By Ryan McMaken In recent decades, many have claimed that advances in communications and transportation would eliminate the different political, economic, and cultural characteristics peculiar to residents of different regions within the United States. It is true the cultural difference between a rural mechanic and an urban barista is smaller today than was the case in … [Read more...] about Why Governments Hate Decentralization and “Local Control”
Ryan McMaken
Major Social Media Companies Aren’t the Good Guys — They’re Also Not Monopolists
Op-Ed by Ryan McMaken There are plenty of good reasons to hate social media. It negatively affects mental health. It provides a skewed and inaccurate view of the real world. It is a tool of manipulation employed by deeply partisan billionaires. But there is one thing that every social media company is not: a monopoly. Yet, some critics of these companies casually throw … [Read more...] about Major Social Media Companies Aren’t the Good Guys — They’re Also Not Monopolists
Entrepreneurship in the Time of COVID-19
By Per Bylund Per Bylund, author of The Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives has commented extensively here at mises.org, and in a variety of entrepreneurship-focused publications, about the economics of entrepreneurship. Editor Ryan McMaken recently asked Professor Bylund to comment on what challenges entrepreneurs face right now … [Read more...] about Entrepreneurship in the Time of COVID-19
Three Ways Lockdowns Paved the Way for These Riots
By Ryan McMaken There were many reasons to oppose the COVID-19 lockdowns. They cost human lives in terms of deferred medical treatment. They cost human lives in terms of greater suicide and drug overdoses. Domestic abuse and child abuse have increased. There is also good reason to believe that lockdowns don't actually work. The lockdown activists capitalized on … [Read more...] about Three Ways Lockdowns Paved the Way for These Riots
Police Are Complicit in Politicians’ Disregard for the Rule of Law
By Ryan McMaken People of a certain age might remember the old John Birch Society slogan "Support your local police!" The idea here is that your local policeman is a liberty-loving buddy of yours who would only ever support just laws and constitutional mandates. Only those bad guys in the FBI or BATF would ever consider violating your rights. Now, obviously that … [Read more...] about Police Are Complicit in Politicians’ Disregard for the Rule of Law
America Is a Technocracy, Not a Democracy
By Ryan McMaken Perhaps never before in American history have the unelected technocrats played such an enormous role in shaping public policy in America. In recent weeks, members of Congress have been missing in action. Late last month, the House of Representatives passed the biggest spending bill in history while most members were absent. Member votes were not recorded … [Read more...] about America Is a Technocracy, Not a Democracy
The COVID-19 “Lockdowns” Are What Twenty-First-Century Mob Rule Looks Like
By Ryan McMaken As of April 6, forty-one states have statewide "stay-at-home" decrees in place. These orders vary widely from place to place. In some states, there are long lists of exempted industries including marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, hardware stores, and of course, grocery stores. In some states with these edicts, public lands, state parks, … [Read more...] about The COVID-19 “Lockdowns” Are What Twenty-First-Century Mob Rule Looks Like
Why Governments Hate Secession
By Ryan McMaken When the Soviet Union began its collapse in 1989, the world witnessed decentralization and secession on a scale not seen in Europe since the nineteenth century. Over the next several years, puppet regimes and states-in-name-only broke away from Soviet domination and formed sovereign states. Some states which had completely ceased to exist—such as the … [Read more...] about Why Governments Hate Secession
Three Reasons Why Decentralization and Secession Lead to More Open Economies
By Ryan McMaken When we hear of political movements in favor of decentralization and secession, the word "nationalist" is often used to describe them. We have seen the word used in both Scottish and Catalonian secession movement, and in the case of Brexit. Sometimes the term is intended to be pejorative. But not always. When used pejoratively — as was the case with … [Read more...] about Three Reasons Why Decentralization and Secession Lead to More Open Economies
How to Avoid Civil War: Decentralization, Nullification, Secession
Op-Ed by Ryan McMaken It's becoming more and more apparent that the United States will not be going back to "business as usual" after Donald Trump leaves office, and it is easy to imagine that the anti-Trump parties will use their return to power as an opportunity to settle scores against the hated rubes and "deplorables" who dared attempt to oppose their betters in … [Read more...] about How to Avoid Civil War: Decentralization, Nullification, Secession
Why the Government Can’t Measure Income, Happiness, or Well-Being
By Ryan McMaken One of the central problems of aggregate measures of national income and well-being is the fact so much of it relies on incomes, wealth, production, and consumption measured in terms of dollars. This means only activities that can be tracked, counted, and ranked based on dollar values and production totals will be among those activities reported as having … [Read more...] about Why the Government Can’t Measure Income, Happiness, or Well-Being