The articles by Messrs. Waters and Wollstein (Liberty, Sept./Oct. 1987) highlight a vitally important question for libertarians: How can we act, and act morally, in a State-controlled and dominated world? It seems to me that the most important concern is to avoid the twin, and equally destructive, traps: of ultrapurist sectarianism, where indeed
Not only were the physiocrats generally consistent advocates of laissez-faire, but they also supported the operation of a free market and the natural rights of person and property. John Locke and the Levellers in England had transformed the rather vague and holistic notions of natural law into the clear-cut, firmly individualistic concepts of the
January 21, 1958 To the Volker Fund: F.A. Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty is, surprisingly and distressingly, an extremely bad, and, I would even say, evil book. Since Hayek is universally regarded, by Right and Left alike, as the leading right-wing intellectual, this will also be an extremely dangerous book. The feeling one gets from reading it
This cri de coeur of the oppressed people of New Netherland against their despotic director, Willem Kiefft, was heeded by the West India Company and Kiefft was removed in May 1645. Unfortunately, the company was delayed two years in sending the new governor, and Kiefft continued to oppress the citizenry in the meanwhile. Even the coming of peace
Barriers to international trade always harm the public. [ Making Economic Sense (1995)] Protectionism, often refuted and seemingly abandoned, has returned, and with a vengeance. The Japanese, who bounced back from grievous losses in World War II to astound the world by producing innovative, high-quality products at low prices, are serving as the
Protectionism, often refuted and seemingly abandoned, has returned, and with a vengeance. The Japanese, who bounced back from grievous losses in World War II to astound the world by producing innovative, high-quality products at low prices, are serving as the convenient butt of protectionist propaganda. Memories of wartime myths prove a heady
The New York Times, February 2, 1971 The New Libertarian Creed Recently a great deal of publicity has been given to a burgeoning split in the right wing, a split between the dominant Buckley- National Review conservatives and the new libertarians. In their breakaway, the libertarians, who are strong on college campuses and generally among the
May 8, 1999 is the centenary of the birth of F.A. Hayek: The death of F.A. Hayek at the age of 92 marks the end of an era, the Mises-Hayek era. Converted from Fabian socialism by Ludwig von Mises’s devastating critique, Socialism , in the early 1920s, Hayek took his place as the greatest of the glittering generation of economists and social
The War on Yugoslavia has unleashed an unprecedented amount of anti-American sentiment. This is invariably accompanied by the tried-and-true method of political protest: flag burning. Who has the right to burn flags and under what conditions? Murray N. Rothbard sorts it all out in his classic article, The Flag Flap . James Bovard notes the irony
THE FREE MARKET, Volume 5, Number 8, August 1987 Alan Greenspan: A Minority Report By Murray N. Rothbard The press is resounding with acclaim for the accession to Power of Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Fed; economists from right, left, and center weigh in with hosannas for Alan’s greatness, acumen, and unparalleled insights into the “numbers.”
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.