The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else. —Frédéric Bastiat Let me begin with the definition of a state. What must an agent be able to do to qualify as a state? This agent must be able to insist that all conflicts among the inhabitants of a given territory be brought to him for
I have three goals. First, I want to clarify the nature and function of private property. Second, I want to clarify the distinction between “common” goods and property and “public” goods and property, and explain the construction error inherent in the institution of public goods and property. Third, I want to explain the rationale and principle of
Libertarianism is logically consistent with almost any attitude toward culture, society, religion, or moral principle. In strict logic, libertarian political doctrine can be severed from all other considerations; logically one can be—and indeed most libertarians in fact are: hedonists, libertines, immoralists, militant enemies of religion in
On March 2, 1966, Murray N. Rothbard, the founder and twenty-year editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies , would have celebrated his seventieth birthday. This issue of the JLS , as well as a simultaneously appearing special issue of its sister publication, the Review of Austrian Economics , likewise founded and edited by Rothbard, is a
I – Classical Economic Theory It is my goal to reconstruct some basic truths regarding the process of economic development and the role played in it by employment, money, and interest. These truths neither originated with the Austrian school of economics nor are an integral part of only this tradition of economic thinking. In fact, most of them
Imagine you are in command of the state, defined as an institution that possesses a territorial monopoly of ultimate decision making in every case of conflict, including conflicts involving the state and its agents itself, and, by implication, the right to tax, i.e., to unilaterally determine the price that your subjects must pay you to perform
Thomas Jacob : Professor Hoppe, you are known as a critic of the state and of political centralization. Doesn’t the coronavirus prove that central states and central government regulations are necessary? Hans-Hermann Hoppe : On the contrary. Of course, the various central states and international organizations, such as the EU or the World Health
El Estado es la gran entidad ficticia por la que todos buscan vivir a costa de todos los demás. —Frédéric Bastiat Permítanme comenzar con la definición de un Estado. ¿Qué debe hacer un agente para ser considerado un Estado? Este agente debe ser capaz de insistir en que todos los conflictos entre los habitantes de un territorio determinado sean
Tengo tres objetivos. En primer lugar, quiero aclarar la naturaleza y la función de la propiedad privada. En segundo lugar, quiero aclarar la distinción entre bienes y propiedad «comunes» y bienes y propiedad «públicos», y explicar el error de construcción inherente a la institución de los bienes y la propiedad públicos. En tercer lugar, quiero
El libertarismo es lógicamente consistente con casi cualquier actitud hacia la cultura, la sociedad, la religión o los principios morales. En estricta lógica, la doctrina política libertaria puede separarse de todas las demás consideraciones; lógicamente se puede ser —y de hecho la mayoría de los libertarios lo son— hedonistas, libertinos,
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.