[A selection from “Restitution in Theory and Practice“ in Volume 12, Number 1 (1996) of the Journal of Libertarian Studies.]

If one reads the headlines you might think that since the yield curve has inverted, the economy is in a recession, Trump will be swept from office and then the Progressives’ goals are right around the corner.  Not so fast!  While much of that may still happen, we are not there yet.

A very common criticism of the libertarian position runs as follows: Of course we do not like violence, and libertarians perform a useful service in stressing its dangers. But you are very simpliste because you ignore the other significant forms of coercion exercised in society—private coercive power, apart from the violence wielded by the State or the criminal. The government should stand ready to employ its coercion to check or offset this private coercion.

[From Power and Market.]

[Adapted from “Landlordism and Liberty: Aristocratic Misrule And the Anti-Corn-Law League“ by Richard F. Spall in the Journal of Libertarian Studies.]

Rape, violence, and drugs are ubiquitous in prisons, so it is not surprising that recidivists commit a hugely disproportionate share of crime. Government prisons and so-called private prisons have no incentive to rehabilitate prisoners or improve prison conditions because taxes are their source of revenue, which is guaranteed regardless of performance.

“One of the amazing phenomena of the present election campaign is the way in which speakers and writers refer to the state of business and to the economic condition of the nation. They praise the administration for the prosperity and for the high standard of living of the average citizen ‘You never had it so good,’ they say, and, ‘Don’t let them take it away.’”

Since the outbreak of the global financial and debt crisis, real estate prices and rents, in particular in large cities around the world, have risen considerably. The monetary overinvestment theory of Friedrich August von Hayek helps to explain why large central banks have driven up real estate prices and rents, albeit with focus on economic centers.1

The enviro-socialist “climate emergency” crowd was busy earlier this month trying to launch the human equivalent of a cattle stampede by getting people to plunge into socialism to avoid bad weather.

There were headlines such as “Greenland is on track to lose most ice on record this year and has already shed 250 billion tons.”

The Walton family (the owners of Walmart) is currently worth about $190 billion. The Koch Brothers and Mars families (candy bars) are both worth over $100 billion. Such facts are intolerable to socialists, communists, “progressives,” and, sad to say, today’s Democrats.

Senator Bernie Sanders wants a tax of 77% on estates over $1 billion. He relishes the prospect of the Waltons having to pay $147 billion in estate taxes.