This week’s Iowa caucuses mean that election season has officially begun, though the truth about politics stays the same. While the names may change, the spectacle every four years represents, as Lew Rockwell notes, “the triumph of compulsion over cooperation, coercion over freedom, and propaganda over truth.” Party banners are waved, campaign consultants gets paid, and government continues to grow — regardless of its consequences. Though while governments across the world — and the central bankers that enable them — continue to look for ways to tighten its grasp on an increasingly fragile globe, history will show it is no match for the human spirit. Innovation, reason and markets.

Or in the words of Jeff Deist at last weekend’s Mises Circle: The future is centralized vs. decentralized, it’s what works vs. what doesn’t. It’s reasonable people vs. unreasonable people. It’s political correctness vs. the truth.

The next Mises Weekends features Dr. Ron Paul’s speech from Houston. Dr. Paul puts today’s battle for liberty in historical perspective, highlighting how advancements in society have been rooted in respect for individual rights. Pointing to today’s technology that allows for the global dissemination of Austrian economics, freedom, and peace, Dr. Paul explains why he maintains his infectious optimism ­— even in the face of today’s depressing electoral season.

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And in case you missed any of them, here are this week’s featured Mises Daily articles and some of our most popular articles at Mises Wire:

• The Truth About Politics by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.
• The Cozy Relationship between the Treasury and the Fed by David Howden
• The Continuing Demonization of Cash by Paul-Martin Foss
• Are Harsh Sentencing Laws Driving Up Homicide Rates? by Justin Murray
• How the Blockchain and Gold Can Work Together by Thorsten Polleit
• Measuring the Global ECONOMIC Temperature by Mark Thornton
• After Lego, Barbie Now Criticized for Being Too PC by Ryan McMaken
• How Would “President Rothbard” Keep Out the Zika Virus? by Ryan McMaken
• Was the Ethanol Lobby the Big Loser in Iowa this Year? by Ryan McMaken
• A Crack in the Central Bankers’ Armor? by Paul-Martin Foss
• “Reformulation of Austrian Business Cycle Theory” Now in Polish
• The Fed Wants to Test Drive Negative Interest Rates by Joseph Salerno
• Mises: The Case for Reason by Ludwig von Mises
• Alt-Right vs. Socialist Left: What It Means for Liberty by Jeff Deist
• Flint MI. Whistle Blower Says Public Science Broken by Mark Thornton
• A Surprising Opponent of the War on Cash by Joseph Salerno
• More Thoughts on Libertarian Populism by Jeff Deist
• Mises on the War on Cash by Carmen Elena Dorobăț
• Even José Canseco Thinks Negative Interest Rates Are “Dumb” by Joseph Salerno