To commemorate the 175th anniversary of Frédéric Bastiat’s libertarian classic The Law, we delve into Bastiat’s intellectual legacy. There is perhaps no writer better at articulating the economic way ...

“To my mind the law is not our worst enemy. … Religious bigotry, marital jealousy, social prejudice, will operate in ostracism, contempt…and actual violence.” From Emil F. Ruedebusch, Mayville, Wis., ...

Yates (using the pseudonym “Brutus”) argues that the constitutional power to raise an army and borrow money will lead to an expansion of state power. The next powers vested by this constitution in the ...

Paine explores the distinction between society and government and the impact the latter has on the former in this selection from Common Sense. SOME writers have so confounded society with government, ...

“Servitude and mastery result from the struggle between the strong and the weak…and Blue Heaven has nothing whatsoever to do with it.” We know next to nothing about the man historian Etienne Balazs ...

John Locke lays out the foundational arguments of liberalism: people have rights preexisting government, and government exists to protect those rights. Nicknamed the "Father of Liberalism," Locke's ...

Spooner argues in this radical essay that the Constitution, which he frames as a legal contract, is not binding. The Constitution has no inherent authority or obligation. It has no authority or ...

In this excerpt from *Social Statics*, Spencer makes a radical claim: that an individual may sever all connections with the state. ##1. The Right to Voluntary Outlawry As a corollary to the ...

Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments included this passage about spontaneous order vs planned economy. Adam Smith was a Scottish political philosopher and economist, considered one of the ...

As a peace offering for the two sides of Rhode Island’s bitter antislavery divide, Frances Whipple offers this ringing call for abolitionist union. Frances Whipple was a prolific reformist, locofoco, ...

Ludwig von Mises was a prominent Austrian economist and a prolific writer. His work influenced Benjamin Anderson, Leonard Read, Henry Hazlitt, Israel Kirzner, Hans Sennholz, Ralph Raico, Leonard ...

For those interested in history, Menger’s Principles of Economics offers a way to unify gritty historical experience with pure economic theory. Carl Menger has played an interesting supporting role in ...