 The Road to Serfdom. This masterpiece of
Nobel Prize laureate Friedrich Hayek
is an eye-opener,
strongly advocating the free market principles. In this all-time
classic Hayek persuasively warns against the authoritarian utopias of
central planning and the welfare state. Fascism, communism and
socialism share these utopias. For the implementation of their plans
these authoritarian ideologies require government power over the
individual, inevitably leading to a totalitarian state. Every step away
from the free market toward planning reduces people's freedom and is a
step toward tyranny. Planning also cannot assess consumer preferences
with sufficient accuracy to efficiently co-ordinate production. In a
free market "Price" is the all-inclusive source of
information, guiding entrepreneurs to produce whatever is wanted and
directing workers wherever they are most needed. Free markets also
provide the entrepreneurial climate for a thriving economy and for
releasing the creative energy of its citizens. Free individuals in
their native endeavour to develop their talents and their eternal
pursuit of
better living conditions produce spontaneous progress.
All public interference in the economic process disturbs the market
equilibrium, distorts the optimal allocation of resources and
consequently reduces the level of wealth. Where planning replaces free
markets people do not only loose their freedom and individuality.
Resulting slow
growth also increases welfare demands causing dependence similar to
slavery. In the end people's self-reliance and self-respect is ruined,
and citizens are degraded to a means to serve the ends of the
collective mass. |
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- Interventionism:
An Economic Analysis by Ludwig von Mises.
Written in 1940 as part of his trilogy on economic systems, Ludwig von
Mises foresaw that planned economies would fail. He warns that
all forms of government intervention in business create
artificial scarcity, inflation, and price and market distortions, give
rise to economic stagnation and ultimately political instability. He
prooves that even mixed systemes through price control, credit
expansion, subsidies, welfare, corporatism create scarcity and
political instability. Particularly interesting is Mises insight into
the political consequences resulting from state regulation of the
market place. Download
as PDF
More Details here !
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- Economics
in One Lesson
by Henry Hazlitt
This
primer on
economic principles brilliantly analyzes the seen and unseen
consequences of
political and economic actions. In the words of F.A. Hayek, there is
"no other
modern book from which the intelligent layman can learn so much about
the basic
truths of economics in so short a time."
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- Ludwig Von
Mises: A Bundle of six short Essays. (22 pages). In his
usual easy-to-read style, Von Mises explains the
very basics of sound economics. The first essay vindicates the role of
capital goods and saving. Mises explains how saving inaugurates a
process toward prosperity. By consuming less than they produce, savers
furnish resources for investment in machines and tools which make the
laborers' efforts more efficient. Higher output per unit of input can
so be achieved. The productivity gain of such investment allows for
non-inflationary wage increases which is the sole road to real
progress and prosperty for all. Public policy should therefor favour
saving and investment, rather than stimulate growht through
inflationary easy money policies. In the second essay "The
Individual in Society"
Mises pleads for a free market economy based on division of labour and
strong property rights as the sole guarantee of liberty. For Mises,
government intervention implies compulsion, exactly the opposite of
liberty. In a market economy individuals are the supreme arbiters in
matters of their needs, both material and spiritual. They alone decide
what is more and what is less valuable. Central planning is unable
to assess the
individual's priorities so that planners permanently make wrong choices
lessening
consumer value and satisfaction. The government apparatus of
coercion is not only costly and inefficient. Many also consider state
compulsion as
unbearable. Other excellent
essays in this bundle: The Economics and Politics Of My Job, The Elite Under
Capitalism, Facts about the
Industrial Revolution
and The Gold Problem.
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- For a New Liberty:
The Libertarian Manifesto by Murray N.
Rothbard.
For A
New Liberty begins with a fast overview of the historical roots of
libertarianism: the Levelers, John Locke, classical liberalism packing
an extraordinary amount of history in a few pages. Rothbard
then defines libertarianism upon its prime axiom: that no man or group
of men shall aggress upon the person or property of anyone else. He
turns to a withering critique of the chief violator of liberty: the
State. The lengthiest
section of this book is devoted to showing how the free market
and voluntary human action can do a far more efficient and fair job of
supplying all the worthwhile services we have been told only government
can provide. He provides penetrating libertarian solutions for many of
today's most pressing problems, including pollution, poverty, war,
threats to civil liberties, the education crisis, and
others. free download
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- Our
Enemy
The State
by Albert
J.Nock. Just
as the State has no money of its own, it has no power of
its own. All the power and money it has is what society gives it, plus
what it
confiscates from time to time on one pretext or another. For Nock,
"government" and "the state" are two different
things. "Government" is a legitimate, impartial vehicle for the
administration of justice, safeguarding life and liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. By contrast, "the state" represents a
corruption of democracy in which special interests groups use the
coercive
power of government in order to extract concessions and advantages not
available to other citizens. Ultimately, "the state" becomes an
instrument of oppression, allowing those special interests to compel
the rest of society to behave in ways they would not otherwise do. In
doing so the state becomes a tool in the exploitation of the class of
tax-payers by the class of tax eaters. read more here
or here
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- America's
Great
Depression by Murray
N. Rothbard. Since it
first appeared in 1963, it has been the definitive treatment
of the causes of the depression. The book remains canonical
today because the debate is still very alive. Rothbard opens with a
theoretical treatment of business cycle theory, showing how
an expansive monetary policy generates imbalances between
investment and consumption. He proceeds to examine the Fed's
policies of the 1920s, demonstrating that it was quite
inflationary even if the effects did not show up in the
price of goods and services. He showed that the stock market
correction was merely one symptom of the investment boom
that led inevitably to a bust. The
Great
Depression was not a crisis for capitalism but merely an
example of the downturn part of the business cycle, which in
turn was generated by government intervention in the
economy. Had the book appeared in the 1940s, it might have
spared the world much grief. Even so, its appearance in 1963
meant that free-market advocates had their first full-scale
treatment of this crucial subject. The damage to the
intellectual world inflicted by Keynesian- and
socialist-style treatments would be limited from that day
forward. Free pdf Download here
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 The
Freeman.
