By L. Carlos Lara [Reprinted from the October 2014 edition of the Lara-Murphy-Report, LMR] In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis following the crash of the stock and real estate markets, Americans witnessed 1,200 of the estimated 7,000 commercial banks in the country stagger financially. As expected the FDIC … Read more

by Tom Woods Following up on his successful and highly regarded James Madison and the Making of America (St. Martin’s, 2012), Kevin Gutzman has returned with a fresh look at Jefferson in Thomas Jefferson, Revolutionary: A Radical’s Struggle to Remake America. It could well have been called The Jefferson Nobody … Read more

The world looks seductively simple from 35,000 feet. As soon as the back wheels of a jet lift off the ground, the people beneath begin to vanish, replacing facial expressions and personalities with faint monochrome specks. As the jet climbs higher, people melt into their surroundings altogether, leaving only microscopic … Read more

by T. Hunt Tooley [Editor’s Note: This is part 4 of a multi-part series.] In reconstructing the American decision to enter the Great War, the relationship between Colonel Edward Mandell House and his “alter ego,” Woodrow Wilson, is crucial. Robert Higgs has called the Colonel “one of the most important … Read more

By Leonard E. Read Note – Frequent readers of BANKNOTES are aware of my relationship with Leonard E. Read and my admiration for his works during his lifetime. In the following issues I will be sharing his book, VISION, one chapter per month. It was written in 1978. What a … Read more

The income tax is enshrined into law but it is an idea that stands in total contradiction to the driving force behind the American Revolution and the idea of freedom itself. We desperately need a serious national movement to get rid of it – not reform it, not replace it, … Read more

by Frank Shostak It is common for commentators and economists in their discussions to continuously refer to something called the “economy” — which sometimes performs well and at other times poorly. This “economy” is presented as a living entity apart from individuals. For example, various experts report that the “economy” … Read more