My own basic perspective on the history of man, wrote Murray Rothbard, is to place central importance on the great conflict that is eternally waged between Liberty and Power, a conflict that was seen with crystal clarity by the American revolutionaries of the 18th century. I see the liberty of the individual not only as a great moral good in itself (or, with Lord Acton, as the highest political good), but also as the necessary condition for the flowering of all the other goods that mankind cherishes: moral virtue, civilization, the arts and sciences, economic prosperity.

Out of liberty, then, stem the glories of civilized life. But liberty has always been threatened by the encroachments of power, power which seeks to suppress, control, cripple, tax, and exploit the fruits of liberty and production. Power, then, the enemy of liberty, is consequently the enemy of all the other goods and fruits of civilization that mankind holds dear. And power is almost always centered in and focused on that central repository of power and violence: the State. FULL ARTICLE

In the last decade of the last century, Fed Chairmain Alan Greenspan (former libertarian, supposed fiscal conservative) and President Bill Clinton (left-neoliberal for life) decided that the way the government measured and produced official economic statistics was misleading (read: too revealing), and so they started fudging the numbers. Dubya’s government has continued to do so, while adding the new strategy of discontinuing publication of certain numbers.

Here’s a site that tracks the present economy according to the government’s own previous methods:

Have you ever wondered why the CPI, GDP and employment numbers run counter to your personal and business experiences? The problem lies in biased and often-manipulated government reporting.

Anthony Gregory just sent me an image that would make an appropriate banner for any libertarian blog: