By Robert Murphy Although it’s a pretty basic question, it’s worth asking: Why do we use money? Once we think through the answer, it becomes clear just how awful our current monetary system is. For those wanting a comprehensive treatment, I refer you to our book (co-authored with Carlos), How … Read more

Unlike most any other debt, student loan debt can’t (normally) be dismissed in bankruptcy, and millions of graduates and non-graduates are struggling to live out the American dream saddled with thousands of dollars in student debt, and in some cases bleak job prospects to pay it back. If that’s not … Read more

by Benjamin Powell Last month’s 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution is an appropriate occasion to remind us of the human atrocities committed by communist regimes. But we also should take time to reflect on the progress that has occurred since the fall of the Soviet Union and its socialist … Read more

by Brittany Hunter When I decided to read and live-blog The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek, I will admit I did not fully understand what I had signed up to do. Reading excerpts from the book is one thing, but endeavoring to read the book in its entirety and … Read more

Thomas J. DiLorenzo [Originally published December 2008.] Central banking has been a corrupt, mercantilist scheme and an engine of corporate welfare from its very beginning in the late 18th century. The first central bank, the Bank of North America, was “driven through the Continental Congress by [congressman and financier] Robert … Read more

Ryan McMaken Before the US Constitution of 1787 was ratified, its proponents have claimed a centralized and powerful American state was necessary for the purposes of military defense. But, as the Anti-Federalists of the time pointed out, the older constitution (known as the Articles of Confederation) had already been sufficient … Read more

by Jeff Deist Dr. Robert Murphy and I enjoyed a robust discussion of the current political landscape this past weekend at the University of Central Florida. A significant percentage of attendees, maybe half, agreed with the proposition that the US is past the point of political solutions. Everyone agreed, regardless … Read more

Meeting with global-finance students recently at the Chartreux Institute in Lyon, France, Pope Francis warned them “to remain free from the lure of money, from the slavery in which money traps those who worship it.” He also counseled them not to “blindly obey the invisible hand of the market” but … Read more