Audio Mises Daily

Equity markets have collapsed in value, bond yields are off, real-estate markets are (in many places) in a state of disarray, monetary devaluation through government inflation is a constant dilemma, bailouts occur weekly, and wars and rumors of wars seem to lurk in the distance. Investing of any sort is enough to make one's stomach turn in times such as these. The hole in the backyard and that spot between the mattresses keeps looking better and better, writes Sterling T. Terrell.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

Economists of this century of the broadest vision and the keenest insight — men such as Ludwig von Mises, Frank H. Knight, and F.A. Hayek — came early to the conclusion that mastery of pure economic theory was not enough, and that it was vital to explore related and fundamental problems of philosophy, political theory, and history, writes Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995).

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

One of the fatalities of publishing at a rocket pace is that some amazing treasures get overlooked. So this column, perhaps the first of a series, covers some titles in the Mises Store that have not received much attention in the praiseworthy swirl of mania over Rothbard's Mystery of Banking and America's Great Depression, and Mises's Causes of the Economic Crisis, titles which speak directly to the moment. I'll start with an unlikely title here, a book by an author you have never heard of, writes Jeffrey A. Tucker.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by the author.

The mixing of politics and business not only is detrimental to politics, as is frequently observed, wrote Ludwig von Mises in 1926, but even much more so to business. Many large enterprises must give thousands of considerations to political matters, which plants the seeds of bureaucratism. But all this does not justify the proposals to bureaucratize completely and formally all production through the nationalization of credit.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

John Steele Gordon's "short history" of banking is filled with falsehoods. He blames Jefferson's opposition to central banking for economic problems that were in fact created by Hamilton's Bank of the United States. The system of financial regulatory dictatorship that Gordon praises, and which is about to be forced down the throats of the American public, has been tried before in other countries, and always with terrible results, writes Thomas J. DiLorenzo.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

Libertarians of course believe in the free market; if you find someone who favors the government provision of medical care or education, e.g., you know immediately that he is not a full-fledged libertarian. But how far can one take the free market? Can it handle absolutely all the essential services of society, including defense and justice? Here libertarians split, writes David Gordon.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

Bankruptcy is a normal part of economic life, covered by laws that guarantee stockholders will be compensated as much as possible. More efficient firms move in to take over what is left of bankrupt firms, buying what can be put to productive use. There is no crime in bankruptcy and, if handled quickly, little economic harm. The present financial problems would disappear quickly if the government let the markets operate and let inefficient firms go bankrupt, writes Henry Thornton.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

The idea of private coinage seems so strange today that it is worth examining carefully. We are used to thinking of coinage as a "necessity of sovereignty." Yet, after all, we are not wedded to a "royal prerogative," and it is the American concept that sovereignty rests, not in government, but in the people. How would private coinage work? In the same way as any other business, writes Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995).

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilly.

As I have read countless analysts, including professional economists, offer "solutions" to the financial crisis, I have become more convinced of the importance of capital theory. You see this with the dichotomy people keep drawing between the financial markets and the "real economy," a distinction that is useful for some purposes but which in this context often reinforces the idea that the stock market is really just a casino, writes Robert P. Murphy.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

As a decentralized communication system facilitating the sending and receiving of messages by billions of people, the Internet has greatly shifted the balance of power away from governments and toward sovereign individuals. Even in its early days, the Internet played a vital role in bringing about the downfall of the Soviet Union's government. Since then, it has catalyzed tremendous economic, social, and political liberation in countries ranging from Cuba to the United States, writes Gennady Stolyarov II.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by the author.