Mines Memo News From the Ludwig von Mises Institute
But it did prove possible, thanks to
Fifteen Years, Stronger than Ever
This has been a year ofwonder
ful surprises and triumphs.
The Costs of'War has been published
and widely celebrated. So has The
Logic ofAction. The students who
attended the Mises University
were exceptional. The Austrian
Scholars Conference 3 generated a
mountain of new papers.
The circulation of our flagship
periodicals—The Mises Review, The
FreeMarket,The Revieiv ofAustrian
Economics, and The Austrian Eco-
nomicsNnvsletter—all grew,and we
printed and distributed other stud
ies and publications.
In addition, the lost Mises pa
pers turned up in Moscow, we
commissioned a biography of
Mises by young star Jorg Guido
Hulsmann and two of our senior
scholars were sought out to become
economics department chairmen:
Jeffrey Herbener at Grove City Col
lege (home of Mises's American
papers) and Walter Block at die
University of Central Arkansas.
The Review is going to a quar
terly. Our faculty surpassed all
publication and speaking records.
And Austrian views appeared in
die popular press.
We've begun construction of a
permanent home for the Austrian
School, for die cause of free enter
prise, and for die Mises Institute,
right here in Auburn. It will fea
ture a world-class library, for which
die private collection ofMurray N.
Rotlibard will serve as die founda
tion. Now, we're busy planning
1998, and it will feature more of
everything. In short, our dreams
are being realized.
Fifteen years ago, people said it
couldn't be done. An organization
devoted to promoting ideas often
derided as antique and outmoded
could not survive without govern
ment and establishment support.
Winter 1997
the many people who had faith
that in the long run, the ideas of
freedom are more powerful than
any pressure group. To all support
ers of the Ludwig von Mises Insti
tute, we say diank you for all you
have done.
A Future of Liberty
The leviathan state, that mon
ster devouring civilization in
this century, is in the throes of
death," said Llewellyn H. Rock
well, Jr., in his speech at our 15th
anniversary conference. "This is
not a wish or a prediction, but a
conclusion drawn from a broad
look at the trends of the last decade
and a half, which, if we take die
right steps, can continue on into
the next century."
Rockwell pointed to the huge
contrast between today's social-po
litical setting and that of 50 years
ago. Then, the idea that govern
ment should run society appeared
ascendent and invulnerable, while
nearly every sector ofthe economy
was hobbled by statisrn. The world
was dominated by superpowers
professing statist ideologies.
The difference between Keynes-
ian planning in die West and central
planning in the East was merely a
matter of degree. The age of the
managerial class of scientific and
public-spirited bureaucrats had
been born. Intellectuals saw die fu
ture, and it was with die state. Mises
and the Austrian School were the

Betty Scott and PearlMeier talkwith Prof.
Shawn Ritenonr at the 15th anniversary
conference.
outsiders—and their low profes
sional status reflected that fact.
Today, government power is
no longer seen as the answer to all
economic problems, and private
markets outwit planners at every
turn. All over the world, we see the
collapseofempires, the miracles of
technological progress, the power
of market forces, and die re-emer
gence of private life.
Other exciting themes of our
times: the breakup of media mo
nopoly power, the decline of
Beltway politics as a national
preoccupation, the exodus of die
best and brightest from govern
ment into the private sector, the
decline in allegiance to die presi
dency, the lack of confidence in die
welfare state, the decline in die tax
takeofstate and local governments,
and the resistance to government
programs by public opinion.
Rockwell traced die causes and
sources of change in country after
country, arguing diat "the logic of
dissolution requires diat we lose
faith in political leaders before we
can regain faith in our ability to
solve our own problems." But
what a future of liberty requires
above all else, Rockwell said, is a
firm intellectual foundation, and
the Austrian School provides it.
"Economics in particular, Mises
said, is theproper subject ofStudy for
every person. So at die Mises Insti
tute, we seek to create a seamless
web between academia and popu
lar culture, so as to influence the
future in everypossible way" That
requires tenacity, aggressiveness,
and firm attachment to principle.
