It is among the most famous of the great defenses of victimless crimes and controversial economic practices, from profiteering and gouging to bribery and blackmail. Narrated by Jeff
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
[This article originally appeared in International Journal of Value-Based Management 12: 195-207, 1999.] Besides national defense, no government-provided service enjoys as much exemption from scrutiny as the provision and subsidization of primary public education. Even presumed champions of the free market, such as Milton Friedman, support the
Traffic congestion reaches into all aspects of living: working, shopping, recreation. It insidiously cripples the ability of people to coordinate activities with one another, as it becomes virtually impossible to make exact appointments —a broad interval of time is usually the best that can be planned on. Volume 4, Number 3 (1980) Block, Walter.
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
In this article, Professor Walter Block discusses the legalities of black mail as well as the Libertarian perspective. Volume 15, Number 2 (2001) Block, Walter. “Toward a Libertarian Theory of Blackmail.” Journal of Libertarian Studies 15, No. 2 (2001):
When I first received Milton Friedman’s letter in response to my article “Hayek’s Road to Serfdom” I did not realize it would lead to more. Over the past few years I have shared these letters with several colleagues, friends, and students. However, such are his fame and accomplishments that I thought these back and forth letters might be of
The Creation of Jobs If the media tell us that “the opening of XYZ mill has created 1,000 new jobs,” we give a cheer. When the ABC company closes and 500 jobs are lost, we’re sad. The politician who can provide a subsidy to save ABC is almost assured of wide spread public support for his work in preserving jobs. But jobs in and of themselves do
The Free Market 26, no. 10 (November 2008) Writing the introduction to Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt was a labor of love for me. You know how women sometimes say to each other “This dress is you!”? Well, this book is me! This was the first book on economics that just jumped out and grabbed me. I had read a few before, but they were
Walter Block’s new book Toward a Libertarian Society covers a wide variety of topics from the death penalty to secession, and from war to macroeconomics. Dr. Block recently spoke with the Mises Institute about just a few of these. Mises Institute: You say in your book that it is a contradiction in terms to be both libertarian and to be for an
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.