Economics

About this Collection

Classic works in the discipline are joined by explorations of how economic reasoning applies to political science and other social sciences, as well as the relevance of economics as moral philosophy. A consistent theme is the view that economics is the study of human choice and its consequences, both intended and unintended.

Key People

Titles & Essays

The A B C of Finance

Simon Newcomb (author)

A popularization of economic ideas which Newcomb wrote for Harpers Magazine.

Another copy of this book can be found in HTML format at our sister website Econlib.

THE READING ROOM

A Meeting of Minds in the Middle of the Street

By: Richard B. McKenzie

We lived across a quiet neighborhood street from one another for more than three decades. On the political spectrum, however, we were so far apart that we couldn’t see one another from our houses. On the religion spectrum, we had an…

THE READING ROOM

A Postscript to Property & Justice: A Liberal Theory of Natural Rights

By: Billy Christmas

I am grateful to the Online Library of Liberty for hosting this discussion of my book, and of course the discussants, Aeon Skoble, Jacob Levy, and Sarah Skwire, for graciously reading and engaging with my work.
In those reflections…

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A Toast: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

Recently, I've been diving into the Liberty Fund rare book room every Friday to find and share a treasure with readers of this blog. I hope my posts so far have persuaded you of the wealth of materials that we have on hand in the…
An Account of Denmark, With Francogallia and Some Considerations for the Promoting of Agriculture and Employing the Poor

Robert Molesworth (author)

Molesworth’s An Account of Denmark was one of the canonical works of 18th century Whiggism. It is a detailed description of how tyranny and corruption worked, the institutions that made this possible, and the ideas that supported it.…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Adam Smith’s Emergent Rules of Justice (June/July 2023)

By: Vernon L. Smith, Brianne Wolf, Leonidas Montes, Caroline Breashears, and Peter S. Onuf

June 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith's birth. Celebrations of this tercentenary abound, notably at our sister site, AdamSmithWorks. Most often known as the father or modern economics, OLL readers know that Smith's…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Adam Smith’s Emergent Rules of Justice (June/July 2023)

Vernon L. Smith (contributor)

June 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith's birth. Celebrations of this tercentenary abound, notably at our sister site, AdamSmithWorks. Most often known as the father or modern economics, OLL readers know...

Author Guide: Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

David M. Hart (editor)

This is a guide to the material on the economist Ludwig von Mises in the OLL collection.

An Autobiography, vol. 1

Herbert Spencer (author)

Volume 1 of a 2 volume work. In volume 1 Spencer talks about the period from his early childhood up to 1856 soon after he left work on The Economist and was working on his second book.

LIBERTY MATTERS

An Introduction to the Major Writings of Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

The Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) wrote widely on matters such as highly technical works on monetary theory as well as journalistic pieces designed for a broader audience. Here is an…

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Ancient Wisdom as Antidote to the Local Food Activists’ Hatred of Intermediaries

By: Pierre Desrochers

French economist Frédéric Bastiat famously observed two centuries ago that Parisians slept peacefully each night confident that others all over France worked “in concert and without agreement” to supply the capital with food in a…

LIBERTY MATTERS

The Anti-capitalistic Mentality

Ludwig von Mises (author)

In The Anti-capitalistic Mentality, Ludwig von Mises explains the causes of the irrational fear and hatred many intellectuals and others feel for capitalism. Written during the heyday of twentieth-century socialism, this work…

The Application of the Theoretical Apparatus of Supply and Demand to Units of Currency

Edwin Cannan (author)

A pioneering article on currency which was pubished in one of the leading professional economics journals in the early 20th century.

THE READING ROOM

April is the Cruellest Month: A Reading List on Taxation

By: Sarah Skwire

We thought this week would be an appropriate time to bracket off a few readings from the OLL on the timely, and most despised, topic of taxation.

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Arabian Nights and Commercial Culture

By: Garth Bond

The classic collection of middle eastern stories known as The Arabian Nights is not in the Online Library of Liberty, which is perhaps understandable given its emphasis on irresponsible liberties taken and arbitrary exercises of…
“Are Economists Basically Immoral?” and Other Essays on Economics, Ethics, and Religion

Paul Heyne (author)

Heyne’s writings are unique in that he takes the critics of the free market order seriously and addresses their arguments directly, showing how they are defective in their understanding of economics and in their ethical and…

Armonias Economicas

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

A Spanish translation of Bastiat’s best known work on “economic harmonies” in which he explains in simple terms how the free market operates to everybody’s benefit.

