Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936–1986 by James Rosen Regnery Publishing, 2023 496 pages James Rosen, who has written biographies of John Mitchell and Dick Cheney, and was for many years a reporter for Fox News, has found an ideal biographical subject in Antonin Scalia,, who served for thirty years on the Supreme Court. The volume under review, the
Murray Rothbard’s theory of punishment has often been misunderstood. Economists who have written on punishment and mentioned Rothbard find his “double restitution” idea puzzling, because they think about it only in terms of economic efficiency. This isn’t what he has in mind. He is combining economics and moral philosophy. Many economists reason
As you might suspect, I don’t think so, but the philosopher Gregory Salmieri is decidedly of a different opinion, and in this week’s article, I’d like to examine some of his arguments on this topic in his thoughtful essay “Objectivism,” published in The Routledge Companion to Libertarianism (pp. 82–101). Salmieri agrees with anarcho-capitalists
The recent school shootings have led many people to want to restrict or deny altogether our right to own guns, and in these troubled times, it is all the more essential to bear in mind the reasons for that right. To that end, I’d like in this week’s column to discuss the excellent essay by the philosopher Lester H. Hunt “Guns and Self-Defense,”
Murray Rothbard often shows an unusual ability to counter an objection to something he says by showing that the objection actually supports his view. In this week’s column, I’d like to discuss one example of this. Rothbard believes that libel and slander should not be crimes or torts. If he is right, people shouldn’t be fined or imprisoned for
[ The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution . By Kevin R.C. Gutzman. Regnery Publishing, 2007. Xiii + 258 pgs.] Kevin Gutzman gives his readers much more than they had a right to expect. The “Politically Incorrect Guide” series in which his book appears aims at a popular audience: its goal is to correct commonly held myths of leftist
[ 33 Questions About American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask. By Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Crown Publishers, 2007. c. 294 pgs.] Thomas Woods’s forbidden questions cover a variety of topics, but a common thread in his answers unifies the book: Throughout American history, the federal government has been the principal enemy of liberty. Within the
[ How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok . By Glenn Greenwald. Working Assets Publishing, 2006. 128 pages.] In this remarkable book, Glenn Greenwald solves a difficult problem. President Bush has for several years authorized the National Security Agency to wiretap telephones within the United States without a
[ Who Killed the Constitution? The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush. By Thomas E. Woods Jr. and Kevin R.C. Gutzman. Crown Forum, 2008. Viii + 259 pages.] The question posed by the title of this book raises a further question, as the authors are well aware. If the Constitution is indeed dead, why does this matter?
[ Rescuing Justice and Equality . By G.A. Cohen. Harvard University Press, 2008. Xvii + 430 pages.] The title of G.A. Cohen’s remarkable book suggests an obvious question. Cohen wishes to rescue justice and equality; but from whom or what are these in danger? Cohen’s target will strike many readers as surprising: it is the false views of John
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.