in France and the Czech Republic as Lockdowns Fail
November 20, 2020Lockdowns are back on in Europe and are making a quick comeback in the US as well. Spain, the UK, Belgium, and France are back in full lockdown mode, although a multitude of restrictions on movement within each country remained in place even when full lockdowns were ended over the summer. In France, for instance, one …
Read More »Both Theory and Praxis: Rothbard’s Plan for Laissez-Faire Activism
November 18, 2020It should be self-evident that a just and moral political regime can only exist in the long term if a sufficiently large number of people actually believe in it. Original Article: “Both Theory and Praxis: Rothbard’s Plan for Laissez-Faire Activism”. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros.
Read More »Why Is the Fed So Afraid of Judy Shelton?
November 17, 2020In spite of fierce opposition from numerous US Senators—and countless screeds against her issued by pundits and establishment economists—Judy Shelton still has a chance of being confirmed to the Fed’s Board of Governors this week. The Associated Press reported yesterday what in spite of three GOP Senators coming out against Shelton, she may still win confirmation …
Read More »Both Theory and Praxis: Rothbard’s Plan for Laissez-Faire Activism
November 13, 2020The United States has not had a large, organized laissez-faire political movement since the 1890s, when the Democratic Party explicitly embraced an agenda of low taxes, restrained foreign policy, political decentralization, and opposition to a central bank. Certainly, since that time, laissez-faire factions have been part of various political coalitions and parties. The Old Right, for example, …
Read More »Why GOP Loyalists and Candidates Keep Moving Left
November 11, 2020There is good reason to believe that the 2020 election was a repudiation of far-left social and economic policy in the United States. This interpretation at the very least has been taken to heart by many Democrats who lost seats in the US House and who now fear—with good reason—greater losses during the midterm 2022 …
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