"The
Freeman" is the monthly journal of the
Foundation for Economic Education (FEE-NewYork). The FEE was the
first organization to clearly support free markets principles, limited
government, private property, and to oppose excessive government
intervention. The
exceptional FEE archive includes editorials, columns, essays and book
reviews from their first 1955 edition up to the very latest and is a prime source for
every free market enthousiast. Downloads are free. Access to the Archive here.
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Centesimus Annus. 100 years after "Rerum
Novarum" this encyclique of John Paul II
actualises Christian teachings on social relations. Issued in the
aftermath of the Communist defeat, to which Pope John Paul II
contributed so decisively, "Centesimus Annus" offers Christians a fresh
appreciation of private enterprise and the free market in societies
equally committed to liberty and virtue. John Paul II severely
critiques over-expansive social models as being incompatible with the
very
nature of our existence as free and responsable beings. The encyclique
speaks favourably of a vigorous civil society leaving room for
voluntary (as opposed to obligatory) solidarity. By depriving society
of its responsibility, the wellfare State leads to a loss of human
value. The inordinate increase of public agencies, where bureaucratic
ways of thinking prevail rather than concerns for serving their
clients, leads to waste.
Centesimus Annus synthesises these arguments through grounding them
upon the Christian understanding of man as a free, responsible, social,
and sinful creature, capable of knowing the truth through faith and
reason.
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The Wealth of
Nations was recognized as
a landmark of human thought upon its
publication in 1776. As the first scientific argument for the
principles of political economy, it is the point of departure for all
subsequent economic thought. Smith's theories of capital accumulation,
growth, and secular change, among others, continue to be influential in
modern economics.
When
Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations there were no economists, for he
invented the science of Economics. Born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland,
he became professor of logic and later of
moral philosophy.
A personal friend of David Hume,
his travels through Europe and his many contacts in business and
government gave him the opportunity of making very detailed studies of
the social forces giving rise to competition, trade, and markets. It is
a remarkable achievement that, nearly 250 years on, this work, with its
idea of the "invisible hand" of economic incentives, is still one of
the essential basic texts of its
field. free
pdf version
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Smith’s first and in his own mind
most important work, outlines his view of proper conduct and the
institutions and sentiments that make men virtuous. Here he develops
his doctrine of the impartial spectator, whose hypothetical
disinterested judgment we must use to distinguish right from wrong in
any given situation. We by nature pursue our self-interest, according
to Smith. This makes independence or self-command an instinctive good
and neutral rules as difficult to craft as they are necessary. But
society is not held together merely by neutral rules; it is held
together by sympathy. Smith argues that we naturally share the
emotions and to a certain extent the physical sensations we witness in
others. Sharing the sensations of our fellows, we seek to maximize
their pleasures and minimize their pains so that we may share in their
joys and enjoy their expressions of affection and approval
more
titles, lectures and correspondence of Adam Smith Here
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free
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This
book concerns civil and social liberty or, the nature and limits of the
power that can legitimately be exercised by society over the
individual. Mill begins by retelling the history of struggle between
rulers and ruled and suggests that social rather than political tyranny
is the greater danger for modern, commercial nations. This social
“tyranny of the majority” (a phrase Mill takes from Tocqueville) arises
from the enforcement of rules of conduct that are both arbitrary and
strongly adhered to. The practical principle that guides the majority
“to their opinions on the regulation of human conduct, is the feeling
in each person’s mind that everybody should be required to act as he,
and those with whom he sympathizes, would like them to act.” Such
a
feeling is particularly dangerous because it is taken to be
self-justifying and self-evident. Download as PDF
Nederlandstalige
Samenvatting
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works
of
J.S.Mill Here
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What Has Government Done to Our Money?
Murray
Rothbard
After presenting the
basics of money and banking theory, Rothbard traces the decline of the
dollar from the 18th century to the present, and provides lucid
critiques of central banking, New Deal monetary policy, Nixonian fiat
money, and fixed exchange rates. He also provides a blueprint for a
return to a 100 percent reserve gold standard. The book made huge
theoretical advances. He was the first to prove that the government,
and only the government, can destroy money on a mass scale, and he
showed exactly how they go about this dirty deed. But just as
importantly, it is beautifully written. He tells a thrilling story
because he loves the subject so much. The passion that Murray feels for
the topic comes through in the prose and transfers to the reader.
