Murray N. Rothbard: A Legacy of Liberty
While upholding the radical ideal, Rothbard happily cooperated with anyone who wanted to limit government power, no matter how gradually. The perfect was never the enemy of the good in his mind; the good was always an improvement. He combined idealism with realism, scholarship with accessibility, and boundless curiosity with commitment to truth.
Why the Worst Get on Top
The unscrupulous are likely to be more successful in a society tending toward totalitarianism.
Benedict XVI: A Life
Peter Seewald has published an extensive biography of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, which will be of special interest to all supporters of the Austrian school and lovers of liberty who, whether believers or not, persistently condemn the “fatal conceit” of statism.
Not Yours to Give
"The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be intrusted to man. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other."
The Economics of War
In this article from 1950, Murray Rothbard suggests some of the less bad ways of financing military operations. Hint: monetary inflation and taxing savings and investment are among the worst.
How Do We Calculate Value?
Judgments of value do not measure: they arrange, they grade. If he relies only on subjective valuation, even isolated man cannot arrive at an economic decision based on more or less exact computations in cases where the solution is not immediately evident. To aid his calculations he must assume substitution relations between commodities. That's where exchange value and prices come in.
The American Empire
The Roman Empire never doubted that it was the defender of civilization. Americans have added freedom and democracy. Yet the more that may be added to it the more it is the same language still. A language of power.
That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen
In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects.
Menger’s Anti-Historical Method Versus the Neoclassical Anti-Historical Method
The Austrian-school approach, with its realist, real-world approach, is actually more inclined toward empiricism than the neo-classical economists who tend toward very abstract theories and models.
Word, Action, and Entrepreneurship
An essential aspect of the Mengerian-Misesian tradition — the emphasis that it puts on the entrepreneurial character of all human action, that is, its inherent entanglement with the problems of scarcity and uncertainty.
Legacy of Menger’s Theory of Social Institutions
Menger’s insights about the origin of social structures inspired later contributions in three main areas: spontaneous order, money, and law.
A Biography of Henry Hazlitt
"The art of economics consists of looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups."
Can We Still Avoid Inflation?
Inflation can always give only a temporary fillip to the economy, and will leave us with a legacy of postponed adjustments and new maladjustments which make our problem more difficult.
The Right Not To Testify
Whoever wishes to do so, freely and voluntarily. Conscription of witnesses is no more justified than conscription into the armed forces or into any other service or occupation.
Ludwig von Mises: An Appreciation
Ralph Raico pays homage to Ludwig von Mises and his place in the social sciences.
The Why of Human Action
Mises: "What I aimed at in writing Human Action was to contribute my share to ... prevent[ing] America from following Europe down the path to annihilation of civilization and prosperity."
Codes to Live By
Hazlitt sees clearly that because capitalism promotes freedom, justice and productivity it has far more right to be called "social" (or "moral") than socialism which in its despotism actually promotes a code of immorality.
Jesús Huerta de Soto: The Synthesizer of the Austrian School
For decades, Huerta de Soto has devoted significant effort to academia, business, and the libertarian movement in Spain and worldwide.
Frank S. Meyer: The Fusionist as Libertarian
Rothbard examines conservatism by using as a fulcrum and analysis of the views of the leading conservative fusionist, Frank S. Meyer.
The Poor Laws of England
The Poor Law Amendment of 1834 attempted to address the problem of runaway costs and abuses of the system. With mixed results.