Walter Block

Austrian Economist and Libertarian Theorist
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  • Walter Block

The libertarian case for Rand Paul Apr 20, 2015

I am a libertarian. I have been one for a long time; since about 1963. I like to think that my libertarian credentials are about as good, among the living, as anyone else’s on the planet. I support Rand Paul for president of the U.S. Yet, even I must admit, thanks to the sterling work of Robert Wenzel, Justin Raimondo and many others, Rand’s claim to libertarian support has been somewhat tarnished of late in my mind. Previously, I gave Rand a mark of 70 on my own personal libertarian-o-meter. For comparison purposes, I gave myself a 100 (hey, I...

By Walter Block Vote19 11

Walter Block: Libertarianism from A to Z Oct 13, 2014

Mises Institute: You say in your book that it is a contradiction in terms to be both libertarian and to be for an aggressive foreign policy. Why is this? Walter Block: The essence of libertarianism is the non-aggression principle (NAP). This means it is legitimate to use force only in defense, or retaliation, but not to initiate it. However, an aggressive foreign policy is an attempt to export democracy, or the American way of life, or to make things easier for US business, at the point of a gun or a bomb. Thus, this policy necessarily initiates violence against foreigners, but not...

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A Libertarian Analysis of Suing for Libel Sep 9, 2014

For those of you who have not been paying attention, Rand Paul and a whole host of other people connected to libertarianism have been smeared by the New York Times. I was a minor target of this daily newspaper, but, an infuriated one. So much so that I have so far written not one but two responses to it. They can be found below (Block, 2014A, 2014B). Several libertarians have risen to my defense; for these missives see also Block (2014A). I am not here today going to rehash these issues. I stand by my previous responses. Let me just say I am...

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Fighting Fires Without Socialism Jul 24, 2014

According to Terry L. Anderson and Daniel Botkin, “Fighting Western Fires with Economics” is a good idea. Were I writing an essay with this title, I would emphasize the role of private property rights. If all forests were owned by individuals and private corporations, those that did well in protecting their trees from conflagrations would prosper, those who failed to do so would lose money and eventually be forced into bankruptcy. Whereupon the ones who were more efficient protectors of the woodlands would  take over the holdings of the failures, and more and more acreage would fall under the control...

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Don’t Be Fooled About Liberatrianism Jun 16, 2014

Just as an important difference in everyday life is that between a bathroom and a kitchen, so, too, does a crucial distinction in political economic philosophy exist between government and private contractual arrangements. But here is where the analogy breaks down. There are other, even more important insights to be garnered in ordinary living than that between these two rooms (e.g., don’t eat poison, feed yourself, take care of babies); there is simply no more important delineation in libertarian theory than that which exists between coercion (the government) and voluntary cooperation (the market). Yet, such is the parlous nature of our discipline...

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The Minimum Wage Law and Welfare Payments Jun 6, 2014

I think it important to pulverize the case for the minimum wage law. I am guided in this determination by the Jesuit notion of the preferential option for the poor. (Hey I have spent 14 years teaching at Loyola University New Orleans, a Jesuit institution; some of it had to rub off on me). What is this principle? It is to ask of any public policy, how will it affect the impoverished. Why is it important to do so? In my own words, it is because the poor occupy the most precarious role in society. If the rich are financially...

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Block Discovers New Source of Inequality Jun 3, 2014

Did you folks know that there is an inequality between planets as to how many moons they have? I know, I know, most of you out there will react with a big “so what?” to this bit of startling news. But I’m a thick libertarian. I believe there is more to libertarianism than the non-aggression principle. I think that we humanitarian libertarians have to add to the NAP opposition to inequality; to all instances of this pernicious phenomenon. “But Block,” you say, “poor people feel badly when they realize the rich have more wealth than they do. The same does not apply...

By Walter Block Vote6 0

Both Left and Right are Guilty May 17, 2014

This is my attempt to help temper the rancor I currently see in the liberty community. I am a staunch thin or pure libertarian. For me, the correct (Rothbardian) libertarianism is firmly predicated on the non aggression principle (NAP): the law should prohibit the initiation of violence against innocent people and their property. That is it. That is entirely it. There is no more to thin libertarianism, other than implications of this basic axiom; well, that’s quite a lot. Of late however, many leftists have been attempting to hijack the good ship libertarian in their own direction, adding to the...

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The Minimum Wage Law Jan 17, 2014

The minimum wage on its face is an unemployment law, not an employment law. It does not compel anyone to hire anyone else. It only stipulates who CANNOT legally be employed: no one may be hired for less than the amount stipulated by law. If the minimum wage law is set at $10 per hour, the law does not require any employer to hire any employee at that wage level. It only FORBIDS employment contracts set at $9.99 or below. This is not a matter of empirical evidence, not that there can be any such thing in proper, e.g., Austrian...

By Walter Block Vote9 0

Homosexuality, Feminism and Libertarianism Jan 10, 2014

I have a publication program at Loyola University in which I co author articles with students. This material starts out as term papers for my courses and ends up in refereed journals. I agree with the theses of all these papers, otherwise I couldn’t co author this material with them. I am proud of all of my student co authors, but, in a bout of shameless self-promotion, I am most pleased with myself when I help a student publish a term paper in a scholarly periodical which takes a position very much at variance with my own views.  Naturally, I...