THE READING ROOM

Bastiat and immigration

By: Josh T. Smith

That Robinson Crusoe and Friday are better together is obvious. No reader is surprised to find that, once united and working together, they do more together than apart. Yet, when we talk about essentially equivalent situations…
The Best of Bastiat

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been edited as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 1.1: A Life in Letters

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been edited as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 2.1: The State

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been formatted as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 2.2: Property Plunder

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been edited as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 2.3: The Law

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been edited as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 3.1: Petition of the Manufacturers of Candles

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been edited as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 3.2: The Broken Window

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s 6 volume edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). They are chapter length extracts and have been edited as pamphlets for…

The Best of Bastiat 3.3: The Utopian

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Best of Bastiat (BOB) is a collection of some of the best material in Liberty Fund’s edition of The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat (2011-). These extracts should be useful in the classroom, or discussion groups. This…

BOLL 1: John Locke, “Of Property” (1689)

John Locke (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 3: Ludwig von Mises, “Economics of War” (1949)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 4: Ludwig von Mises, “Liberty and Property” (1958)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 7: Adam Smith, “On Free Trade” (1776)

Adam Smith (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 8: J.B. Say, “Of the Right of Property” (1819)

Jean-Baptiste Say (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 10: James M. Buchanan, “The Threat of Leviathan” (1975)

James M. Buchanan (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 12: F.A. Hayek, “The Use of Knowledge in Society” (1945)

Friedrich August von Hayek (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes…

BOLL 14: Paul Heyne, “Economics Is a Way of Thinking” (1995)

Paul Heyne (author)

This essay is by the American economist Paul Heyne who explains in a mere 5 pages how to think like an economist. Anyone can learn to think like an…

BOLL 15: Jasay, “Liberalism and Democracy” (1985)

Anthony de Jasay (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by…

BOLL 16: Leland Yeager, “The Positive Case for Free Trade” (1954)

Leland B. Yeager (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by…

BOLL 17: Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” (1961)

Milton Friedman (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by…

BOLL 18: Friedrich Hayek, “Kinds of Order in Society” (1964)

Friedrich August von Hayek (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by…

BOLL 19: Israel Kirzner, “Entrepreneurial Activity and the General Market Process” (1963)

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by…

BOLL 20: J.B. Say, “Of the Demand or Market for Products” (1819)

Jean-Baptiste Say (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay is by…

BOLL 23: Abbé de Condillac, “On Value and Trade” (1776)

Étienne Bonnot, Abbé de Condillac (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” a collection of classroom-friendly excerpts from some of the most important material in…

BOLL 27: Kirzner, “Economic Coordination” (1963)

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a…

BOLL 28: Norman Barry, “Hayek’s Theory of Spontaneous Order I: Economic Orders” (1982)

Norman P. Barry (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 29: Norman Barry, “Hayek’s Theory of Spontaneous Order II: Legal Orders” (1982)

Norman P. Barry (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 30: Richard Cobden, “On the Total and Immediate Repeal of the Corn Laws” (1846)

Richard Cobden (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a speech…

BOLL 53: Gustave de Molinari, “Of the Liberty of Government” (1849)

Gustave de Molinari (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 58: Léon Faucher,“Property I” (1852)

Léon Faucher (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This article was…

BOLL 59: Wolowski and Levasseur, “Property II” (1864)

Louis Wolowski (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This essay was…

BOLL 65: Destutt de Tracy, “Of Society” (1817)

Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 66: Alexis de Tocqueville, “On Socialism” (1848)

Alexis de Tocqueville (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 67: John Stuart Mill “The Difficulties of Socialism” (1879)

John Stuart Mill (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

BOLL 68: Ludwig von Mises, “Economic Calculation under Socialism” (1922)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

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BOLL 10: James M. Buchanan, “The Threat of Leviathan” (1975)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from James Buchanan’s book The Limits of Liberty in which he warns of the dangers…

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BOLL 1: John Locke, “Of Property” (1689)

By: John Locke

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from John Locke’s “Second Treatise of Government” and is the chapter in which he…

THE READING ROOM

BOLL 3: Ludwig von Mises, “Economics of War” (1949)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Ludwig von Mises’ book Human Action which was published soon after the end of…

THE READING ROOM

BOLL 4: Ludwig von Mises, “Liberty and Property” (1958)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from a lecture Ludwig von Mises gave to the Mont Pelerin Society in October 1958 in…

THE READING ROOM

BOLL 7: Adam Smith, “On Free Trade” (1776)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” in which he defends the idea of free trade. It…

THE READING ROOM

BOLL 8: J.B. Say, “Of the Right of Property” (1819)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This one comes from Jean-Baptiste Say’s Treatise on Political Economy in which very early on in the…
Bureaucracy

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Originally published by Yale University Press in 1944, Bureaucracy is a classic fundamental examination of the nature of bureaucracies and free markets in juxtaposition to various political systems.

