Holcombe (2004) has written an interesting and challenging but ultimately fallacious essay on government. In his view, this institution is “unnecessary, but inevitable.” I heartily agree with the former contention, but adamantly reject the latter. Worse is the implication for him of the supposed inevitability of the state: since it will come about
James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock are widely credited with creating the Public Choice School. Its main elements include constitutional political economy, an analysis of different voting-rights regimes, and the insight that human beings do not suddenly sprout angel’s wings when they become government bureaucrats (hence, there is government failure
Given Dwight Lee’s stalwart free enterprise credentials, it is more than passingly curious that the title of his 1998 Presidential Address to the Southern Economic Association was “In Defense of Excessive Government.” Volume 16, Number 3 (2002) Walter, Block. “All Government is Excessive: A Rejoinder to Dwight Lee’s “In Defense of Excessive
The Chicago School of Economics is seen far and wide as a free enterprise stronghold. The research programs of many of its members are extolled as supportive of capitalism, even by otherwise knowledgeable commentators. This article will show that such an evaluation cannot be supported, at least in the case of Henry Simons, one of the most eminent
Volume 3, No. 1 (Spring 2000) As I see matters, private-property rights are of crucial importance to civilization. They are what distinguishes us from the barbarians. To the extent we give in to the enemies of property rights, we reduce ourselves. Yet private property rights have always been under furious attack, and continue to be so.
Volume 5, No. 1 (Spring 2002) Pipes does make a contribution to our appreciation for private property. It cannot be denied that the book starts out on a high plain. Certainly, Pipes is correct in locating the difficulties suffered by both Russia and later the U.S.S.R. in terms of the lack of appreciation for private property endemic in that
This article is also available as an Audio Mises Daily [A selection from Toward a Libertarian Society . ] Just as an important difference in everyday life is that between a bathroom and a kitchen, so, too, does a crucial distinction in political economic philosophy exist between government and private contractual arrangements. But here is where
There is this guy, Lew Rockwell, who writes regularly on these pages. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but the man is an extremist. Yes, I repeat that: an extremist! He has no sense of proportion, nor balance. Instead, he marks out the most extreme positions on any given subject, and tries to make them sound, horrors!, reasonable. The
Volume 19, Number 2 (Summer 1999) An Interview with Walter Block Walter Block is professor of economics at the University of Central Arkansas and chairman of the department. He is also co-editor of The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics , and his work on a wide range of theoretical and political issues has advanced the practical application
David Osterfeld VENTURA Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Paper Capture Plug-in
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.