Category: Series

Contrary to popular myth, every Republican president since and including Herbert Hoover has increased the federal government's size, scope, or power. Over the last one hundred years, of the five presidents who presided over the largest domestic spending increases, four were Republicans.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-daily/republicans-and-big-government

The Republican insistence on increasing military spending is the main reason Congress cannot cut taxes without increasing the debt, making cuts in domestic welfare programs, or both.

Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/big-beautiful-bill-military-industrial-complex

The Boston Tea Party was an opening act in what came to be a violent culture war and war of national liberation. And it helps us understand how America in 2020 could become as bitterly divided as America during the revolution. 

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/american-revolution-was-culture-war

Another president, another “strike for peace.” Trump’s assault on Iran wasn’t about safety. It was another step in the long tradition of unchecked executive power and endless war waged without consent.

Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/trumps-strike-against-iran-weapons-mass-overreach

Our media, higher education, and, of course, governments tell us that our social and economic problems are due to capitalism. Yet, what we see are governments bringing us inflation, chaos, and the horror of war. It's time we abandon the fiction that governments "serve the people."

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/free-market-would-preclude-todays-headlines

Tim Harford looks at some of the numbers in the news and in life. This week:

Is church-going making a comeback in the UK?

Is it true that every day, 1000 people begin claiming personal independence payments, or PIP?

When the government talks about how it “returns” illegal immigrants, what does it mean?

Can a new telescope really see golf balls on the moon?

If you’ve seen a number you think looks suspicious, email the More or Less team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

More or Less is produced in partnership with the Open University.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Nicholas Barrett, David Verry Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Richard Vadon

We are back with another edition of listener questions! In this round, we tackle recession pop, why the job market feels so crummy for IT grads, and whether President Trump saying that Walmart "eat the tariffs" is a form of price control.

Related episodes:
Hits of the Dips: Songs of recessions past (Apple / Spotify)
The beef over price controls
Price Controls, Black Markets, and Skimpflation: The WWII Battle Against Inflation

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy