Philosophy and Methodology

Not only are conscripts enslaved, often under brutal conditions, they can be sent to die in battle. Mises opposed conscription, but there was an exception.

The nonaggression principle—"anything peaceful"—comes as close to a value-free analysis in a political, ethical, economic, and legal theory as conceivably possible. It was insufficient for Rothbard, because he rightly found it insufficient for liberty.

Egalitarians think that equality has intrinsic value: they advocate it for its own sake, not just to forestall bad consequences. But why is a situation in which some in it have been made better off, and none worse off, worse than one of equality?

The 2016 election was an important reminder that most experts were totally wrong in their predictions of what would happen. Now the experts are claiming that freedom and markets must be abandoned based on new guesses about the future.

Quantitative methods can't be applied to human action, which is purposeful and not a mere reflex. For this reason, mathematical formulas can only describe events, never explain them.

Some people use the concept of negative externalities to argue for government to force people toward "what is best for them." An example of this is the call for a consumption tax.

Learning the history of economic thought is important not because every economist has been right, but because we can learn from their mistakes.

Choosing between labor and leisure is not like choosing between apples and oranges. Many people like both kinds of fruit. But labor involves disutility, so a better choice is this: between apples and rotten oranges.

If we insist on "collective" responsibility assigned to entire nations, then we must naturally punish the innocent along with the guilty.

Bob Murphy explains why the Intelligent Design movement will be to the natural sciences what the Public Choice school in economics is to the social sciences.