By Walter Block Vote7 0

Left and Right; and Libertarianism Dec 24, 2013

I. Introduction Libertarianism is neither of the left nor of the right. It is unique. It is sui generis. It is apart from left and right. The left right political spectrum simply has no room for libertarianism. Think of an equilateral triangle, with libertarianism at one corner, the left at a second corner and the right at the third corner. We are equally distant from both of those misbegotten political economic philosophies. No, better yet, think in terms of an isosceles triangle, with us at the top and the two of them at the bottom, indicating they have more in...

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Contrary to Paul Krugman, the Broken Window Fallacy Is a Fallacy Oct 8, 2013

I may have missed something in my c.v., but I don't think I have ever written a critique of any leftist economist. In searching through my own publication records, my targets have almost always been scholars perceiving themselves as, or widely being seen as, right wing supporters of free markets, but who either are really no such thing, or who fall short of this honorific mark. For example, my past targets have included Tom Bethell, James Buchanan, Ronald Coase, Harold Demsetz, William Easterly, Richard Epstein, Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Deirdre McCloskey, Elinor Ostrom, Richard Pipes, Ayn Rand and Andre Shleifer....

By Walter Block Vote5 0

Institutionalizing Ignorance Jul 4, 2013

According to the official White House website, the end goal of schooling is to “help restore middle-class security.” Such a stance is a surprisingly honest one in a political environment built on deceit. The Obama administration makes no attempt to hide the fact that mandatory public schooling is a state tool for manipulating class structure. This is both a historical and economic fact. Modern American schooling stems from two sources. First the Prussian school system which was used by the Nazis to limit and control legal access to information while psychologically training students in order to promote fascist ideology. The...

By Walter Block Vote4 0

Libertarian Pessimism Confronted Jan 16, 2013

I. Optimism There is a bit of pessimism that has infected some parts of our libertarian community. The present essay is an attempt to refute this doctrine, or at least any pernicious elements of it that threaten what progress we have already made, and, hopefully, the more that is to come in the future. Why the sudden onset of pessimism about the prospects for liberty. I am not sure. Perhaps it is due to the fact that Ron Paul is no longer in the Congress of the U.S. At one fell swoop it is thought we have lost our most...

By Walter Block Vote3 0

Defending the Slumlord Jul 17, 2012

Day 22 of Robert Wenzel's 30-day reading list that will lead you to become a knowledgeable libertarian, this article is excerpted from Defending the Undefendable. An MP3 audio file of this article, read by Jeff Riggenbach, is available for download.] "Let's see, I have a nice three-room apartment on the upper West Side … No, no Madam, not a speck of lead paint on the woodwork … it's been all chewed off." To many people, the slumlord — alias ghetto landlord and rent gouger — is proof that man can, while still alive, attain a satanic image. Recipient of vile curses, pincushion for needle-bearing...

By Walter Block Vote5 0

Religion and Libertarianism Jul 7, 2012

This column is a response to an over the transom letter I received (you young people, if you don’t know what that is, look it up). First appears my response and then the letter that so outraged me. My response: I'm a devout atheist. A very devout one. You make some very good points against religion. To many atheists, the claim for the existence of God is roughly on a par with the existence of the Easter Bunny, or witches, ghouls, werewolves, leprechauns, Santa Claus, whatever. But, can theists be libertarians? Of course they can. All they need do is...

By Walter Block Vote4 0

“Economic Warfare” Sep 21, 2011

[Building Blocks for Liberty (2006; 2010)] Pundits are accustomed to utilizing the language of war and strife to depict economic relationships. This is confusing, irrational and misleading. For the dismal science addresses mutual benefit, or positive-sum games. All participants gain whenever a trade, a purchase, sale, rental agreement, job, etc., gets consummated; necessarily so in the ex antesense, and in the overwhelming majority of casesex post. For example, if I purchase a newspaper for $1, it is an apodictic undeniable truth that at that moment, I ranked the periodical more highly than the money I had to pay for it. Why else,...

By Walter Block Vote3 0

May a Libertarian Take Money From the Government? Mar 11, 2011

Prof. Block, First of all, I want to say what a huge fan and follower of your work I am. Of all the contributors to LRC and the LVM Institute I look forward to your articles the most and Defending the Undefendable is a truly entertaining and insightful work. I have a question that I hope you might find the time to answer. Next fall, I will be starting an Assistant Professor appointment at the University of A in the Department of B. I understand that while possibly less-than-ideal, the anarcho-libertarian academic can justify employment at a State university because academia is...

By Walter Block Vote6 0

The Case for Discrimination Jan 3, 2011

This article was originally published at Lew Rockwell Block, Walter E. 2010. The Case for Discrimination. Auburn, AL: Mises Institute. In the days of yore, to say that a man was discriminating was to pay him a compliment. It meant that he had taste; he could distinguish between the poor, the mediocre, the good and the excellent. His ability to make fine distinctions enabled him to live a better life than otherwise. Nowadays, in our politically correct times, discrimination implies racial and/or sexual hatred. It evokes lynching the innocent, hanging black people who had committed no crime, and, yes, perhaps, even,...

By Walter Block Vote5 0

Is Libertarianism a Part of the Right or the Left? Neither. We Are Unique Jul 16, 2010

I recently published this article: Block, Walter. 2010. "Libertarianism is unique; it belongs neither to the right nor the left: a critique of the views of Long, Holcombe, and Baden on the left, Hoppe, Feser and Paul on the right." Journal of Libertarian Studies; Vol. 22: 127—70. It is 44 pages long, replete with footnotes, references and all other such scholarly accoutrements. The present essay is a layman's version of that paper. Most people are too busy to wade through such a long and thorough examination of this question, or, indeed, most other issues. But, this topic is important for libertarians, so I...

By Tiffany Madison Vote5 1

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