Political Theory

Presented at the 2008 Economics and Government Seminar at the University of Waterloo, sponsored by the Institute for Liberal Studies.

The title of G.A. Cohen's remarkable book suggests an obvious question. Cohen wishes to rescue justice and equality; but from whom or what are these in danger? Cohen's target will strike many readers as surprising: 

The Clinton years are a case in point. Spending rose very little. Warfare was curbed relative to the past and present. Deficits fell. The public sector shrank.

Spend your time reading Wiggin and Bonner's book, buying gold, and avoiding taxes.

"The egalitarian world would necessarily be a world of horror fiction — a world of faceless and identical creatures, devoid of all individuality, variety, or special creativity."

As I've said many times, the real problem is not the person; it is the institution.

Delivered to the Oxford Libertarian Society, Balliol College, on 23 October 2008.

Recorded at the Mises Institute Supporters Summit, 1 November 2008; Auburn, Alabama. Includes a brief introduction by Mark Thornton.

Libertarians of course believe in the free market; if you find someone who favors the government provision of medical care or education, e.g., you

The principal criticism of anarchism posed by the minarchists here represented is that a free society requires an objective, uniform law code, a demand anarchism cannot satisfy.