When Murray Rothbard wrote Man, Economy, and State in the 1950s, monopoly theory was a mess. Even Mises did not have a full understanding of where neoclassical economics went wrong in diagnosing “market failure.” But in Chapter 10 of his great treatise, Rothbard demolished the myths surrounding monopolies and cartels. His friend Dr. Walter Block
Presented at the Mises Institute’s “First Annual Advanced Instructional Conference in Austrian Economics” at Stanford University; June 21–27, 1987. Includes a Question and Answer
The true test of our commitment to personal liberty doesn’t come when we permit others to engage in those peaceable, voluntary acts with which we agree. It comes when we permit others to engage in peaceable, voluntary acts we find offensive. Walter Block’s Defending the Undefendable II contains thirty chapters defending behavior that is probably
When government monopolization of the roadways is discussed by economists, the “externalities” argument is usually raised. The argument is said to be simple, clear, and irrefutable. In fact, none of these terms really apply. Let us consider the argument closely. Volume 7, Number 1 (1983) Block, Walter. “Public Goods and Externalities: The Case
Volume 5, No. 2 (Summer 2002) Austrianism is far more receptive to business and private enterprise than Marxism, and it certainly exceeds neoclassical economics in this regard. In terms of the phenomenon with which we have been concerned—the assumption of full information —Austrianism is far superior to mainstream economics. For one
The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000) University students are going berserk again. No, they are not swallowing goldfish, going on panty raids or stuffing themselves into phone booths, the excesses of a bygone day (the first two are now politically incorrect, and what with modern technology there is nary a phone booth to be found). Nor are they
The Free Market 18, no. 10 (October 2000) The Heritage Foundation is no flaming libertarian organization. Not for them the radical privatization of such things as bodies of water, roads, even social security, much less courts, armies, and police. But they are, after all, a conservative organization, so a person would think he could rely on
There are two views of monopoly within what might be called the broad Austrian camp. According to the Mises-Kirzner view, monopoly price can exist on the free market, and a necessary part of its definition is a purposeful withholding of resources on the part of the monopolist. Rothbard, however, defines monopoly as an exclusive government grant of
DT Armentano A Critique of Mainstream and Austrian Theories of Monopoly Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Paper Capture Plug-in
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.