Mises Media

On this marathon episode of Minor Issues, Mark stitches together four recent interviews for a fast-moving tour of today's economy: why gold spiked while precious metals whipsawed, how ballooning US debt and rising servicing costs tilt policy toward monetization, and what that means for inflation, markets, and families. Along the way Mark explains the Austrian lens behind his calls and why using it beats siloed, headline-driven takes.Highlights include: the recent precious metals pullback and what to watch next; the mechanics of debt monetization; distributional effects that favor asset holders over wage earners; and why hyperinflation risk is slow… until it's fast.Additional Resources"Dollar Demise and the New Era for Gold & Silver" (The Freedom Report), November 7, 2025: https://Mises.org/MI_146_A"GOLD: You Will NOT Get A Second Warning!" (Soar Financially), October 28, 2025: https://Mises.org/MI_146_B"Gold Ringing Alarm Bells, Silver Setting Up to Skyrocket" (Investing News), October 28, 2025: https://Mises.org/MI_146_C"The Fed and Runaway Government Debt Undermine the Very Basis of Civilisation" (maneco64), November 1, 2025: https://Mises.org/MI_146_DBe sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

The revolutionaries include the pamphleteer writing in his study, the journalist, the agitator, the organizer, the campus activist, the theoretician, the philanthropist. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/meaning-revolution

The government “shutdown” and the so-called threat to the food stamp program may be abated for now, but we need to understand why this program has metastasized in recent years. James Bovard tells us why.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/food-stamps-and-federal-war-self-reliance

On this episode of Power & Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho talk about Trump's FDR-like proposal of a 50-year mortgage and the unfortunate reality that it seems to be one of the only actual policy ideas Republicans have left to "address" affordability.

November 11 was once known as Armistice Day, the day set aside to celebrate the end of WWI. In this essay Rothbard discusses the war as the triumph of several Progressive intellectual strains from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/rothbard-world-war-i-triumph-progressive-intellectuals

We libertarians may be anti-state, but that we are emphatically not anti-society or opposed to the real world, however contaminated it might be. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/resisting-evil

President Trump has proposed a 50-year mortgage for new homebuyers, ostensibly to make housing more affordable. Actually, this financial instrument will make housing more costly and do nothing to address the root of this entire problem: the artificial housing shortage.Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/50-year-mortgages-wont-make-housing-more-affordableBe sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB

Dr. Jonathan Newman explains why we don't need a central bank, and lays out a concrete, Rothbard-inspired plan for actually ending the Fed.Sponsored by Andy Hord.Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 17, 2025.

Dr. Jonathan Newman joins the Human Action Podcast to discuss his recent QJAE article disputing the claim that 'sticky prices' prevent markets from clearing--i.e., when the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded. Dr. Newman applies Mises's “plain state of rest” to show that each voluntary exchange equates quantities supplied and demanded, so observed “stickiness” doesn't imply non-clearing markets."There Ain't No Such Thing as a Sticky Price": Mises.org/HAP525aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Is silver “manipulated,” or are fundamentals doing the work? Mark Thornton sifts the evidence and finds a simpler story. Big players have gamed markets before, but the long arc of silver prices reflects structural forces: the 1960s demonetization that pushed vast coin hoards into private stockpiles, decades of shifting industrial demand, and the rise of by-product mining. Add environmental compliance and hard-to-recycle “green” uses that sequester silver, and the result is stubbornly low real prices.Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

In this lecture from the 2025 Mises Institute Supporters summit, Ryan looks at how the modern state is built on the rapid rise of taxation in recent centuries. Be sure to follow Radio Rothbard at https://Mises.org/RadioRothbardRadio Rothbard mugs are available at the Mises Store. Get yours at https://Mises.org/RothMug PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off

The dystopian futuristic movie Elysium portrays a terrible future in which only the rich have medical care while the poor suffer on an overpopulated, polluted planet. The film's theme—that only huge wealth transfers can bring medical care to low-income people—is fundamentally flawed.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/dystopia-misdiagnosed-how-rich-drive-health-innovation

If Hobbes is right about human nature, then he is wrong about the state as a solution. Ironically, his key arguments for the state are actually key reasons against it.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/hobbess-accidental-case-against-state

On this episode of Power & Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho take a look at this week's off-year elections. Were any of the outcomes a real surprise? Does Mamdami reflect the future of the left? Will affordability bring down MAGA? The roundtable discuss these questions and more.

While giddy socialists are proclaiming that Zohran Mamdani's electoral victory is the beginning of a socialist takeover of the U.S., the Democratic Socialists of America have a long way before they can complete their stated mission.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/election-mamdani-what-it-means-and-what-it-doesnt-mean

The justices that Trump appointed to the Supreme Court have shown a recent intolerance for the kinds of semantic leaps his administration is relying on to justify its tariffs. Will they remain consistent or fall in line behind the president?Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-tariff-power-grabBe sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB

Dr. Timothy Terrell explains how the federal government's vast land holdings breed crowding, decay, and wildfire risk—and why returning land to private owners, guided by prices and responsibility, yields healthier parks and forests.Sponsored by Brian and Shanna Tvenstrup.Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 17, 2025.

