Mises Media

The intellectual path from Ancient Greece to modernity is littered with the path of numerous philosophers, movements, and events, both peaceful and violent that have shaped thinking throughout the ages.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/scholasticism-enlightenment-liberalism

Ryan McMaken reviews a new book on the political institutions of the Middle Ages, 'The Medieval Constitution of Liberty: Political Foundations of Liberalism in the West.' We find that it is in the Middle Ages that we find the origins of modern notions of political freedom, representative government, political decentralization, and limits on state powers. In practice, the politics of the "Renaissance" and the "Enlightenment" were steps in the wrong direction.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

Modern historians rarely have told the truth about the history of capitalism, and especially in the early days of the Industrial Revolution. It is time to set the record straight.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/lies-damn-lies-and-history-capitalism

On the day Greenspan died, this 2001 essay by Joseph T. Salerno deserves a second life. It documented what the mainstream refused to see: that Greenspan replaced economic theory with intuition, replaced analysis with data-worship, and called his guesswork a science.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-daily/greenspans-empty-talk

Greenspan served as an especially important cog in this machine by increasing the Fed's prerogatives within the global economy.Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/alan-greenspan-dies-100

As Ryan McMaken recently pointed out, the original constitutional republic created in 1787 no longer exists. Joseph Solis-Mullen asked if the US is now in its Sixth Republic.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/sixth-republic

Progressive elites insist that we “trust our government” when they are in control, but why should we? In fact, we should no more trust government than Charlie Brown should have trusted Lucy to hold the football.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-you-shouldnt-trust-bureaucrats

Mises Editor-in-Chief Ryan McMaken explains how the new Fed chairman faces a political problem with rising prices and the fact the Fed keeps fueling the inflation fire.Be sure to follow the Loot and Lobby podcast at Mises.org/LL

Mark Thornton examines Kevin Warsh's first Fed meeting and argues that despite the tough rhetoric, nothing fundamental has changed. The Federal Reserve still exists to keep government borrowing cheap, protect banks and Wall Street, and manage appearances while real inflation erodes household purchasing power.Mark explains why real interest rates are already low or negative, how Fed liquidity continues to fuel asset bubbles, and why AI, data centers, government debt, and stock-market leverage all point to late-stage business-cycle danger. On Side B, Thornton joins Murray Sabrin to discuss the economy, the Skyscraper Curse, gold, commodities, and the practical habits that help people navigate a rigged monetary system.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfreeRegister for our upcoming Mises Circle, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?, June 27 in Windham, New Hampshire: https://mises.org/events/why-healthcare-system-broken-mises-circle-new-hampshire20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton.Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

Systems do not collapse when they finally become unstable; they appear stable until the moment their failure can no longer be ignored.Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/why-stable-systems-fail-illusion-institutional-control

As technology advances, progressives believe that this time, all of their social engineering and attempts to establish socialism will finally come to fruition. They are in for a rude surprise.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/institutional-closure-why-managed-directivism-breeds-its-own-collapse

Bob sits down with Harvard Economics Professor Pol Antràs to discuss his new paper applying Böhm-Bawerk's average period of production to international trade, testing whether countries with lower interest rates tend to export goods requiring longer, more roundabout production processes.Related:Professor Antràs' Paper, "An ‘Austrian' Model of International Specialization": Mises.org/HAP554aBob's Article, "The Reswitching Question": Mises.org/HAP554b

In 1952, at the height of Soviet power, Ludwig von Mises stood in the San Francisco Public Library and systematically dismantled Marx—not just his economics, but his philosophy, his theory of history, and his manipulation of language. This is the fifth of nine lectures, published in 2006 as Marxism Unmasked.Mises examines why Marxism went essentially unchallenged for decades—not because its arguments were strong, but because its opponents rarely engaged its philosophical foundations. He traces the intellectual lineage from Saint-Simon's totalitarian world council through Comte's positivism to Marx's dialectical materialism, showing how each system claimed to have discovered the final truth and therefore demanded the end of free inquiry. Along the way, Mises dismantles the conflation of Marxism with Freudian psychoanalysis, explains why governments have a built-in bias toward socialism, and reveals that the word "organize" entered political language as a Napoleonic term meaning to treat individuals as a builder treats stones. The essay's central insight is deceptively simple: the debate was never between planning and chaos. It was always between the plan of the dictator and the plans of free individuals—and the police exist to settle the dispute.

