Organized Crime The Unvarnished Truth About Government The Ludwig von Mises Institue dedicates this volume to all of its generous donors and wishes to thank these Patrons, in particular: Louis Carabini Arthur L. Loeb; Sheldon Rose Anonymous; Robert D. Bowers; John E. Burgess; Sherry Klein Burgess; Andrew S. Cofrin; Donald K. Cowles; Michael H. Denyer, MD; Joel Hall; James D. Heiple; Dr. Guelcin Imre and Prof. Dr. Hans- Hermann Hoppe; The Robert and Ann Kennedy Family Foundation; James E. Kluttz; Richard J. Kossmann, MD; David and Ann Langdon; Joe R. Lee; Bailey Liipfert; Rafael Perez-Mera, MD; Gary Mullennix; Mr. and Mrs. R. Nelson Nash; David Sims; Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Woodul III Donald E. Bently; Bob and Rita Bost; Roman J. Bowser; Roger and Angela Box; Justin Bradfield; Alfred R. Davie; Philip Egan; Michael Fox; Steven C. Frazer; Todd S. Gibson; Gary T. Gorski; T.J. and Ida Goss; Nadine L. Grabow; Bob Guess; James E. Hall; John A. Halter; Dr. Frederic Herman; Kenneth C. Holton; Robert S. James; Dr. and Mrs. Jason E. Jewell; Scott A. Kearl; Bernard Koether; Jonathan Leckie; Leopoldo Leyendecker; Richard and Donna Mancini; Michael, Dawn, and Marina McKay; Donald and Linda Miller; Kenneth S. Morris; Terence Murphree; James Rutledge Roesch; Thomas S. Ross; James R. Sattler; John H. Scacchia; Donald E. Siemers; Silver-Investor.com; Norman K. Singleton; Henri Etel Skinner; G. Keith Smith, MD; Edward M. Soloko; Albert W. Stewart; Robert J. Stewart; Hubert John Strecker; Stephan P. Sykes; Harry E. Teasley, Jr.; Kenneth S. Templeton; Reginald Thatcher; Dr. Michael Thibodeaux; Brian Thomson; Margaret C. Thomson; David W. Tice; Quinten and Marian Ward; Wayne G. Whitmore, MD; Thomas G. Winar, Sr. Organized Crime The Unvarnished Truth About Government THOMAS J. DILORENZO MISES INSTITUTE AUBURN, ALABAMA Copyright © 2012 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given. Ludwig von Mises Institute 518 West Magnolia Avenue Auburn, Alabama 36832 mises.org ISBN: 978-1-61016-255-5 (paperback edition) ISBN: 978-1-61016-256-2 (hardback edition) To Laura and all of those like her who have enriched their lives by discovering the literature of liberty. Contents Introduction: Austrian Political Economy Section One: Coercion and Regulation 1. Four Thousand Years of Price Control 2. The Other War 3. Who Will Regulate the Regulators? 4. Regulation and the Stock Market 5. Our Totalitarian Regulatory Bureaucracy 6. Antitrust, Anti-Truth 7. Antitrust Luddites 8. Socialized Healthcare vs. the Laws of Economics Section Two: Politics and Thieves 9. Pay to Play: Why the Fuss? 10. Fed-ACORN Criminality 11. Price Gouging: The Real Problem 12. Farmed Robbery 13. The Founding Father of Crony Capitalism 14. The Curse of Instigationism 15. The State’s Media Lapdogs Section Three: Centralization versus Liberty 16. Freedom and Federalism 17. The Origins of Nullification 18. The Real Meaning of the Fourth of July 19. Electing U.S. Senators was a Bad Idea 20. False Virtue: The Politics of Lying About History 21. How (and Why) the Lincoln Myth was Invented 22. Centralization Lets the Worst Rise to the Top 23. Death by Government: The Missing Chapter 24. The Birth of American Imperialism 25. Paul Krugman’s Politically-Correct “Civil War” Delusions 26. Grand Old Tyrants 27. Facialism: The New American System 28. In Defense of Sedition 29. Distorting History in the Service of the State Section Four: Money and the State 30. Central Banking as an Engine of Corruption 31. States’ Rights vs. Monetary Monopoly 32. How Central Banking Hides the Cost of War 33. How the Fed Creates Unemployment 34. The Myth of a “Libertarian” Fed 35. The Myth of the “Independent” Fed 36. Why the Government is Responsible for the Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown Section Five: Workers and Unions 37. The Political Economy of Government Employee Unions 38. The Inherent Violence of Unions 39. The False Ideological Foundation of Unionism 40. Markets, Not Unions, Give us Leisure and Safety on the Job 41. The Union Conspiracy Against Walmart Employees 42. How “Sweatshops” Help the Poor Section Six: Truth and Lies about Markets 43. The Truth about the “Robber Barons” 44. The Truth about the Sherman Antitrust Act 45. The Myth of “Natural” Monopoly 46. The Virtues of Tax “Loopholes” 47. Macroeconomists Discover Economics and Debunk the New Deal (Again) 48. Will Socialism Make You Happier? The Trojan Horse of “Happiness Research” 49. The Canard of “Asymmetric Information” as a Source of Market Failure 50. The Real Ethics Problem in America 51. The Myth of Government Job Creation 52. The Myth of the Male/Female Wage Gap Index