"You share widi us a vision,"
Rockwell told the gathering, "ad
mittedly radical now, but main
stream tomorrow: namely, to bring
about a society where private life is
held at a premium, and where no
autocrat or despot, democratically
elected or not, is allowed to run
roughshod over the private pursuit
of prosperity and security
"We seek, all of us, a society
where politics means enforcement
of die rule of law, where economic
development is left to diose who
own and control real resources,
and where owners can use their
property without violent interfer
ence by parasites who neither pro
duce nor create, but live off those
who do."
Finally, Rockwell urged that
we all adopt Ludwig von Mises's
lifetime motto, a line from Virgil:
"lu ne cede malis sed contra audentior
ito." "Do not givein to evil, but pro
ceed ever more boldly against it."
The Mises Way
A t our anniversary dinner, the
Archduke Karl von Habsburg
asked: 'After a century of war and
destruction, what can be done? We
News From the Ludwig von Mises Institute •
must instruct the next generation.
This is exactly what die Ludwig
von Mises Institute is doing. It is
the lighthouse sending out the
beacon, so that the future can be
bright for ourselves and for our
children. This is an enormous task.
It is why I would like to diank die
Mises Institute for the work it is
doing. It is absolutely worth
while."
Our chairman Burt Blumert
added we must devote our resources
to passionate, energetic scholarship
centered on restoring liberty—diat
is, the American ideal—as die foun
dation of civilization.
Indeed, in 15 years, we've
made the difference: educating
countless students and hundreds of
tiiousands of adults, producing a
library of books and tapes, provid
ing a host of student fellowships,
and publishing a world-class aca
demic journal and four other peri
odicals. We've been a constant
presence in the popular press as
well, with hard-hitting commen
tary and analysis read by millions.
The key to it all is an uncompro
mising and unshakeable stand for
truth and liberty
Professor Ralph Raico com
missioned an internal report de
tailing every publication, seminar,
conference, and other activity diat
the Mises Institute has undertaken,
just so we could have a complete
Winter 1997

account. The result is die massive
"Raico Report." If you'd like a
copy, let us know
An Austrian Critique
In conjunction with our 15th
anniversary, we held a confer
ence: "The Iwentietii Century: An
Austrian Critique." A dozen top
scholars gave presentations on the
economic, political, and philo
sophical evils diat brought about
our ghastly century of war and de
struction.
For example, Mark Thornton
traced Congressional corruption
to bad court decisions and terrible
amendments to the Constitution,
which made die income tax legal,
imposed direct election of Sena
tors, and insulated politicians from
voters, making them dependent on
special interests. The result: a con
solidated central state that sees all
property as its own.
And it's not only our bank ac
counts diat die government wants.
Widi die advent of the therapeutic
state, said Paul Gottfried, the gov
ernment also seeks to purge our
minds of attachments to family
and neighbors, and to force us to
adopt a series of ridiculous egalitar
ian claims (women and men are the
same; no one is innately smarter
dian anyone else; we should feel
guilty for material achievement,
etc.).
Winter 1997 • News From the Ludwig von Misks Institute
John Demon,
Timothy Terrell,
Guido Hiilsmann,
Karl von
Habsburjj, and
Tom DiLoretizo
chat between pres
entations at the
conference.
Statism Infects
the Academy
M u c h of diis is reflected in col
lege curriculums, as Peter
Klein demonstrated. He read off a
series of available classes attacking
the very foundations of bourgeois
morality But he went much deeper
by pointing to government subsi
dies for higher education as die
real source of die problem. Until
we give up diis idea that everyone
is entitled to a tax-paid PhD, we'll
never fix the education system. But
there is a very bright spot in acade-
mia, said Peter: the Mises Institute,
which is circumventing statist cur
riculums to teach the truth on cam
puses all across America.
