Subjects

Ukraine Defends Its Freedom—And That of Russia

For years, Russian propaganda has tried to spread the narrative of NATO endangering Russia’s security. However, with his war against Ukraine, Putin is trying to thwart a free, Western-oriented Ukraine because it is a threat to his power.

The mRNA Vaccine Makers Got Rich—But Not at the Taxpayers’ Expense

According to one criticism, Moderna and Biontech, the two manufacturers of the mRNA vaccines against Covid-19, have enriched themselves from government subsidies. This is wrong. Without the perseverance of individual researchers and billions in private money, the vaccines would not exist.

What Are Russia’s Foreign-Policy Goals? How Should the West React?

Russian foreign policy is an attempt to bring former Soviet republics home to the Russian Empire and regain hegemonic influence over former Warsaw Pact states. This analysis from 2016 is particularly relevant today.

With a Carrot and a Stick: The Effects of the European Central Bank’s Negative Interest Rate Policy on the Banking System

The ECB is weakening bank profitability while strengthening it in a way that allows it to implement policy goals with the help of commercial banks. Read the new study.

The State and Freedom—Are Classical Liberals Anarchists?

Individual freedom by itself is not a political good. Classical liberalism understood the state not only as a threat, but always as a guarantor of freedom. To this end, it can also restrict freedoms, as in the case of fighting a pandemic. Everything is a question of proportionality—and about this some people have justified doubts.

The Green (Self-)Deception: Neither Progressive nor Socially Minded

The Greens in Germany are masters at absolving themselves of responsibility for stagnation and failure to modernize. Yet it is primarily they who are responsible for this. They are neither socially minded nor progressive.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—The Best Social Program in the World

Economists and researchers in the U.S. agree: the Earned Income Tax Credit helps millions of households stand on their own two feet. Work is rewarded, and with the help of this program, one million children have escaped child poverty.

What Does the Coronavirus Crisis Teach Us about the Labor Market?

The Covid-19 crisis threw many out of work, many suffered accordingly, and labor markets were also damaged. Depending on the situation, some governments fared better than others. In any case, policymakers can learn a few things from the pandemic.

The Austrian Academy 2021: Liberation from Academic Lockdown

Capitalism and the market economy are the foundations of our prosperity, which, thanks to globalization, is also spreading to places in which poverty still prevailed decades ago. At the Austrian Academy 2021 experts explain to twenty-two young people why this is so.

Globalization Before and After the Covid-Pandemic: Should There Be a New Normality?

It is not globalization, nor the market economy, nor capitalism that is a danger and should be reformed; it is the policies that might provide the wrong, anti-market response to the pandemic that are the real danger precisely to the growth of prosperity in the world’s poorest countries.

Freedom to Choose: A Cure for Illiberal Education

Attempting neutrality in public education ends up creating a systemic preference for a particular ethical standpoint. This creates a tension between public schools and the principle of liberal neutrality. This tension can be resolved without abandoning government-financed education through policies that are both popular and effective.

Paper Money Tricksters: From John Law to Today’s Central Banks

Today’s money experiments follow to the letter the procedure of one of the greatest money tricks in history: the paper money experiment of John Law in France 1716-1720.