Readers become excited about the subject, and tell others. Rothbard
shows precisely how banks create money out of thin air and how the
central bank, backed by government power,
allows them to get away with
it. He shows how exchange rates and interest rates would work in a true
free market. When it comes to describing the end of the gold standard,
he is not content to describe the big trends. He names names and
ferrets out all the interest groups involved.
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as PDF
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George Orwell's 1984 (free audio book)
George Orwell's
classic was incredibly visionary. It is hardly fathomable that this
book was written in 1948. Things that we take for granted today -
cameras everywhere we go, phones being tapped, bodies being scanned for
weapons remotely - all of these things were described in graphic detail
in Orwell's book. Now that we have the Internet and people spying
on other people w/ webcams and people purposely setting up their own
webcams to let others "anonymously" watch them, you can see how this
culture can develop into the Orwellian future described in
"1984."
If you've heard such phrases as
"Big Brother," "Newspeak," and "thought crime" and wondered where these
phrases came from, they came from this incredible, vivid and disturbing
book. Winston Smith, the main character of the book is a vibrant,
thinking man hiding within the plain mindless behavior he has to go
through each day to not be considered a thought criminal. Everything is
politically correct, children defy their parents (and are encouraged by
the government to do so) and everyone pays constant allegiance to "Big
Brother" - the government that watches everyone and knows what everyone
is doing at all times - watching you shower, watching you having sex,
watching you eat, watching you go to the bathroom and ultimately
watching you die.
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Probably due to his study of
Aristotle, Menger was meticulous in forming his economic principles
from observations of reality. Thus he looked at man and his nature, and
drew appropriate conclusions (much like philosopher Ayn Rand). Contrast
this to the Platonist floating abstrations of modern mainstream
economics. Note that Menger's principles are
fundamental and therefore basic. He creates an excellent foundation and
starting point for further study of economics. Unfortunately few
economists have adopted his fundamental method and approach to
economics (even the Austrians veered away). Yet this is the most
promising path an economist could take. One example of the way Menger can
spur a re-checking of premises: Menger disputed Adam Smith's assertion
that division of labor was the fundamental cause of human economic
progress- Menger announced that the most fundamental cause of human
economic progress was a growing knowledge of the causal connections
required to make goods, combined with the ability to act on that
knowledge. A fantastic observation.
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Free
Download
here (pdf)
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 Speaking
of Liberty is a collection of speeches delivered by Rockwell
over a period of ten years. The book begins with economics, and
explains why Austrian economics matters, how the Federal Reserve brings
on the business cycle, why we need private property and free
enterprise, the unrecognized glories of the capitalist economy, and why
the gold standard is still the best monetary system. Other sections
deal with war, Mises and his work, other important thinkers in the
libertarian tradition, and the culture and morality of liberty.
Written in clear
prose to reach a broad audience, Rockwell's
new book is as pro-liberty as it is critical of government. It is
rigorous enough to withstand the enemy's closest scrutiny, and
chock full of the energy and enthusiasm that will keep you
reading. The book is united
by a set of fixed principles: the corruption of
politics, the universality and immutability of the ideas of freedom,
the centrality of sound money and free enterprise, the moral imperative
of peace and trade, the importance of hope and tenacity in the struggle
for liberty, and the need for everyone to join the intellectual
fight.
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Lew Rockwell is
founder-president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
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The
Law has been acclaimed for more than a century as the
classic moral defense of individual liberty and limited
government. Here is the timeless message of immutable
principle – in the immortal words of one of history's most
courageous thinkers and brilliant
writers.
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Download as
PDF
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Please
also visit our VIDEO library
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Meet the world's wisest thinkers in this
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Leading economists and philosophers share their wisdom and debate
matters of everyday life, money, personal choice and public policy.
Featuring Nobel Prize laureates Robert Lucas, Milton Friedman,
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Planned
Chaos by
Ludwig von Mises. Government
interventionism,
under various enticing labels, endangers voluntary society,
the market economy, and constitutionally limited government.
Mises explains the errors of those who believe that a system
based on individual freedom can be "mixed" with socialism
and collectivism. For Mises every socialist economy is doomed to fail
because there is no way to calculate prices nor how to allocate
resources. Government intervention in the economy causes distortions
and shortages which inevitably lead to chaos. The book also describes
the economic authoritarian nature of Naziism and its similarities to
Communism. Hitler believed in a government controlled economy, even if
he left the price system intact. Download
PDF
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- The
Tragedy of the commons by Garrett
Hardin Free
access
and unrestricted demand for a finite resource ultimately
dooms the resource through over-exploitation. This occurs
because the benefits of exploitation accrue to individuals,
each of which is motivated to maximise his or her own use of
the resource, while the costs of exploitation are
distributed between all those to whom the resource is
available (which may be a wider class of individuals than
those who are exploiting it). The theory itself is as old as
Aristotle who said: "That which is common to the greatest
number has the least care bestowed upon
it. more
here
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- THE SOVEREIGN INDIVIDUAL:
by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg.
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