[This is a transcript of a talk given June 17, 2021, at the Mises Institute’s Medical Freedom Summit in Salem, New Hampshire.] On behalf of everyone at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma and the Free Market Medical Association, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Just over twenty-four years ago the operation of the Surgery Center of…
Continue ReadingPublic borrowing falls but debt still at highest since the 1960s
Government borrowing fell last month as the economic recovery boosted tax revenues, official figures show, but national debt is still at the highest levels since the 1960s. Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, fell by £19.4 billion year-on-year to £24.3 billion in May, the Office for National Statistics said. This was better than the £26 billion forecast by…
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Explaining Malinvestment and Overinvestment
Mainstream macroeconomists may—and do—disagree with such an assessment, but Austrian macroeconomists rightly consider the Misesian/Hayekian1 theory of the business cycle to be one of the signal achievements of the entire Austrian School of thought. This Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) offers a unique perspective on the destructive array of private sector incentives created by central bank manipulations of the supplies…
Continue ReadingCBI and City bosses warn against giving staff legal right to work from home
The heads of the UK’s largest business lobby group and two major City employers have warned against giving workers the legal right to demand remote working, claiming it would harm young employees and city centre economies. Lord Bilimoria, the president of the CBI, said that while employees should be able to request the option of working from home, flexible working…
Continue ReadingWhy Joe Biden Is Keeping the Cap on SALT Deductions
When the Trump administration pushed capping the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), the plan was billed as a way to punish Democrats in high-tax states. But the move also increased federal revenues by as much as $100 billion. Now the Biden administration is showing little enthusiasm for undoing Trump's cap. The cap means more federal revenues…
Continue ReadingEmployers can put self-isolating staff on furlough
Employers can claim from the furlough scheme for staff who are self-isolating. The entitlement exists despite government guidance stating it is not what the scheme is intended for. The little-known entitlement was first reported by Politico magazine after emails from civil servants complaining about government guidance were leaked. One email from a civil servant said the Treasury was “reluctant” to…
Continue ReadingThe Ratification Debate: A Standing Army vs. the Militias
[This passage is excerpted from Murray N. Rothbard's Conceived in Liberty, vol. 5, The New Republic: 1784–1791.] One of the most important aspects of the proposed Constitution was its authorization for a permanent national standing army, a striking contrast to the simple reserve constituting the state militia. The standing army was a particular objection of the Antifederalists, who, in the liberal antimilitary…
Continue ReadingJP Morgan buys Nutmeg to join Chase digital bank in Britain
JP Morgan has struck a deal worth about £700 million to buy Nutmeg, the digital wealth manager, as America’s biggest bank seeks to kickstart plans to build a consumer business in Britain. The surprise move by the Wall Street financial services group comes before the launch of its long-awaited online retail bank in the UK this year. Nutmeg will sit…
Continue ReadingWages, Prices, and the Demand for Money: Keynes Got It All Wrong
Markets clear. Or so was the accumulated wisdom in the half century before John Maynard Keynes. The British economist proposed a novel theory of economics in 1936 based on the opposite premise: markets don’t clear. While Keynesian theory is quite complex and his book widely regarded as unreadable, in his system, chronic idleness of useful resources is the rule. In…
Continue ReadingTikTok sees its earnings double in 2020
ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the smash-hit video app TikTok, saw its earnings double last year. An internal memo released to staff showed that the firm’s total revenue jumped by 111{7cf23ffd9f893b42e5168467dbdff3dd8c8539e14232c919813e000f7f93ca07} to $34.3bn (£25.6bn) for 2020. The figures underscore TikTok’s continued global popularity. It comes as ByteDance and several other Chinese technology giants have come under increasing pressure from governments…
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