ABSTRACT: This article wrestles with the issue of when is it justified to accept money from government. The case is made that it is indeed almost always justified to do so. But not for everyone. Keywords: libertarianism, ethics, theft, taxation Jonathan Gress (jonathan.gress@lpmaryland.org) is an independent scholar. Walter Block
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, Walter Block reviews Bryan Caplan’s The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. Volume 22, Number 1 (2011) Block, Walter. “Reveiw of The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies by Bryan Caplan.” Journal of Libertarian Studies 22, No. 1 (2011):
There has been for many years a tension between the anarcho-capitalist or free market anarchist, and the limited government or minarchist wings of the libertarian movement. This dispute has both enriched debate within such institutions as the Libertarian Party, the International Society of Individual Liberty, the Mises and Cato Institutes and
A basic principle of Austrian economics is that the originary rate of interest (the rate of discount of future goods compared to present, otherwise identical, goods) can never be negative. The reason for this arises not because capital is productive, nor out of man’s psychology. Nevertheless, in spite of the foregoing, there are many benighted
Were a government to demand the sacrifice of 46,700 citizens’ each year, there is no doubt that an outraged public would revolt. If an organized religion were to plan the immolation of 523,335 of the faithful in a decade,’ there is no question that it would be toppled. Were there a Manson-type cult that murdered 790 people to celebrate Memorial
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.