Suppose we are on the upper part of the Laffer curve. That means that if the tax rate is lowered, greater tax revenues will accrue to the government. Stipulate that the state is an evil institution. This is a libertarian analysis, after all. Thus, we arrive at what must count at least, as an anomaly. A reduction in the tax rate is ordinarily
I am delighted to be able to reply to Jakobsson (2010), which is a rejoinder to my publication (Block, forthcoming). One reason for my joy is because that author does me honor in thinking that my own article is worthy of a rejoinder. Another, is because there will be no “passing of the ships in the night” in this exchange. Jakobsson
Volume 2, Article 31 (2010) Introduction I am honored by the publication of Borer (2010). I welcome the publication of this essay, and thank this author for singling out my contributions to libertarian theory for comment. I am grateful to him, too, for this reply gives me the opportunity to delve deeper into the issues covered in Block (2009A,
I am extremely grateful to Wisniewski (2010) for his critique of my published views on the ethics of abortion. One of the worst fates for one’s intellectual children (one’s publications) is that they be ignored. Far better to have them criticized than to meet that fate. Wisniewski (2010) demonstrates, at least, that my perspective on this
Volume 2, Article 34 (2010) I. Introduction Block (2010) is an attempt to apply libertarian private property and homesteading principles to the very vexing question of stem cell research. Should fertilized eggs be allowed to be destroyed during the process of subjecting them to research? I posit that these early stage fetuses are human beings,
Volume 2, Article 41 (2010) The essence of libertarianism is its nonaggression principle. In order to determine whether some act or concept or institution is compatible with this philosophy, one may use this as a sort of litmus test. If you initiate violence against someone, you must pay the penalty for so doing, and, are presumptively acting
The Free Market 6, no. 5 (May 1988) If the media tell us that “the opening of XYZ mill has created 1,000 new Jobs,” we give a cheer. When the ABC company closes and 500 jobs are lost, we’re sad. The politician who can provide a subsidy to save ABC is almost assured of wide-spread public-support for his work in preserving jobs. But jobs in and of
The present paper defends the position of libertarian centrism, or libertarian purity (Gregory 2006), or plumb line libertarianism, vis-a-vis its two competitors for the libertarian mantle: left wing libertarianism and right wing libertarianism (Read 1998). Volume 22, Number 1 (2010) Block, Walter. “Libertarianism is Unique and Belongs Neither
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.
