Big Government

There was just something too utilitarian and results oriented in Rand's purportedly principled case for IP, and something too artificial about the state's copyright and patent statutory classifications.

If we look beneath the surface of our public affairs, we can discern one fundamental fact, namely, a great redistribution of power between society

Presented by Douglas E. French at “Recovery or Stagnation?,” the Mises Circle in San Francisco; sponsored by Mark L.

Presented by Walter Block at “Recovery or Stagnation?,” the Mises Circle in San Francisco; sponsored by Mark L.

"Since most matter in the universe could be used to encode an idea, intellectual property is a claim over the entire universe."

On the other hand, a social order weakens these forces when it promises that if the individual's work is hindered by illness or the effects of a trauma, he shall live without work or with little work and suffer no very noticeable reduction in his income.

The right path to healthcare reform is the market path (no subsidies, no monopolies such as drug patents, no licensure, no anything) that tends toward universal distribution at very low prices and relentless improvement in service. The wrong path is to make healthcare run the same way as the post office.

Only the Austrian School can explain how the central bank causes boom – bust cycles, and why "stimulus" deficit spending only makes things worse.

Recorded at Mises University 2009.

"The state as an abstract entity took on bodily form and was revealed, in the world wars of the 20th century, to be an all-devouring monster."