He offers a Kantian justification for political economy in the style of Buchanan; and he maintains that this view of things is at the root of the American Republic. Readers of a libertarian bent will not be fully satisfied; but Roth's carefully argued book deserves, and rewards, close study.
"Mises's desideratum was thus not a 'neutral' money, or even a practical approximation of it; rather, it was the complete elimination of 'human influence' on the purchasing power of money."
"The book takes the position that the most interesting problems of economic organization relate to the intersection of the entrepreneurial and capitalist functions."
"Production has been altered in such a way that the length of waiting time has been extended. But the demand for consumers' goods has not dropped so as to make the available supply last for a longer period.
"The government can talk about entrepreneurship and act like it is promoting it, but all of what government does by taxing and regulating impedes the entrepreneur."
"Some may wonder why it took Hess 20 years to notice all this, why it took a man this obviously intelligent so long to grasp that the Republicans were pretty much the same as the New Deal Democrats he opposed, but with window dressing."
"Make no mistake, this supposed 'containment' boondoggle was yet another bailout of the world's largest banks. A majority of the PIIGS's debt is held by large French and German banks."
"The risk associated with loan obligations are shifted to the taxpayer. Consequently, the act removes obligation and creates a moral hazard with the creation of a virtual backstop."
"Capitalism is something innate in all societies, and so governments can only become burdens upon this web of naturally occurring human actions."
"The financial burdens of hegemony are difficult to overestimate. "