It's bracing to realize that most
of the bad ideas in this century
havecome stt-aight out of the acad
emy. Jeffrey Herbener showed how
Keynesianism killed prosperity for
millions—as die result of Keynes's
attempt to claim diat free markets
don't work. One result was die col
lapse of old moral standards, said
David Gordon and Mises b'clhws Narin Smith,
BillAnderson, andMark Brandly.
Joseph Salerno, encouraged by the
easy-money economy diat replaced
die gold standard.
Just as bad was die advent of
social democratic ideology ("col
lectivism by vote," pointed out
David Gordon) and national social
ism (collectivism by pseudo-patriot
ism, said Guido Hiilsmann). These
forms of socialism shared a hatred
of private property and die com
mercialsociety stilldie twin demons
of many media commentators to
day, as Michael Levin argued while
exposing this century's main philo
sophical errors.
War and Collectivism
Collectivism received its big
gest boost from globalist for
eign policy. John V Denson
showed how the betrayal of die
framers' foreign policy led to Wil
son's invasion of Europe, turning
a limited conflict into die greatest
disaster in die history of Western
civilization. Nazism and Commu
nism were among its legacies.
But even entrenched political
evil can be dislodged if the people
rise up against it. Yuri Maltsev, who
grew up under Soviet socialism, de
scribed how Mikhail Gorbachev
brought down socialism by acci
dent in the course of reforming it.
Ralph Raico argued that die
present U.S. system of managed
markets makes far too many con
cessions to die Soviet model, espe
cially in die low regard it has for
individual rights. The unifying
themes ofour century were social
ism and war. Linked to them was
the bloodshed inflicted by the
state. Murder by government, it's
been called, and indeed, never be
fore has the state gained so much
power and caused so much de
struction as in diis century

[MjP&
Karl von Habsburg and Ron Paul discuss
the differences between the U.S. Congress
and the European Parliament.
The Congressman
and the Archduke
W e were pleased diat Karl von
Habsburg attended die en
tire conference, and said it provided
a level of intellectual stimulation he
never encounters in Europe. He es
pecially appreciated Hans-Her
mann Hoppe's discussion of how
monarchy is limited where wel
fare-state democracy is not. A king,
for example, would not have been
allowed to tax half your earnings!
His impressions were con
firmed by our distinguished coun
sellor, Congressman Ron Paul,
who said the Mises Institute "does
more to educate students and die
public about economics dian any
odier organization." Ron, who re
turned to office in 1996, described
D.C. as still being dark and sordid,
a place where serious ideas and
principled thinking are alien.
Finally, our supportersover the
years were singled out and praised
for their vision and willingness to
invest in the ideas of liberty They
make it possible to present good
scholarship to students, to put out
die bestbooks and journals available
in the world of economics, to hold
top-of-the-line conferences, and to
educate die leaders of tomorrow.
The Austrian Family
As a part of our 15di anniver
sary, we wanted to produce an
introduction to die Austrian School
that really brought it to life, pre
sented itshistory, and celebrated its
accomplishments.
The result is die beautiful Aus
trian Family Alburn. It features
Austrians dating back to the
1400s, and includes pictures of
Carl Menger fishing, Eugen von
Bohm-Bawerk in Habsburg Court
regalia, Mises and EA. Hayek ex
amining manuscripts and having a
good laugh, Henry Hazlitt as liter
ary editor of The Nation, Murray
Rodibard as a teenager and young
professor, and much more.
TheAustrian Family Album
It is all tied together with an
essay about the Austrian School,
its development, its confronta
tions widi die mainstream, and the
ebbs and flows of its status in the
world of ideas. The result is quite
elegant, and serves as a great teach
ing device for die Austrian School.
Richard Kossmann, MD, a
longtime supporter, told us that
"more and more I feel that the
Mises Institute is a family, and I'm
honored to be a member of it."
Alejandro Chafuenof the Atlas In
stitute says: "I have to confess diat
of the hundreds (thousands) of
publications that I receive, the
only ones that I always read aredie
publications diat come out of the
Mises Institute."
