Congress and the president have adopted many critically important policies in great haste during brief periods of perceived national emergency. During the first “hundred days” of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration in the spring of 1933, for example, the government abandoned the gold standard, enacted a system of wide-ranging controls, taxes, and subsidies in agriculture, and set in motion a…
Continue ReadingAirlines across the globe count the £7bn cost of Covid
A slower than anticipated global vaccine rollout and wider failure to get Covid under control will cost airlines $10bn (£7.2bn) more than previously predicted, according to the organisation that represents global airlines. The warning from the International Air Transport Association came as Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary warned on Wednesday there would be “seismic” cut in capacity across the industry…
Continue ReadingThe Psychological Basis of the Opposition to Economic Theory
[This article is excerpted from chapter 6 of Epistemological Problems of Economics] Subjectivist economics would be guilty of an omission if it did not also concern itself with the objections that have been raised against it from political and factional standpoints. There is, first of all, the assertion that the subjective theory of value is "the class ideology of the…
Continue ReadingMade in Britain: Functional Gut Diagnostics
Functional Gut Diagnostics is a Manchester-based health-firm which looks to provide a quick and accurate diagnosis for anyone suffering with gastrointestinal problems. Simon Freedman, general manager of Functional Gut Diagnostics, talks to us about how the company has developed over the years. What is the story behind the company? As a Gastrointestinal (GI) Physiologist, a clinician who specialises in GI…
Continue ReadingElections in the Bicameral Congress
[Chapter 14 of Rothbard's newly edited and released Conceived in Liberty, vol. 5, The New Republic: 1784–1791.] The nationalists who went into the convention agreed on certain broad objectives, crucial for a new government, all designed to remodel the United States into a country with the British political structure. They had the ultimate advantage of any group that knows what it wants in…
Continue ReadingPrimark to repay £121 million in furlough cash despite falling sales
Primark’s owner will repay £121 million in furlough money claimed under government job retention schemes and pay out a dividend to shareholders despite a slump in profits. Associated British Foods (ABF) said the decision comes despite stores remaining closed for most of the autumn and winter period, leading to revenues and profits plunging. Sales were down 17% to £6.3 billion…
Continue ReadingThe Enemy Is Always the State
The web loves nothing more than a good brawl, so people often write me to ask me to respond to a critic of LRC or the Mises Institute. There's certainly no shortage of them, and they come from the Left, the Right, and everything in between. My first thought on the request is that the archive speaks for itself, and…
Continue ReadingChancellor launches taskforce on Bank of England digital currency
A Bank of England digital currency for the UK has moved a step closer after the chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a top-level taskforce to explore the benefits and risks of the idea. Sunak said a joint Treasury-Bank of England taskforce was being set up as part of a range of measures designed to boost the City following Britain’s departure from…
Continue ReadingThe Biggest Threat to US Hegemony: China, Russia, or Debt?
Now that the Biden administration has settled in, it is time to reassess American policy towards Russia, China and the wider Asian scene. Is it going to be a continuation of the Trump administration’s policies, or is there something new going on? Given the continued tenure of staffers at the Pentagon from before the Trump presidency, it seems unlikely there…
Continue ReadingVauxhall factory to shut within a year unless UK government offers stimulus deal
Vauxhall will stop producing the Astra at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and close the plant completely in April next year unless the Government can incentivise it to build a new model at the site. A briefing on manufacturing volumes issued by Vauxhall’s parent company to suppliers shows the production of the current model of the Astra is expected to end…
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