The Economics and Ethics of Private Property

Austrian economics puts private property at the center of its analysis of value, price, and exchange. Respect for private property is also implied by the fundamental moral principle, “Do not steal.”

Hans-Hermann Hoppe has devoted his life’s work to the economics and ethics of private property. This book collects some of Hoppe’s most important essays on this topic. Hoppe, a leading student and colleague of Murray Rothbard whose works have been translated into a dozen languages, explores the economic, ethical, sociological, and historical aspects of private property, showing how property rights are vital to all aspects of society: employment, interest, money, banking, trade cycles, taxes, public goods, war, imperialism, and the rise and fall of civilizations.

Barron’s writes that “Hoppe’s writings are like a laser beam.... Be prepared for arguments that push you beyond your limits.” Hoppe carefully and consistently draws out the implications of property rights, and the state’s violation of the private property order, for society and prosperity. The book is filled with insights that push the reader to imagine a fully free, private, and successful social and economic order.