Political Theory

Under free trade, and without politically oriented government-monopoly militaries, no country would be able to harm another. But with the existence of politicians "leading the country," it's a different story.

"In working with leftists against the draft and the Vietnam War," writes Rothbard in this passionate article, "I never had the absurd notion of converting them to capitalism, either sneakily (as Efron would have it) or otherwise.... We are living in the real world, where <em>facts</em> are important."

The connotation of unreality that the word has acquired follows from the fact that every utopia ignores the central operating lever of man: he seeks to satisfy his desires with the least expenditure of effort.

Just as, for them, liberty must be the highest political end, peace must be the highest end of foreign policy.

The economist should not allow his readers to accept the current myth that inflation is a scourge that governments try, with varying success, to keep in check. This myth is one of the consequences of economists generally failing to make explicit their assumptions.

Uh oh, Mr. Bernanke, the natives are getting restless. Now it's not just Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, or foreign central bankers, but more and more American economists who are starting to openly challenge the second round of "quantitative easing."

This arms deal is aggressive and demeaning; and it in no way protects the interests of the United States. Until our military is completely out of the Arabian Peninsula, we cannot expect to make any peace with foreign nations.

A man who is obliged to justify his handling of a matter in the eyes of other people often resorts to a pretext. As the motive of his deviation from the most suitable way of procedure he ascribes another reason than that which actually prompted him.

Plans are already in the works to put the initiative back on the ballot for 2012, which is expected to have higher turnout from young people. But in order for the ballot initiative to succeed, we must first understand why it failed.

Recorded at the Mises Circle at Furman University on November 13th, 2010.