Liberty Matters

The OLL brings people together to debate and discuss important texts and big ideas about liberty.

Stephen Davies, “The Levellers and the Emergence of (Some) Modern Political Ideas” (November 2019)

By: Stephen Davies

In this month’s Liberty Matters online discussion we discuss the Leveller pamphlets and the emergent political ideas found there. In the Lead Essay, Stephen Davies of the Institute of Economic Affairs argues that were both…

Carlo Lottieri, “Exchanges, Claims, and Powers: About Bruno Leoni’s Social Theory” (September 2019)

By: Carlo Lottieri

In this discussion, Carlo Lottieri, Professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Verona, argues that the main intellectual contribution of the Italian jurist Bruno Leoni (1913-1967) is usually connected to his analysis of the…

Phillip W. Magness, “William Leggett: Free Trade, Hard Money, and Abolitionism” (July 2019)

By: Phillip W. Magness

The American political journalist William Leggett (1801-1839) had a short but productive period of activity between 1834-39 when he became famous, even notorious, for his opposition to slavery, tariffs, a state privileged National…

David M. Hart, “Reassessing Bastiat’s Economic Harmonies after 160 Years” (May 2019)

By: David M. Hart

With the completion of a draft of Liberty Fund's new translation of Frédéric Bastiat's economic treatise on Economic Harmonies we have invited a group of scholars who know Bastiat and his work to reassess his contributions to…

Aurelian Craiutu, “How to Combat Fanaticism and the Spirit of Party: Germaine de Staël’s Lesson" (March 2019)

By: Aurelian Craiutu

The year 2017 marked the bicentenary of Germaine de Staël's death (1766-1817). Although her name almost never appears in textbooks or histories of political thought in the English-speaking world her political thought is undeniably…

Matthew McCaffrey, “Frank Fetter and the Austrian Tradition in the United States” (January 2019)

By: Matthew McCaffrey

Matthew McCaffrey, assistant professor of enterprise at the University of Manchester, explores the economic and political work of the "forgotten giant" of economics, the Indiana-born Frank Fetter. At the height of his career in the…