Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the Publication of Atlas Shrugged

2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, a novel that has had an enormous impact on the libertarian movement. Atlas Shrugged offered a powerful and inspiring case, both intellectual and emotional, for libertarian ideas at a time when such resources were thin on the ground. While the relationship of Rand and her ideas to the broader libertarian movement would often be a controversial and troubled one, Atlas Shrugged undeniably played a crucial role in helping both to create new advocates of laissez-faire and to radicalize existing ones, as well as encouraging libertarians to view their standpoint as an alternative to, rather than a branch of, conservatism, and to base the case for liberty on moral principle and not on pragmatic economic benefits alone. This issue of the Journal of Libertarian Studies presents pieces commemorating the novel and its legacy.