Gonstant Presence
It's not unusual to browse die
newspaper racks and magazine
News From the l.uinvu; von Mises Instititf. • Wintek 1997
stands and run across frequent ref
erences to Mises, Hayek, Roth-
bard, and the Austrian School.
They appear in Forbes, the Will
StJ'eet Journal, the Neiv Republic,
and even the New York Times, to say
nothing of die scholarly journals
which are now contending with
die ideas of liberty as a living real
ity. Even Sky magazine recently ran
an article by Richard Brookhiser
on "the Austrians Ludwig von
Mises and Eriedrich Hayek."
The Washington Times called
the Mises Institute "an intellectual,
free-market powerhouse" reaching
many thousands "through student
scholarships, publications, confer
ences, and more." Carlos Ball trans
lates articles for Spanish-speaking
audiences, and is responsible for
die wide circulation ofMises Insti
tute material in Latin America.
When speaking before die Phila
delphia Society, he cited Lew
Rockwell as "one of our distin
guished North American writers."
And William Rees-Mogg,
writing in die London Financial
Times, reports on die views of Peter
Lilley, the shadow Chancellor of
the Exchequer from the British
Conservative Party "Lilley emerges
as strongly influenced by die Aus
trian school of economists." This
"Austrian view, known to Eng
lish readers largely through
works of Hayek and von Mises,
has a profound implication. When
governments intervene to counter
act economic trends, they are more
dian likely to make things worse.
Minimal government intervention
is not only justified on grounds of
liberty but also on die pragmatic
grounds that most intervention
does not work."
A special note of congratula
tions to Michael Novak, whose ar
ticle in the October 1997 First
Things was a helpful introduction
to Austrian School contributions
to economic science, and to
Lawrence Kudlow of American
Skandia Life, who often cites Mises
in his columns.
Churchill
Revisionism
Tempers flared among conven
tional historians when Ralph
Raico, writing in The Costs of War
('edited by John Denson) criti
cized Winston Churchill as an ar
chitect of the welfare-warfare
state. Plenty of historians have
noted diis, of course, but to criti
cize it, well, that's beyond the pale.
So when a writer for History Today
struck out at Raico, Raico struck
right back widi a lengthy and dev
astating letter in die
August issue.
Prof. Raico has
also drawn attention
to the close relation
ship between Joseph
Stalin and Franklin
D. Roosevelt. "How
can we take seriously
the proposition that
Stalin was in the same
moral category as
Hider and at the same time raise
not the slightest objection to Mind
ing and dedicating a national me
morial to the same president who
viewed Stalin as a fellow progres
sive and was proud to call him a
friend?"
Come Galling
W e love to host Members
who come through town.
They enjoy talking to our stu
dents, looking through out-
publications, and renewing their
memberships. A guest we are always
gladto seeisJohn Egolf, who teaches
Winter 1997 Nkws Im«)m tiik I.unwic. von Mises Institute
high-school kids good economics.
"I want to diank you for the warm
greeting diat you gave to me and
my students," he wrote after his
last visit. "The students were, in
itially, shy about entering the
building, but your greeting re
moved what apprehension they
mayhave had.Thank you againfor
making us feel so welcome."
Headquarters
of Liberty
For us, it's a landmark: a build
ing for research and seminars
has been a dream of ours for 15
years. Now at last it is possible,
thanks only to the support of the
members of the Mises Institute
(more on these heroes later). The
dedication of the building, and a
companion conference on the
great Austrian economists,
1500-1998, will be held June 5-6,
1998. We hope you can join us in
Auburn for die occasion.
As you can see, we have made
good progress in every sense, but
still have a way to go. There's still
time to purchase an engraved pav
ing brick to go in the entrance way
or on die front porch. Larger con
tributors are being honored with
their names engraved in granite.
Even larger donors have the op
portunity for portraits and whole
rooms to be named in dieir honor.
