He offers a Kantian justification for political economy in the style of Buchanan; and he maintains that this view of things is at the root of the American Republic. Readers of a libertarian bent will not be fully satisfied; but Roth's carefully argued book deserves, and rewards, close study.
As interviewed by Dan Cofall on the Wall Street Shuffle radio program; CNN Radio; Dallas, Texas, 10 May 2010.
"Mises's desideratum was thus not a 'neutral' money, or even a practical approximation of it; rather, it was the complete elimination of 'human influence' on the purchasing power of money."
"The book takes the position that the most interesting problems of economic organization relate to the intersection of the entrepreneurial and capitalist functions."
"Production has been altered in such a way that the length of waiting time has been extended. But the demand for consumers' goods has not dropped so as to make the available supply last for a longer period.
"The government can talk about entrepreneurship and act like it is promoting it, but all of what government does by taxing and regulating impedes the entrepreneur."
"Some may wonder why it took Hess 20 years to notice all this, why it took a man this obviously intelligent so long to grasp that the Republicans were pretty much the same as the New Deal Democrats he opposed, but with window dressing."
"Capitalism is something innate in all societies, and so governments can only become burdens upon this web of naturally occurring human actions."
In a depression, all prices must be allowed to adjust downward. Wages are no different. First and foremost, the government's artificial wage floor should be removed.
If you behave as a sovereign individual in your personal relationships, you will be contributing to your happiness and also to the transmission of the concept of individual sovereignty. That chain of good, I am certain, will abolish the chains of evil.
