Donald Trump has been criticized heavily for cutting federal funding of science. Opponents claim that his decision threatens to undermine American innovation, weaken the nation’s economy, and diminish its global influence. Yet the assumption behind these complaints is rarely examined. It is taken for granted that the government must play a central role in supporting science if society is to progress.

Individual liberty lies at the heart of the libertarian tradition. In this tradition, self-determination is understood as an emanation of individual liberty, rather than as a right vested in the “nation” or the “state” as a collective unit. In his book Liberalism, Ludwig von Mises explains,

Few historical episodes loom as large in the popular imagination of speculative excess as the Dutch tulip bubble of the 1630s. Tulipmania has become shorthand for irrational exuberance, a warning invoked whenever asset prices seem untethered from reality. Yet, as Austrian writers have long pointed out, the caricature of sober Dutch burghers mortgaging their estates for flowers is misleading.

“A lie,” the proverb goes, “travels halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” Whoever first said it, the line captures why socialism persists. Ludwig von Mises refuted socialism in his book Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis. Socialism still bitterly hangs on thanks to falsehoods that prey on the frustrations of many people.

[A Balance of Titans by Ivan Eland. (Independent Institute, 2025; 150pp.)]

Ivan Eland has long been a figure of respect among those who favor a less aggressive foreign policy, and he is also outstanding in his ability to come up with bold and original arguments, not only in defense studies but also in constitutional interpretation. These qualities are much in evidence in his new book A Balance of Titans, and in what follows I’ll comment on a few points of interest.

The belief that tourism “brings money into the country” and is therefore good for “the nation” is rooted in a persistent fallacy: mercantilism—the mistaken idea that money is wealth. From this confusion springs a host of destructive ideologies.

A subtle subset of the statist non sequitur is what we may now name the statist insinuation or statist implication. This commonly occurs in conversation or media. It involves the unquestioned assumption that the state is the natural or necessary agent of moral order, safety, or progress.