“Nonsense on Stilts”: The Rhetorical Cornerstone of the American Welfare/Warfare State
In a 1922 essay about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in his book Prejudices: Third Series H.L. Mencken asked, “Am I the first American to note the fundamental nonsensicality of the Gettysburg Address”? One example of the nonsense of Lincoln’s rhetoric as explained by
Responding to James Lindsay’s Critique of “National Divorce”
Bob goes solo to give a point-by-point rebuttal to James Lindsay's recent essay arguing that "national divorce means national suicide." Bob argues that James employs inconsistent claims and ignores the tremendous economic boon to an independent Texas. James Lindsay's Article "National
The Dangerous Consequences of the German Historical School
Ludwig von Mises spends a good deal of time attacking the German Historical School of Economics in Human Action and other works. The doctrines of the school are no longer influential, although as the philosopher and economist Birsen Filip notes
New working paper: “They doth protest too much, methinks: Reply to ‘Reply to Whitehead’”
They doth protest too much, methinks: Reply to “Reply to Whitehead” John C. Whitehead No 24-04, Working Papers from Department of Economics, Appalachian State University Abstract: Desvousges, Mathews and Train (2020) point out a mistake in my comment on their 2015 paper. When
The Double-Edged Sword of School Choice
School Choice has become a hot button political topic, especially for right-wing America. Conservatives, libertarians, and everyone that is to the left of the Democratic Party have grown increasingly more skeptical of the public education system. Between ideological indoctrination, what
Vilfredo Pareto, Pessimistic Follower of Molinari
One prominent person rarely associated by scholars with the Bastiat-Ferrara laissez-faire school was the eminent sociologist and economic theorist, Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (1848-1923). Pareto was born in Paris into a noble Genoan family. His father, the Marchese Raffaelle Pareto,
Ryan McMaken vs. Libertarian Imperialists
On this episode of Radio Rothbard, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop do a recap of Ryan's debate at LibertyCon on the question of national divorce. Tho and Ryan address some of the libertarian arguments against secession, as well as the
Examining Elon Musk’s Claim That a Carbon Tax Is a Simple Solution to Climate Change
Travis Fisher On February 3, Elon Musk posted a simple message on X: “The only action needed to solve climate change is a carbon tax.” Five days later, that message has over 22 million views. And perhaps for good reason—it’s accompanied by a compelling
On Decolonizing Property Rights
One of the most destructive aspects of the “decolonize” movement is its insistence that scientific principles are as subjective as cultural beliefs. Decolonizers argue that the natural sciences—physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology, along with computer science—should be analyzed from different