The Nature of the State So far in this book, we have developed a theory of liberty and property rights, and have outlined the legal code that would be necessary to defend those rights. What of government, the State? What is its proper role, if any? Most people, including most political theorists, believe that once one concedes the importance, or
Anytime that a hard-nosed analysis is put forth of who our rulers are, of how their political and economic interests interlock, it is invariably denounced by Establishment liberals and conservatives (and even by many libertarians) as a “conspiracy theory of history,” “paranoid,” “economic determinist,” and even “Marxist.” These smear labels are
If government wishes to alleviate, rather than aggravate, a depression, its only valid course is laissez-faire—to leave the economy alone. Only if there is no interference, direct or threatened, with prices, wage rates, and business liquidation will the necessary adjustment proceed with smooth dispatch. Any propping up of shaky positions postpones
Abolition of the public sector means, of course, that all pieces of land, all land areas, including streets and roads, would be owned privately, by individuals, corporations, cooperatives, or any other voluntary groupings of individuals and capital. The fact that all streets and land areas would be private would by itself solve many of the
Editor’s Note: Interest rates and inflation are certainly connected to efforts on the parts of central banks to loosen and tighten the money supply. These relationships, however, are much more complex than many people suppose. As we’ve seen in recent weeks, with constant talk about what the Fed will do next, expectations are an important factor in
Once a State has been established, the problem of the ruling group or “caste” is how to maintain their rule. While force is their modus operandi , their basic and long-run problem is ideological. For in order to continue in office, any government (not simply a “democratic” government) must have the support of the majority of its subjects. This
Con la ratificación de la Constitución por parte de todos los estados, excepto dos relativamente poco conocidos—Rhode Island y Carolina del Norte—el Congreso de la Confederación estaba listo para poner en marcha el nuevo gobierno federal. Tan pronto como New Hampshire se convirtió en el noveno estado en ratificar la Constitución, el Congreso creó
El pequeño y valiente Rhode Island era el último estado que quedaba. Generalmente se asume que —incluso por parte de los historiadores más acérrimos Antifederalistas— Rhode Island no podría haber seguido sola como una nación separada. Pero tales opiniones son consecuencia de una mística de las fronteras políticas, en la que se supone que un mero
A medida que la fuerza del New Deal alcanzaba sus cotas, tanto en el exterior como en el interior, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, comenzó a surgir una atribulada y diminuta oposición libertaria que formuló su crítica total a las tendencias imperantes en Estados Unidos. Desgraciadamente, la izquierda, casi totalmente comprometida con la causa
Capítulo 3 de la obra de Rothbard recién editada y publicada Concebido en libertad , vol. 5, La nueva república: 1784–1791 .] Todas las depresiones generan un clamor entre muchos grupos por privilegios especiales a expensas del resto de la sociedad, y la depresión estadounidense que se produjo en 1784-1785 no fue una excepción. Si el exceso de
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.