Is paying down the federal debt a recession trigger? Bob takes on the MMT claim and checks the record, citing US debt payoffs, Canada’s 1990s reforms, and ECB case studies. Conclusion: real wealth beats accounting tricks and paydowns aren’t a mechanical path to recession.

• Read More on Fiscal Austerity: Mises.org/HAP524a
• The Upside-Down World of MMT: Mises.org/HAP524b
• Do Balanced Budgets Cause Depressions?: Mises.org/HAP524c

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Speaking at the recent Mises Institute Supporters Summit, Mark Thornton argues that lasting reform comes from the bottom up, not from political edict. Drawing on Hayek’s “worst get to the top” insight, Mark contrasts elite-driven prohibition with the citizen-led wave of decriminalization and legalization across states and abroad. Mark also explains the role of “salutary neglect” by local officials, the Oregon backlash as a failure of property-rights enforcement—not of liberty—and the scholarly case against the drug war. The crux: markets and civil society integrate; top-down policy divides.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Jonathan Newman joins Ryan and Tho to discuss this week's Fed rate cut, and to breakdown down Jerome Powell's most recent press conference.

When studying praxeology, something as trivial as the recipe for chocolate cake can become a way to better teach us Austrian economics.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/recipes-rothbard-what-chocolate-cake-can-teach-about-economics

Murray Rothbard’s view of the origins of World War II has an important lesson for us today.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/murray-rothbard-and-world-war-ii-origins

Alex Pollock joins the Human Action Podcast to explain his recent Congressional testimony on the Fed’s growing insolvency and mandate overreach. The Fed now admits to $243 billion in operating losses and nearly $1 trillion in mark-to-market losses, leaving it with negative capital of about $197 billion. Pollock explains how the central bank transformed itself into “the biggest 1980s-style savings and loan in history” — funding short while buying long, and bleeding cash as interest rates rose.

• Read the Congressional Testimony: Mises.org/HAP523a
• Read More from Alex Pollock: Mises.org/HAP523b

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Henry Hazlett wrote in Economics in One Lesson that each generation has to relearn economic fallacies that government employs when implementing bad policies. New Yorkers are about to learn a lot of new lessons.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/all-means-elect-mamdani-and-watch-his-socialist-laboratory-work

Trump's team is citing the fentanyl crisis to justify its escalations near Venezuela. But virtually all illicit fentanyl is made and smuggled thousands of miles away. If war or regime change in Venezuela is good for the American people, why hide the true motivations?

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-administration-lying-us-another-war

The food stamp program is a way for PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola company to legally rip off the taxpayers.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-food-industry-lobbyists-keep-food-stamp-gravy-train-going

James Bovard surveys attacks on property rights—from “open-fields” searches and no-knock raids to eminent domain and civil asset forfeiture—showing how each erodes privacy and freedom.

Sponsored by Jeff Leskovar.

Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 18, 2025.