Dr. David Gordon explains why the leading philosophical defenses of taxation—from Rawls's difference principle to Nagel & Murphy's “myth of ownership”—collapse, and why natural rights still say taxation is theft.Sponsored by Jane Shaffer, in Memory of Butler Shaffer.Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 17, 2025.

Ryan McMaken takes a deep dive on food stamp spending, food stamp recipients, and how Big Ag and other industry lobbyists fight to keep food stamp spending flowing and increasing. Be sure to follow Radio Rothbard at https://Mises.org/RadioRothbardRadio Rothbard mugs are available at the Mises Store. Get yours at https://Mises.org/RothMug PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off

Dr. Shawn Ritenour draws on Mises to show that specialization and trade align long-run interests and raise living standards when prices are guided by sound money. He also argues that state interventions—especially Fed bailouts and credit expansion—pit citizen against citizen and fuel inequality, underscoring the need for real economic education of the kind fostered by the Mises Institute.Sponsored by Don Printz.Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 17, 2025.

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/HAP524aThe Upside-Down World of MMT: Mises.org/HAP524bDo Balanced Budgets Cause Depressions?: Mises.org/HAP524cThe 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

Dr. 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. Dr. 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.Rear Dr. Pollock's Testimony: Mises.org/HAP523aRead More from Dr. Pollock: Mises.org/HAP523bThe 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.

For more than 60 years, the US government has enforced a trade embargo against Cuba, ostensibly to force the communist government into collapse. The only thing that has collapsed, however, is the logic in the US policy.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/brief-history-enduring-american-embargo-against-cuba

September's fiscal surplus was not thanks to tariff revenue. In truth, it was thanks to Americans paying more in income tax. Tariffs were only 5.7 percent of revenue.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/no-tariffs-did-not-cause-septembers-budget-surplus

Despite the change in the White House, critical race theory is still with us, dominating the academic sectors and being ingrained in progressive culture. We need to better recognize what it is and how it works in order to better refute it.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-recognize-critical-race-theory

No one doubts that the US is a politically and culturally divided nation. Contrary to much of public opinion, politicians like Donald Trump did not cause the crisis. Instead, as Lawrence Mead writes, they are a symptom of the government's assault on our culture.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/recognizing-roots-current-us-political-turmoil

Mark Thornton reviews David Howden's data-driven guide to long-horizon investing in commodities, useful even for Austrians wary of statistics. Mark explains how the book's method ranks assets by relative valuation, generates 10-year return forecasts, and frames risk premiums, using gold and silver as case studies. Mark highlights how a formal model can still complement Austrian fundamentals and capital-allocation thinking, and he previews an upcoming episode on silver that will build on these results.Purchase The Almanac of Commodities by David Howden at http://mises.org/almanacBe sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

As a true market entrepreneur, as opposed to a political entrepreneur, James J. Hill successfully built a transcontinental railroad, outcompeting his government-subsidized competitors.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/myth-robber-barons-james-hill-versus-crony-competitors

Dr. Alex Pollock explains how monopoly money empowers the state to finance deficits and wars, and why legal tender laws should give way to free choice in money. He explores why genuine competitors—likely led by gold—would discipline issuers, noting central banks' renewed appetite for bullion as an emergent currency competition.Sponsored by Yousif Almoayyed.Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 17, 2025.

On this special episode of Power and Market, Joshua Mawhorter joins Tho Bishop and Connor O'Keeffe to talk about the recent Supporters Summit, the legacy of Mises.org, and a few books they are reading.

Once again, the Trump administration's “dealmaking” on international trade has blown up, this time pulling the rug from under US soybean farmers. This isn't the first trade policy fiasco, nor will it be the last.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/america-hurts-farmers-and-discounts-chinas-soy-imports-while-providing-crutch-argentina

Dr. Joe Salerno shows how market‑led falling prices spread growth gains even when nominal wages don't change. The takeaway: don't fear natural deflation—fear policies that target permanent inflation.Sponsored by Murray and Florence Sabrin.Recorded at the Mises Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, on October 17, 2025.

The governmental response to the covid pandemic was to cripple the economy. To compensate for the damage, the Federal Reserve unleashed massive inflation in an attempt to do what the Fed always does in a crisis: bail out the economic actors.Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/we-have-not-properly-reckoned-economic-insanity-2020Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB

The concept of “planned obsolescence” makes no economic sense and is often an excuse for governments to harass and shake down innovative entrepreneurs. Much of so-called planned obsolescence is really entrepreneurship at work improving products for users and consumers.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/myth-planned-obsolescence