Professor ]antes Barth looks over the
blueprints with Norma Jennings.
If you would like more informa
tion on how you can be a part of
diis historic project, let us know.
II
:>P^
•~ * ^—j
mises institute building fund
Wc' re almost there!
Donations and
November 1997
Pledges
August 1997
Scholarly
and Popular
T h e Mises Institute is some
times criticized for being too
scholarly, and at other times for
our extensive public outreach. But
it has always been our approach,
pioneered by Mises, to seek an
audience in both worlds. Exam
ples abound, but especially help
ful is the journal of Commerce, a
daily business newspaper owned
by The Economist that reaches an
influential international audi
ence. It ran articles by Mises in
die 1940s, and the editorial page
isstill open to serious commentary
on events. Lew Rockwell has a
column that runs up to three
times per month, and die page
often runs shorter versions of
studies that come out in The Free
Market and Essays in Political
Economy.
 Nobel Prize
for Planning
Economists used to be re
warded for dreaming up mod
els to plan society But diis year's
Nobel went to two economists —
Robert Merton of Harvard and
Myron S. Scholes of Stanford
—who came up with a formula
that makes better financial plan
ning possible. Drawing on an in
sight spelled out by Mises in 1949,
that the risk premium for an in
vestment is built into the price,
they made it possible for the op
tions market to develop into a
wide array of financial derivatives
that make die markets work more
efficiently
From models for social plan
ning to formulas for financial plan
ning is a huge step in the right
direction. But when will good eco
nomic dieory become ascendent?
There's still a long way to go until
the Ausman School gets credit it
rightly deserves.
One great sign was an interna
tional poll of economists to see
who diey diought deserved die
prize, conducted by die Technical
University of Berlin. Two Austri
ans and Mises Institute scholars
came in the top five: Israel Kirzner
of New York University (inter
viewed in the Spring 1997 Aus-
trian Ecojwmics Newsletter) and
Hans-Hermann Hoppe of the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Hoppe
and the Web Nobel
Indeed, Hoppe, who in many
ways is Rothbard's heir as a
methodologist and political theo
rist, came in second in the poll, just
below a mathematical game theo
rist. As die votes began racking up,
Austrians die world over enjoyed
imagining what all the people who
were following this poll were
thinking. Keynesian leftovers must
have been none too pleased.
In addition to die 2,000 or so
students he's nitored at Mises Uni
versity a key reason for his broad
support may be Hoppe's reputa
tion in Europe. He's given speeches
Marian Ward and Pro]'. Hans Hoppe
discuss his talk on democracy.
to the Mont Pelerin Society in die
last several years, which are widely
acclaimed. And if you had picked
up Romania's equivalent of die
New York Times diis past summer,
you would have found a special
insert on die Austrian School and
a large essay on the work of
Hoppe.
Rothbard Rising
You need a paragraph at a mini
mum just to name all die fields
in which Murray Rodibard made
seminal contributions to the so
cial sciences. Just his important
theoretical articles on econom
ics— aside from his many books
—took two volumes to collect.
The Logic ofAction is published in
die Edward Elgar series "Econo
mists of die Cenniry," a phrase diat
fits well.
In addition, diree separate in
tellectual biographies are in pro
gress, one written by Roberta
Modugno, who works for a Roman
university research center directed
News From the Ludwig von Mises Institute •
by Misesian Dario Antiseri. In ad
dition, he is arranging for the
translation of several works diat
are not yet available in Italian, in
cluding Egalitarianism as a Revolt
Against Nature. That extraordi
nary work will also be available in
Korean, thanks to the Korea Cen
ter for Free Enterprise in Seoul.
And Power and Market is being
translated into German.
Kemp Falling
Among die most popular arti
cles we've run in a year of
great Free Market issues was "The
Birdi of an Empire." In it, Thomas
DiLorenzo of Loyola College tells
the story of how die original Con
stitutional republic of the framers
was transformed into a Leviathan
state, with the turning point be
ing Lincoln's war of 1861. But
there's a story within a story:
when he first presented this the
sis, Jack Kemp, who was in the
audience, started making rude
noises, flailing his arms, and fi
nally stormed out.
