While hardly anyone has experienced anything close to it, the minimal state is a popular idea in the libertarian community. In essence, it is a conceptual structure that promises, once implemented, to only protect peaceful people’s property rights from aggression.

The public debate about whether America is a proposition nation has pitted those who describe themselves as heritage Americans against those who believe anyone who embraces the ideals of America is just as American. Vivek Ramaswamy, writing in the New York Times, said:

In his classic book, Simple Rules for a Complex World (Harvard University Press, 1995), the great legal scholar Richard A. Epstein defends a classical liberal outlook that Rothbardians will find congenial. He supports self-ownership and a first possession rule for property acquisition and emphasizes the great benefits of voluntary exchange over coercion.

The Hoover Institution recently published a panel in honor of Thomas Sowell the economist. It is a well-deserved tribute. Sowell is one of the most lucid economic writers of the past half century. A good part of the conversation is devoted to his first major scholarly book, Say’s Law: An Historical Analysis (Princeton, 1972), the work that established him as a historian of economic thought.

Zimbabwe’s honey sector illustrates a problem familiar to Austrian economists: valuable knowledge exists, but it is dispersed among people, places, and production practices that no central authority can fully collect. Beekeepers know the flowering cycles of local forests, the behavior of colonies, and the harvesting methods suited to particular landscapes. Consumers, however, often cannot observe these qualities when honey reaches a market. A geographical indication (GI) on labels can help connect this dispersed knowledge to buyers.

“Should we just have done nothing?!” The former question is a common incensed objection whenever someone dares to question the wisdom, appropriateness, or success of the War on Terror.