Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of property rights institutions to disaster relief efforts, with a focus on the US Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. Design/methodology/approach – The paper...

This paper argues that laissez faire capitalism is the last best hope for mankind. That if the human race is to survive and prosper, put an end to starvation, hopelessness and unemployment, then we must embrace private property rights, the rule of law and free enterprise. No longer should...

Purpose – Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT) is a rare and precious flower. As adherents of this perspective, the present authors wish to share it with as many scholars as possible. They thus welcome criticisms of it, particularly emanating from neoclassical economists, who have for far too...

Is money a producers’ good or a capital good, or is it sui generus, as Mises, Rothbard, and other Austrians have maintained? We argue that all action is either consumption or production, and that exchange is but a form of production. Consequently, all goods are either consumers’ goods or...

Mainstream economics maintains that ``public'' goods will not be provided (adequately) by free markets. Rather, if society is to have (efficient amounts of) public goods, government intervention is required. Traditionally, lighthouses, along with national defense, were held up as the...

Why all the fuss over labeling? Certainly it is a matter of relative unimportance what we call things; the substance of the matter is far more important. When matters are put forward in this manner, this claim can hardly be denied. However, nomenclature too is important, particularly if it...