Ludwig von Mises
"Luxuries into Necessities"
a classic
"The disciples of Marx are anxious to describe in their textbooks the
'unspeakable horrors of capitalism' which, as their master has prognosticated,
results 'with the inexorability of a law of nature' in the progressing
impoverishment of the 'masses.' Their prejudices prevent them from noticing the
fact that capitalism tends, by the instrumentality of big-scale production, to
wipe out the striking contrast between the mode of life of a fortunate elite and
that of the rest of a nation."
"Inflation"
"What many people today call inflation or deflation is no longer the great
increase or decrease in the supply of money, but its inexorable consequences,
the general tendency toward a rise or fall in commodity prices and wage rates.
This innovation is by no means harmless."
"Interest"
"The banks and the monetary authorities are guided by the idea that the height
of interest rates as the free loan market determines it is an evil, that it is
the objective of a good economic policy to lower it, and that credit expansion
is an appropriate means of achieving this end without harm to anybody but
parasitic moneylenders. It is this infatuation that causes them to embark upon
ventures which must finally bring about a slump."
"Socialism"
"The paradox of 'planning' is that it cannot plan, because of the absence of
economic calculation. What is called a planned economy is no economy at all. It
is just a system of groping in the dark."
"Unemployment"
"Assistance granted to the unemployed does not dispose of unemployment. It makes
it easier for the unemployed to remain idle. The nearer the allowance comes to
the height at which the unhampered market would have fixed the wage rate, the
less incentive it offers to the beneficiary to look for a new job. It is a means
of making unemployment last rather than of making it disappear."
"Laissez Faire"
"Laissez faire does not mean: Let soulless mechanical forces operate. It means:
Let each individual choose how he wants to cooperate in the social division of
labor; let the consumers determine what the entrepreneurs should produce."
"Competition"
"In a totalitarian system, social competition manifests itself in the endeavors
of people to court the favor of those in power. In the market economy
competition manifests itself in the fact that the sellers must outdo one another
by offering better or cheaper goods and services, and that buyers must outdo one
another by offering higher prices. "
"The Source of Hitler's
Success" (1940)
"Hitler does not have a new secret weapon at his disposal. He does not owe his
victory to an excellent intelligence service which informs him of the plans of
his opponents. Even the much-talked-of 'fifth column' was not decisive. He won
because the supposed opponents were already quite sympathetic to the ideas for
which he stood.
"
Murray N. Rothbard
"The Case for a Genuine Gold Dollar"
"Only by changing the definition of the dollar from fiat paper tickets issued by
the government to a unit of weight of some market commodity, can the function of
issuing money be permanently and totally shifted from government to private
hands."
"The
Case for Radical Idealism"
"The libertarian, then, should be a person who would push the button, if it
existed, for the instantaneous abolition of all invasions of liberty. Of course,
he knows, too, that such a magic button does not exist, but his fundamental
preference colors and shapes his entire strategic perspective."
"INVADE THE WORLD"
From The
Irrepressible Rothbard
"And
so every grievance everywhere constitutes our national interest, and it becomes
the obligation of good old Uncle Sam, as the Only Remaining Superpower and the
world's designated Mr. Fixit, to solve each and every one of these problems. For
"we cannot stand idly by" while anyone anywhere starves, hits someone over the
head, is undemocratic, or commits a Hate Crime."
"Wall Street,
Banks, and American Foreign Policy"
by Murray N. Rothbard
"Businessmen or manufacturers can either be genuine free enterprisers or
statists; they can either make their way on the free market or seek special
government favors and privileges. They choose according to their individual
preferences and values. But bankers are inherently inclined toward statism."
Other Libertarian Writers
"Consumer
Sovereignty" by
Bettina Bien Greaves
"Consumer sovereignty is consumers making choices one by one, consumers buying
one thing and not another, consumers transferring their money to some producers
and not to others. The process isn’t invisible; it isn’t miraculous; it only
seems miraculous in that it directs production without a central authority
having to plan or give orders."
"Economic
Freedom and Economic Growth" by
Randall G. Holcombe
"Economic freedom contains a number of components, all of which must be in place
for an economy to grow. An economy must have a stable monetary system, secure
private property rights, an impartial legal system, low taxes, minimal
government, and low barriers to international exchange. If any of these
components are missing, an economy will not grow. "
"Immigration—Friend
or Foe?" by
James E. McClure and T. Norman Van Cott
"The rise of the welfare state is turning immigrants from friends to foes in
America. The xenophobic backlash against immigrants, while understandable,
misses the mark. Americans must look beyond the immigrants and see that their
own government’s misguided welfare programs are the source of the problem. "
"Inside the Federal
Hurting Machine" a anti-tax classic by James L. Payne
"The prevailing assumption is that when government is handing out money, its
subsidies and payments are desperately needed, and serve a vital national
purpose. When government is taking in money, even from the same people it has
just subsidized, the cash being collected is seen as limp and lifeless, a
surplus wealth of taxpayers who have no good use for it."
"The
Value of Money" by Hans Sennholz
"When government takes control over money, it not only takes possession of an
important command post over the economic lives of the people but also acquires a
lucrative source of revenue."
"Budget Deficits"
by Hans Sennholz (1995
"Budget deficits of the present magnitude are a prominent cause of all that ails
the American economy: declining private investments, stagnant or even falling
standards of living, unemployment of millions of workers, and inability to
compete in many world markets."
Classic Humor
"Can New York Save
Itself?" by Dave Barry (1987)
"Athough it was constructed in 1536, the New York subway system boasts an annual
maintenance budget of nearly $8, currently stolen, and it does a remarkable job
of getting New Yorkers from Point A to an indeterminate location somewhere in
the tunnel leading to Point B."