Mises Institute
Mises Institute
Mises Institute
The Two Economies
16 minutes Posted May 27, 2026 at 6:15 pm.
0:00
16:16
Download MP3
Show notes
As I see it now, there are really two economies—two distinct systems of producing and exchanging wealth. Or rather, two systems that purport to do these things, though only one of them really produces anything, and the other is organized by a peculiar form of exchange.
The first is what is called the trade economy—the one summed up in the phrase “the free market.” The other might be called “the tax economy.”
Original article: https://mises.org/free-market/two-economies