While his claim of ideological steadfastness on his “basic political views” may have been correct, Rothbard did change his mind on questions of strategy and alliance, most significantly on the question of “McCarthyism” and the broader anti-Communist movement of the American Right, which he eventually rejected in favor of a more nuanced (and
In almost every discussion of the FCC specifically, or American spectrum policy in general, someone will assert that radio spectrum is a unique resource that belongs to the public. This will be said as if it were axiomatic—a starting point rather than the historical consequence of special interests pretending to misunderstand economics. More harm
William Graham Sumner wrote: All schemes for patronizing “the working classes” savor of condescension. They are impertinent and out of place in this free democracy. There is not, in fact, any such state of things or any such relation as would make projects of this kind appropriate. Such projects demoralize both parties, flattering the vanity of
Libertarians have always had a sense of history. Mainly because they puzzle over the USA of the 19th Century and its transformation into the USA of 2007. Many explanations are offered. A Pulitzer prize winner, Robert A. Caro, has made a unique contribution to this political conundrum in a multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. What a book! the
Introduction The Ahistorical State Nozick’s “Nonaggressive” State From “Ultra-minimal” to “Minimal” The Right to Be “Nonproductive” From Minimal State Back to Anarchism Conclusion Notes Robert Nozick , 1938–2002 Ask a nonlibertarian academic for the title of a libertarian book. If they’ve heard of any, it will be Harvard Philosopher Robert
Re-nationalization, high tariffs, Keynesian monetary and fiscal “policy”, and all the U.N.’s CEPAL recipe for disaster is back in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador. Having to say a lot on the subject, let me just begin with Hugo Chavez’s proposal for an expiring, voucher-based currency. Besides being anything but original , it would take
According to the Mises.org Freedom Calendar , Marcus Tullius Cicero was born 2,115 years ago yesterday. (According to Wikipedia , it was 2,114 years ago.) Gary Galles wrote, According to Anthony Everitt, he was “an unknowing architect of constitutions that still govern our lives.” John Adams said of him, “All ages of the world have not produced a
Murray Rothbard addresses all the critical questions. Do libertarians believe that individuals are isolated, acting without influence? Are we libertines? Naive rationalists? Utopians? Do we promote selfishness? Before judging and evaluating libertarianism, it is vitally important to find out precisely what that doctrine is, and, more particularly,
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.