Contents
Foreword by Carlo Lottieri
Preface
Introduction: Universal Rights, Locally Enforced
PART I: BIG STATES, SMALL STATES, AND SECESSION
1. More Choices, More Freedom, Less Monopoly Power
2. Political Anarchy Is How the West Got Rich
3. Why Regimes Prefer Big States and Centralized Power
4. Why the Classical Liberals Wanted Decentralization
5. Secession as a Path to Self-Determination
6. Nationalism as National Liberation: Lessons from the End of the Cold War
Preface
For decades, when American readers have encountered the topics of secession and political decentralization, the discussion has generally been confined to a narrow range of topics around the American Civil War, American constitutional law, and race relations in America.
This book barely mentions any of those things.
Introduction: Universal Rights, Locally Enforced
The world is now, and has always been, politically decentralized. At no time in history has all of humankind been ruled by a single political regime. Although the Roman Empire claimed to be universal, the Romans never even conquered all of Europe, let alone the whole inhabited world. Roman power never extended to India, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, or the Americas. In other words, political power was never wielded from any single place by any single state.
Breaking Away: The Case for Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities
Foreword
Classical liberal tradition defends the right of secession on many grounds. One of the main reasons is that the territorial dispersion of power limits political domination much more than formal constitutions do. Small states cannot easily adopt protectionist policies and their political classes are closely controlled by the citizens; in addition, redistribution is more difficult and rulers have more direct information about their own reality. Besides that, nationalism is a nonsense in a tiny jurisdiction of only 30,000 people (as in the case of Liechtenstein).
Epilogue: A Better World Is Possible
In a word, the progress of a science is blocked because erroneous methodological principles prevail.
– CARL MENGER
Appendix: On the Link between the A Priori Categories of Action and Reality
This short appendix aims to address an important issue: How is it possible that the a priori categories of human action derived from human cognitive faculties (mind or spirit) coincide with the real world? In other words, how can the categories of human action provide insights into the real world?
22. The Ray of Hope: Free Market for Money and Private Law Society
To reverse the trend and reduce the role of government in our lives … is a giant educational task.
– HANS F. SENNHOLZ
Bye-Bye Brainard
That was fast! While Lael Brainard has been on the Federal Reserve Board since 2014, she’s only held the position of Vice Chair since last May. Her Valentine’s Day resignation was quite surprising.
Most people would be unfamiliar with her. Only those who take interest in the Fed’s affairs could recognize her, and even those people, like myself, would be hard pressed to narrow down her significant accomplishments.
Luckily Fed Chair Jerome Powell shared some of her contributions:
