Some of the worst attacks on our personal freedom come in the form of edicts as to whom we can trade with, and whom we must make war on. This is referred to by the famous dictum attributed to Bastiat: “When goods are not allowed to cross borders, armies will.” The truth of the dictum has been demonstrated in history, both ancient and recent, time
At my neighborhood supermarket the other day, I was at first puzzled, then a bit amused at the sight on the shelf of “Fair Trade Coffee.” No, this isn’t a catchy brand name like “Morning Call.” This is, I found on inspecting the unusually wordy label in detail, coffee whose supplier claims to have overpaid the producers for it. By this is not
As Martha Stewart languishes in jail, one supposes her duties in the prison laundry or garden allow her little time for reading the Wall Street Journal if, indeed, she’s allowed to receive it in her mail. But if she had time to work her way back to Section D of the edition of October 26, she might have happened upon a small article on the second
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.