Well, diat didn't go down so
well among many readers, who
wondered if Kemp has die tem
perament to handle the nuclear
football if he loses his cool at a
speech. Indeed, Kemp has treated
Louis Farrakhan far more civilly
dian DiLorenzo. But Kemp's an
tics ended up backfiring: the
Southern Partisan ran die speech as
its cover story.
Winter 1997
 Other Landmarks
Rodibard fellow Mark Brandly's
story on home schooling
generated newspaper stories on
how parents across the country
have decided to secede from the
public school system and try dieir
own hand at teaching. The Wall
Street Journal published Mark's
plea for a complete deregulation of
schooling (which, as versus vouch
ers, is the real path to educational
competition). The Home School
Legal Defense Fund publicized
Mark's research, and he intends to
follow up on his original research
widi a more in-depdi economic
study on die phenomenon.
Williamson Evers, a Mises Insti
tute adjunct scholar, defended high
standards in California schools
againstefforts to water them down
even furtiier. Writing in die New
York Times, Evers said diat if we
"make standards minimal" dien
"learning will be minimal, too."
And DiLorenzo's article on
discrimination in pizza delivery
(the government claims pizza
makers must deliver to high-crime
areas or else) made die point that
many companies are glad to de
liver anywhere, but at a premium.
Thus die market has produced a
solution long before government
got involved. Published first in
USA Today, his piece circulated all
Money} It is a wonderful book. I
Dr. David Hosbcin andhisson John try
their hands on theMiscs web pageat the
conference.
Winter 1997 • News From the Ludwig von Mises Institute
over the country and was trans
lated into Spanish and circulated
throughout Latin America.
Study on the Web
For years, the Austrian Study
Guide has been the essential
bibliographic source for the
Austrian School. We've distributed
thousands to students and faculty
around the world. So it was a pri
ority for us to make die latest ver
sion of it available even more
broadly
"This study guide is phenome
nal," writes Peter J. Boettke of
Manhattan College. "Congramla-
tions. It has to be die most compre
hensive listing ever made available
and it will prove indispensable to
students and scholars of Austtian
economics."
One frequent web browser
called our web site "the best look
ing page I've seen so far." Jim
Bovard, author of Lost Rights, e-
mailed to call it "superb."
Today, our site is visited by aca
demics around die world who use
this bibliography for research.
Even die Washington Post praised
its depth and organization, if not
its content.
We ran across a post to an eco
nomics newsgroup that said: 'A
good book on die gold standard is
one byMurray N. Rodibard, What
Has Government Done to Our
have read it along widi many odi-
ers diat I ordered from die Mises
Institute. It warms my heart when
ever someone else says diat they
have read some of die works of the
Austrian economists. I diink it is a
shame it isn't required reading for
economics students, but teaching
people how a free market really
works might rock die boat a little."
Meanwhile, we rock away.
Chris'Tinning, Dr. Robert Hurt, and
student Ewa Dynowsha discuss economic
problemsfacing eastern Europe, at the
15th anniverary conference.
Supporters Gather
W e hope you can make our
1998 Supporters Summit
held in Palm Springs, California,
February 27-28. The theme is
"Liberty versus Power." Among
the speakers will be our senior
scholars Joe Salerno and Hans
Lloppe, two former students now
teaching in universities, and Char
les Adams. Adams's newest book
is Those Dirty Rotte?i Taxes: How
Tax Revolts MadeAmerica?^ Histoiy.
It hits die bookstores the first of
die year, and we have hopes diat it
will become a huge seller.