The president has declared that he loves inflation. What economic fallacies is he likely adopting that leads to this conclusion?Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-us-president-loves-inflation

While China's economy has boomed, many people wrongly associate that success with the Chinese government's industrial policies. Intervention has created many problems there—just as it has done elsewhere.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/chinas-industrial-policy-ambition-inefficiency-and-cautionary-tale-america

Among the key men involved in the American Revolution and the following periods, we find an oft-repeated concern that may seem foreign to us today—the threat of standing armies. This reality became concrete in the Newburgh conspiracy in 1783.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/american-revolution-and-danger-standing-armies

While Graham Platner has become controversial because of his reckless past and violent behavior, the real objection to his being elected a US Senator should be to his reckless socialist proposals that would have disastrous consequences.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/oppose-graham-platner-his-socialism-not-just-his-outrageous-behavior

On this episode of Power and Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho discuss the first FOMC meeting under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Out? Forward Guidance. In? Task forces! What should we take away from Warsh's first time addressing the financial press, and will his tenure be an improvement from the past, or present new dangers to the public?

Names for historical periods like "Renaissance" and "Enlightenment" did not descend to us out of the heavens. Historians and propagandists of centuries past created these names, often for political purposes. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/middle-ages-enlightenment-and-propaganda

Because government monetary authorities have been interfering with interest rates for decades, investors have no more confidence in the bond markets, as they expect more interference and more unpredictability.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/bond-market-sell-welcome-titanic-effect

Once we look beyond a small shift in rhetoric and emphasis, there is, so far, no reason to believe that the Fed is headed toward anything other than business as usual. Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/fed-holds-interest-rate-steady-and-warsh-buys-time-new-task-force-scheme

Sure, the earnings average was up year over year, but prices increased more than earnings did. In fact, price inflation hit a 38-month high in May.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/real-wages-fell-second-month-price-inflation-surged

Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire has triggered a familiar round of progressive outrage. But the imprecise focus on wealth distribution obscures the real issue: how much of modern wealth is acquired through politics rather than production.Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/musk-trillionaire-panic-distraction2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/gabfreebookBe sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB

Economists like Harold Demsetz and Ronald Coase based their property rights views on utilitarianism. Murray Rothbard based his on justice.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-justice-mattered-rothbard

When inflation surges, the first thing on the government's agenda is for the Federal Reserve to try to force up interest rates. However, as Frank Shostak writes, that might not be the best strategy.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/raising-interest-rates-does-not-counter-inflation

Prediction markets, while obviously imperfect, still work well because people voluntarily put their money where their beliefs are. Naturally, the government wants to shut them down.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/fear-signal-why-state-urgently-wants-bind-prediction-markets

Unfortunately, the Pope does not understand the role that monetary inflation plays in fueling AI's excesses. If he did, he might lead a necessary anti-AI spiritual alliance for sound money. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/sound-money-artificial-intelligence-and-pope

In spite of repeated claims from the Federal Reserve that monetary policy is at least moderately restrictive, there is no sign of any slowing in money-supply growth.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/april-money-supply-growth-hit-49-month-high-and-prices-soared

Regulatory systems are infamous for creating “traps” in seem to be impervious to reform. Regulators seek to “drain the swamp,” but, instead, find themselves up to their necks in alligators.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/moloch-regulatory-state

Bob sits down with economists Alexander Salter and Joshua Hendrickson to discuss their new paper arguing that the standard Austrian critique of the Fed while correct, is fundamentally incomplete. They argue that the Fed's actual institutional role is to backstop U.S. dollar hegemony: the deliberately constructed post-Bretton Woods system in which the dollar serves as the world's reserve currency, U.S. Treasuries as the global safe asset, and the Fed as buyer of last resort for sovereign debt worldwide.Related:Hendrickson & Salter, "Should We End the Fed? Can We?": Mises.org/HAP553a

