Whether at least part of Ukraine survives as a free and independent country when this war ends, or whether that will have to wait until some time in the future, Ukrainians will have to plan for the reconstruction of their economy at some point in the future. The economic policy agenda for such a reconstruction is at least partly at hand, and can be found in the writings of the Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises.
Richard M. Ebeling
Dr. Richard M. Ebeling is the recently appointed BB&T Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Free Enterprise Leadership at The Citadel. He was formerly professor of Economics at Northwood University, president of The Foundation for Economic Education (2003–2008), was the Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics at Hillsdale College (1988–2003) in Hillsdale, Michigan, and served as vice president of academic affairs for The Future of Freedom Foundation (1989–2003).
The Pilgrims Tried Socialism and It Failed
The desire of “spreading the wealth” and for government to plan and regulate people’s lives is as old as the utopian fantasy in Plato’s Republic.
Winning Freedom Requires Radical Laissez-Faire Capitalist Solutions
What passes for “deregulation” or market-based reform has limited connection with any call for a truly laissez-faire capitalist United States.
Remembering the Soviet Nightmare that Ended Thirty Years Ago
There is, today, a new chorus of voices once again calling for a socialist future of increased political paternalism and forms of centralized economic planning.
Why Today’s Young Generation Must Study The History of Socialism
It is vital for the history of socialism not to be forgotten by those fortunate enough not to live under its reality of terror, tyranny, and social disaster, less history tragically repeat itself.
What Economic Advice Would You Give to a Future King?
Carl Menger’s Free Market Advice to an Austrian Crown Prince
The Real Meaning of Thanksgiving: The Triumph of Capitalism over Collectivism
In the wilderness of the New World, the Plymouth Pilgrims had progressed from the false dream of communism to the sound realism of capitalism.
The Importance of Liberty and the Rhetorical Misuse of Freedom
Looking over that list of hundreds of branches of the federal government also makes clear the absurdity and total misinformation of those who daily insist that America is a wild land of unregulated “laissez-faire,” where anything goes, with government being some small, poor, and starved appendage to an “out-of-control” free market.
Biden’s $3.5 Trillion “Make Big Government Even Bigger” Plan
For the government to do things “for you,” it must have the power to do things “to you.”
On Biden’s “Zero Price Tag” Trillion Dollar Increase in Government Spending
Joe Biden’s demagoguery, arrogant impatience, and dictatorial manner do not and cannot change reality. At the end of the day, his policies can only lead to a financial and economic disaster.
Sophistic Rhetoric Hides the Reality of Peaceful Production vs. Political Plunder
Virtually every politician runs for office on a campaign platform that promises to extend concrete and specific benefits to various selected groups through the taxing or regulating powers of government.
Infrastructure Bill as Political Plunder and Social Engineering
Nothing says you really “care” in politics as a demand to spend $1 trillion of other people’s money on “essential” public “need.”
Government Debt as Far as the Fiscal Eye Can See
The thought of living within a balanced budget sends a frightening shiver down almost every politician’s spine.
In Biden’s America Market Competition Means Government Control
George Orwell famously coined the term “newspeak” in his 1949 anti-utopian futuristic novel, 1984, in which commonsense words were reversed in their meaning. Biden’s latest executive order provides a modern illustration of “newspeak” in the 21st century.
A Declaration of Independence from Tyrannical Government
The “monkish ignorance and superstition” of today is the misplaced belief that the individual is to be sacrificed to the group, the collective, to the nation – as long as the banner under which it is done is called “democracy” or “social justice.”
Paying People Not to Work: Labor Shortage Is a Government-Contrived Scarcity
To use Keynesian terms, employment in the United States is not suffering from an “aggregate demand” failure. There are plenty of job openings; it is a failure of a good number of employable people not being interested in filling the slots employers would like to fill. Why?
Inflation Is a Dangerous Way to Get Rid of Debt Burdens
Inflation is a form of tax, under which portions of the citizenry’s income and wealth is taken from them through reducing the real buying power of money held by all those in the private sector and the general public.
Henry Hazlitt and the Failure of Keynesian Economics
Keynes used the “technique of obscure arguments followed by clear and triumphant conclusions.”
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