Seminars in Auburn
O u r students at Auburn Uni
versity, in addition to taking
a full load of classes, preparingfor
preliminary exams, and writing
dissertations, also attend two con
tinuously running seminars. The
first is directed by Professor
Leland Yeager and covers a variety
of topics from monetary to capital
theory. The second is our Man,
Economy, and State seminar and it
is going extremelywell. We're tak
ing this 1,000-page book slowlyso
diere is time for discussion. You are
welcome to attend if you are in
Auburn. The Austrian workshop is
at noon on Mondays, anddiereading
group is at noon on Wednesdays.
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
knew Mises and Hayek personally,
and knows as much as any living
person about the intellectual set
ting in which the Austrian School
flourished from die turn of die cen
tury to the present. It was an honor
when he decided to come to Auburn
and talk to our students. He is cur-
rendy writing an essay on Mises, to
be published next year.
From Germany
t o Alabama
How thrilling that some of
Germany's most successful
young businessmen, from die Ger
man Association of Independent
Entrepreneurs, came to Auburn as
their first stop on a tour arranged
by the German-American Cham
ber of Commerce. Lew Rockwell
told them a few details of Ameri
can history not taught in text
books, and Hans Hoppe talked
about die centrality of classical-lib
eral ideas in the history of Western
prosperity
Austrian Scholars
Conference 4
Anticipation is growing for the
ASC 4, April 3-4, 1998,
which features a great lineup of
speakers. They include James
Glassman of the Washington Post,
who may be the best columnist in
the country; Henri Lepage,
author of Tomorrow, Capitalism,
and an articulate spokesman for
liberty in France; Jeremy Frank
Shearmur of die Australian Na
tional University, author of a
seminal new study on Hayek;
"Tu ne cede man's sea contra audentior Ho.
"Do not give in to evil, hut proceed ever more holdly against it." Virgil
(In Notes ana Recollections, iMises wrote that while still in high school he adopted this quote as his litetime motto.)
Tut; Ludwig von Misics Institute, Auburn, Alabama 36849-5301
The Mises Institute book table was a
gatheringgroundfor eager readers like
Franklin Johnson and Anthony Ander,
helped by Mises Fellow Paul Cwik.
andLelandYeager, Mises Professor
at Auburn and one of his earliest
defenders. In addition, diere will
be panels on subjects from nine
teenth-century American eco
nomic history to die economics of
the arts and literature. We hope
you can be widi us.
Presidents,
Good & Bad
W e won't give away the sur
prise yet, but our 1998
conference on the American Presi
dency isshaping up to be as impor
tant as the Costs of War and
Secession conferences. It appears
diat many historians and econo
mists around the country have just
been waiting to have dieir crack at
debunking die disinformation on
diis subject.
We'll be covering die most fa
mous presidents (which also hap
pen to rank among die worst) and
die not so famous (yes, some of
them actually followed the Consti
334-844-2500: fax 334-844-2583; e-mail maii.cS'mises.okc;
tution). The resulting book will be
a major piece of revisionist history,
to be published by a prominent
academic publisher andshipped to
research libraries around the coun
try.
Remember, die dates are Octo
ber 16-17. It isheld in die glorious
resort at Callaway Gardens (a
40,000-acre private park that puts
die federal imitations to shame).
We'll also visit nearby Warm
Springs, Georgia, and tour FDR's
Litde White House (to see presi
dential hagiography in action).
Tax Reform
Scrap die Code" is the new slo
gan of the Congressional lead
ers who somehow couldn't bring
diemselves to cut income taxes this
year. But now they imply diey are
going to abolish taxes altogether.
But politicians have a way ofsaying
one tiling and doing anodicr. The
acid test oftax reform is whether die
reformer is willing to cut govern
ment revenue. Odierwise, tax re
form is like burglar reform, where
new houses become new targets.
The fastest path to genuine re
form is to lower the rates. Then
lower diem again, and again, until
die income tax is no more. Short
of diat, abolish the withholding
tax, so people can get a more direct
idea of how much tiiey're paying.
We'll see a tax revolt faster than die
feds can deposit our checks. Fi
nally, let's move tax day from April
15 to die firstMonday in November,
immediately before election day