On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton opens with a review of John Mearsheimer's Why Do Politicians Lie?, focusing on strategic deception in international affairs, especially in the Middle East, Israel, Vietnam, Iraq, and America's own constitutional history. Mark argues that political lies are not merely moral failures; they are tools for empire, war, and state expansion.On Side B, Thornton joins What The Finance to explain how runaway spending, Fed liquidity, and Austrian business cycle theory reveal the deeper mechanics behind today's markets. He discusses the AI and data-center bubble, the Fed's role in sustaining malinvestment, the pressure on working families, and why gold, silver, and commodities are benefiting from a long era of monetary inflation and political dysfunction.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfreeRegister for our upcoming Mises Circle, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?, June 27 in Windham, New Hampshire: https://mises.org/events/why-healthcare-system-broken-mises-circle-new-hampshire20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton.Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

Before the Nat Turner Rebellion and the rise of militant abolitionism in the North, there were more anti-slavery societies in the South than in the northern states.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/abolitionist-movement-antebellum-south

Egalitarian interpreters of the Declaration not only empower the centralized state but promote a view of “equality” that shares a common ethical error with slavery itself—that legal castes of humans may be created and enforced against the liberty of others.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/declaration-independence-versus-egalitarianism

On this episode of Power and Market, Ryan, Connor, and Tho look at the debate over the latest National Defense Authorization Act.

Not surprisingly, the present government is rapidly politicizing artificial intelligence. We don't have to look far for disastrous results.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/ai-creative-destruction-and-politicization-economic-change

The covid lockdowns were useless for public health, but they vastly strengthened government's stranglehold over our lives. We cannot allow this to happen again.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/potential-lockdowns-polarization-and-what-should-be-done

Despite attempts to whitewash its past, progressivism was a poisonous ideology from the beginning. One of its worst legacies is eugenics, which not only created social strife in the US, but also was exported to Germany, where the Nazis embraced it.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-american-progressives-influenced-hitler

Contrary to the myth that kings routinely ruled over cowed subordinates by "divine right" in the Middle Ages, civil governments of the period faced countless institutional obstacles to the exercise of power.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/medieval-europeans-paved-way-freedom-west

Bob sits down with economist Emmanuel Maggiori to discuss his new book If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?, a carefully researched, point-by-point critique of Modern Monetary Theory that engages MMT on its own terms, drawing on the MMTers' own textbook, papers, and responses to critics.Related:If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?: Mises.org/HAP552aBob's Mises Daily Article, "The Upside-Down World of MMT": Mises.org/HAP552bJonathan Newman and Bob's MisesU Lecture on MMT: Mises.org/HAP552c

The current free-for-all in Division I NCAA sports is not the product of a free market, but rather is chaos being imposed by the courts and government agencies. Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/anarcho-tyranny-killing-college-sports

As AI continues to grow, we are told to fear private transactions and to depend on the state for safety and security. The reality is that we need to fear the state and what it will do to us as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/were-freaking-doomed-without-freedom-state-rule

Mark Thornton replays his Rothbard University lecture on government spending and taxation, using Rothbard's framework of binary intervention to overturn the standard civics-story that taxes are “the cost” of government and spending is “the benefit.” Mark argues both are economically destructive and distortionary, and that treating them as neutral is a category mistake. Drawing on John C. Calhoun's class analysis, he distinguishes net taxpayers from net tax-consumers, explaining how political finance systematically transfers wealth, reshapes production, and undermines saving, family formation, and long-run growth. The lecture closes with a vivid “wagon” analogy: as more people move from pulling to riding, the whole economy slows and eventually stalls.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfreeRegister for our upcoming Mises Circle, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?, June 27 in Windham, New Hampshire: https://mises.org/events/why-healthcare-system-broken-mises-circle-new-hampshire20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton.Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues