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

The Myth of Planned Obsolescence

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

The Myth of the “Robber Barons”: James Hill versus the Crony Competitors

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-2020

Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB

We Have Not Properly Reckoned with the Economic Insanity of 2020

Mark Thornton reviews David Howden’s data-driven guide to long-horizon investing in commodities, useful even for Austrians wary of statistics. 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/almanac

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

Reading Markets the Austrian Way

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

Memories of Delray and 30 Years of Mises.org

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

Recognizing the Roots of the Current US Political Turmoil

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

How to Recognize Critical Race Theory

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

No, Tariffs Did Not Cause September’s Budget Surplus

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

A Brief History of the Enduring American Embargo against Cuba

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 Trump Administration Is Lying Us Into Another War

The Mises Institute, founded in 1982, is an educational institution devoted to advancing Austrian economics, freedom, and peace in the classical-liberal tradition. Our website offers many thousands of free books and thousands of hours of audio and video, along with the full run of rare journals, biographies, and bibliographies of great economists.