Sound economics and economic freedom have never been more crucial than today. Rampant inflation, tariffs, and taxes saturate every corner of our world. The state continues to reach for control of all aspects of our lives. But we continue to fight back.
Our mission statement has not changed since the Institute’s founding 43 years ago. The Mises Institute exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, and individual freedom, honest history, and international peace.
We have been nonpolitical, nonpartisan, and non-PC for over four decades, and we never accept any government funding. The support of our donors makes this possible. 2025 has been a great year. Let me share some of the highlights and what we’re looking forward to in 2026.
Mises University
We have continued to teach students from all walks of life and from all over the world with our flagship program, Mises University. This year we hosted 93 students from 15 different countries. These students wanted nothing more than to learn from the leading scholars in Austrian economics. Our academic vice president, Joe Salerno, was impressed. He said, “I can say, without exaggeration, that this year’s students were some of the most engaged, enthusiastic, and serious young scholars who have ever enrolled at Mises University.”
Next year will be the 40th anniversary of Mises University. That’s 40 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate students who are seeking something beyond the usual economics instruction at most colleges and universities. Every summer at Mises University, students encounter the foundations of a far sounder understanding of economics. They get the chance to learn directly from the world’s best Austrian School economists about topics including business cycles, competition, entrepreneurship, economic history, the philosophy of science, money and banking, and more.
We look forward to another 40 years of preparing future generations to fight for liberty and sound economics.
The Libertarian Scholars Conference
This coming year we’ll again be hosting the Libertarian Scholars Conference, which was one of Murray Rothbard’s great passion projects. Under the leadership of Joe Salerno, the Institute brought the conference to Auburn last March alongside our annual Austrian Economics Research Conference.
Murray envisioned this rigorous academic conference as the foundation of a true “discipline of liberty,” much like the schools of thought that emerged from the British classical and French liberal political-economy eras. From its first meeting in the 1970s, the Libertarian Scholars Conference became a vital forum for interdisciplinary collaboration to advance the study of liberty. We are proud to report the success of the Libertarian Scholars Conference this year, proving that the discipline of liberty remains vibrant and dynamic, with powerful applications in many different fields today.
The Rothbard Graduate Seminar
Our mission does not stop at introducing undergraduates to the scholarship of freedom and free markets. We also seek to engage graduate students and educators. A key component of this effort is the Rothbard Graduate Seminar, which this past summer celebrated its 26th year.
This year’s seminar was centered around Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State, which the students read alongside advanced copies of Joe Salerno and Patrick Newman’s forthcoming book, Murray N. Rothbard: The Making of an Austrian Economist. How lucky our students were to deepen their study of the Austrian tradition directly under the heirs of Rothbard themselves!
We plan for Joe and Patrick’s book to be released next year. You won’t want to miss it.
Fellows in Residence
For rising students and scholars who want to advance scholarship in the Austrian tradition, there is the very competitive Fellows in Residence program. This summer, the Institute hosted nine brilliant young Fellows. Their research topics included the relationship between private property and health, how stablecoins can serve as an alternative to central bank currency, and the ideologies that informed the Old Right and its attempts to resist the growing twentieth-century state.
Our Fellows have the invaluable opportunity to call the leading scholars of the Austrian School their mentors and colleagues. They have access to the priceless personal papers and libraries of the greatest lights of our movement. Fostered by the support of the Institute’s academic network, many Fellows go on to publish groundbreaking articles and books, as well as to teach at colleges and universities around the world.
Continued Outreach to Students
One of our more recent programs that continues to flourish is the Mises Book Clubs. Since the meeting of our first Mises Book Club in the fall of 2023, we’ve hosted and sponsored 28 book clubs, both virtual and in person, all over the country.
Thanks to these book clubs, students from Alabama to Michigan to Wyoming and beyond have had the opportunity to discuss some of the best works of Mises, Rothbard, Hayek, and other Austrian and libertarian thinkers in a formal setting outside of school.
Led by Mises Fellows, former Fellows in Residence, and interested faculty at various campuses across the country, the Mises Book Clubs have brought liberty-minded people from all walks of life into contact and have fostered strong intellectual friendships. We hope to continue to support these book clubs for years to come.
One of the most rewarding fruits of our academic programs is seeing former students leading their own independent efforts to spread the message of freedom and free markets. This year, for example, Mises University alumni at the University of Chicago hosted their first major event and invited us to join them and meet other interested students on their campus. It was wonderful to see students from Chicago and other colleges so interested in creating their own Mises-based societies and clubs.
There is nothing more encouraging than watching young people come through our programs and leave with a hunger to fight for liberty. We can’t wait to continue supporting these students.
Expanding Publications
This year, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of mises.org, a major milestone not only for the Institute, but for any organization focused on educating against the mainstream. We’ve had 30 years of unapologetic content that has grown to include written and audio articles, ebooks and podcasts, and short and long-form videos.
Our content continues to reach the public. One video garnered over 1 million views in only three months! And we are able to make all of our content accessible for free, thanks to our courageous donors. We’re looking forward to the next 30 years.
We continue to publish the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics and the Journal of Libertarian Studies. Our academic journals continue to highlight new and impressive research in the Misesian and Rothbardian traditions.
Thanks to a particularly wonderful donor, this year we also published our newest giveaway book, Hayek for the 21st Century. As a student of Mises, Hayek remains essential reading for understanding today’s economic and political climates. This book is an introduction to Hayek, collecting some of his best essays on business cycles, money, and more.
We want anyone and everyone to read this book. If you haven’t ordered your free copy today, I encourage you to do so. Help us give away 100,000 copies, just like you helped us give away Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson and Rothbard’s What Has Government Done to Our Money?
With all of these giveaways, one thing has remained clear. The public has a strong desire to learn more about free market economics and the Austrian School. We are more than happy to feed that desire.
Looking Forward
The Mises Institute has always been unique. We reject taxes, monetary debasement, and the state’s monopoly of protective services. We refuse to compromise or sell out to state influence and ideas. We will not back down. But we need your help. Please consider making your most generous donation today.
We have exciting plans for 2026. In March we’ll celebrate Murray Rothbard’s 100th birthday, and we plan to make this the year of Rothbard. In May, we’re holding Rothbard University—a conference based in the libertarianism Rothbard loved and designed to be a mini–Mises University for everyone who ever wished they could attend the “Best Week of the Year” themselves.
We will continue publishing new books, articles, podcasts, journals, and other publications that further the fight for freedom. We will continue educating the next generation as we mark our 40th Mises University, our 27th Rothbard Graduate Seminar, and our 34th Austrian Economics Research Conference.
With your help, we will continue fighting against the state and its tyranny. You can help us not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it. This was Ludwig von Mises’s lifelong motto, and we can’t help but agree. Please give today, and stand strong with us.
We thank you for your generous support, which has made over four wonderful decades possible.
Warmest regards,
Lew Rockwell
PS: We can’t do anything without you. Please contribute as much as you can. We must continue this fight for ideas and the future. Now more than ever.