Can Capitalism Survive?

Benjamin A. Rogge (author)

The nineteen essays in this volume explore the philosophy of freedom, the nature of economics, the business system, labor markets, money and inflation, the problems of cities, education, and what must be done to ensure the survival…

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. 3 vols.

Karl Marx (author)

A three volume criticism of the capitalist system by one of the leading theorists of socialism. Only vol. 1 appeared in Marx’s lifetime (1867); the other two vols. were published posthumously by Engels (1885, 1894). Marx prided…

Capital and Interest: A Critical History of Economic Theory

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (author)

Ludwig von Mises described this as a “monumental work” which “is the most eminent contribution to economic theory”. He further stated that “a man not perfectly familiar with all the ideas advanced in theses three volumes has no claim…

Capital and its Structure

Ludwig M. Lachmann (author)

A reprint of Lachmann’s 1956 classic of Austrian capital theory. In this book Lachmann shows how firms invest to position capital goods with one another, thus creating the complex capital structure. He shows how capital formation and…

Capital, Expectations, and the Market Process

Ludwig M. Lachmann (author)

This volume consists of 17 of Ludwig Lachmann’s most important papers published during the period 1940-73. Two of the articles appear here in translation for the first time. Prepared especially for this volume is a new essay about…

Capital, Interest, and Rent

Frank A. Fetter (author)

Rothbard has collected Fetter’s journal articles and book reviews from the period 1897 to 1937 which cover the general topics of capital, interest, and rent.

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Volume I: The Process of Capitalist Production

Karl Marx (author)

Vol. I of the major work of criticism of the capitalist system by one of the leading theorists of socialism. Only vol. 1 appeared in Marx’s lifetime; the other two vols. were published postumously by Engels. Marx prided himself on…

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Volume II: The Process of Circulation of Capital

Karl Marx (author)

Vol. II of the major work of criticism of the capitalist system by one of the leading theorists of 19th century socialism. Only vol. 1 appeared in Marx’s lifetime; the other two vols. were published postumously by Engels. Marx prided…

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Volume III: The Process of Capitalist Production as a Whole

Karl Marx (author)

Vol. III of the major work of criticism of the capitalist system by one of the leading theorists of socialism. Only vol. 1 appeared in Marx’s lifetime; the other two vols. were published postumously by Engels. Marx prided himself on…

Catalogue of the Guillaumin Librairie (1847)

Gilbert-Urbain Guillaumin (editor)

This catalogue is 16 pages long and contains an announcement of the massive Collection des Principaux Économistes which was a multi-volume collection of the classic works of political economy, Bastiat’s Sophismes économiques and

Catalogue of the Guillaumin Librairie (1849)

Gilbert-Urbain Guillaumin (editor)

This catalogue is 5 pages long and contains Dunoyer’s book on the February Revolution of 1848, the collection of Petits Pamphlets of Bastiat, a work collecting the debates in the National Assembly on the right to work issue, an…

Catalogue of the Guillaumin Librairie (May 1866)

Gilbert-Urbain Guillaumin (editor)

This catalogue is 33 pages long and contains a large number of works by French political economists and lawyers. It also contains a French translation of J.S. Mill’s Considerations on Representative Government and On Liberty, a…

Catalogue of the Félix Alcan and Guillaumin Librairies (August 1907)

Gilbert-Urbain Guillaumin (editor)

The family owned publishing firm of Guillaumin was eventually taken over by Félix Alcan. This catalogue is a joint catalogue of the two firms and is 32 pages long. It contains works of science, medicine, social science, history,…

The Challenge of Facts and other Essays

William Graham Sumner (author)

A large collection of Sumner’s shorter writings, newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, etc. on socialism, economic growth, the social question, legislation, democracy, and sociology.

The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy

John Elliot Cairnes (author)

The book consists of lectures Cairnes gave to explain the basic principles behind classical economics.

LIBERTY MATTERS

An Interview with Henry C. Clark

Henry C. Clark (author)

Liberty Fund author Henry C. Clark, discusses his book Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism before Adam Smith (2003). He discusses the rich intellectual history of capitalism in the 17th and 18th centuries, the…

The Coal Question

William Stanley Jevons (author)

A warning that Britain would face rising costs for coal as other nations industrialized and that this would have a deep impact on the British economy and way of life.

Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, in 33 vols.

John Stuart Mill (author)

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill consists of 33 volumes which contain the writings of one of the leading classical liberals of the 19th century. Mill wrote works of political economy, philosophy, history, political theory, and…

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume II - The Principles of Political Economy I

John Stuart Mill (author)

Vol. 2 of the 33 vol. Collected Works contains Part 1 of Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume III - Principles of Political Economy Part II

John Stuart Mill (author)

Vol. 3 of the 33 vol. Collected Works contains Part 2 of Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume IV - Essays on Economics and Society Part I

John Stuart Mill (author)

Vol. 4 of the 33 vol. Collected Works contains a number of Mill’s essays on economic topics, including the collection Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy.

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume V - Essays on Economics and Society Part II

John Stuart Mill (author)

Vol. 5 of the 33 vol. Collected Works contains a number of Mill’s essays on economic topics, including the Chapters on Socialism.

Introductions to the Robson Edition of the Collected Works of J.S. Mill

John Stuart Mill (author)

This is a collation of the 19 lengthy scholarly Introductions which preceded key volumes in the 33 volume Collected Works of John Stuart Mill edited by John M. Robson for the University of Toronto Press between 1963 and 1991. The…

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon

Arthur Seldon (author)

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon spans 65 years of Seldon’s influential thought and includes all his pivotal works that helped to shape current economic thought. His arguments are as compelling and relevant today as they were…

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon, vol. 1 - The Virtues of Capitalism

Arthur Seldon (author)

The Virtues of Capitalism, lays the foundation of Seldon’s views and theories of capitalism and its alternatives. The first part, Corrigible Capitalism; Incorrigible Socialism, was first published in 1980. It explains why, Seldon…

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon, vol. 4

Arthur Seldon (author)

This is the fourth volume in Liberty Fund’s The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon. It brings together six of Seldon’s essays that discuss his alternative proposals for paying for “public” services rather than through coercive…

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon, vol. 5 - Government Failure and Over-Government

Arthur Seldon (author)

In the fifth volume of The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon, Arthur Seldon uses public choice economics research to support his theory of over-government. The term “over-government” was coined by Seldon and is defined as the failure…

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon, vol. 6

Arthur Seldon (author)

Volume 6 of The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon examines the failure of state-supported welfare programs to benefit the people most in need of help. The eight articles and one book in this volume encompass almost forty years of…

The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon, vol. 7 - The IEA, the LSE, and the Influence of Ideas

Arthur Seldon (author)

Volume 7 of The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon includes six works that discuss the role of the Institute of Economic Affairs, where Seldon spent most of his working life. For copyright reasons, only “The Making of the Institute: A…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan in 20 vols.

James M. Buchanan (author)

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan is a twenty-volume series published by Liberty Fund that includes ten monographs and all of the important journal articles, papers, and essays that Buchanan has produced in a distinguished…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan. Vol. 2 Public Principles of Public Debt

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 2 of The Collected Works. One of James M. Buchanan’s most important and influential books which is based on the then (1958) radical idea that the burden of debt is not borne by the current generation, but is shouldered in large…

The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 3 of The Collected Works. The Calculus of Consent, is a ground-breaking economic classic written by two of the world’s preeminent economists - Gordon Tullock and Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan. This book is a unique blend of…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Vol. 4. Public Finance in Democratic Process

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 4 of The Collected Works. Public Finance in Democratic Process outlines the dynamics of individual choice as it is displayed in the process of public finance. The underlying principles of this seminal work are: an analysis of…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Vol. 5. The Demand and Supply of Public Goods

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 5 of The Collected Works. Originally given as a series of lectures at Cambridge University in 1961 and 1962, in The Demand and Supply of Public Goods Buchanan develops a theory of public-goods in which he compares market…

Cost and Choice: An Inquiry in Economic Theory, Vol. 6 of the Collected Works

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 6 of The Collected Works. A short work in which Buchanan develops his ideas on opportunity cost. He takes an individualist and subjectivist perspective and attempts to integrate this into the orthodox classical and neoclassical…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, vol. 7 (The Limits of Liberty)

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 7 of The Collected Works. The Limits of Liberty made James Buchanan’s name more widely known than ever before among political philosophers and theorists and established Buchanan, along with John Rawls and Robert Nozick, as one…

Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 8 of The Collected Works. Democracy in Deficit is one of the early comprehensive attempts to apply the basic principles of public-choice analysis to macroeconomic theory and policy. The book serves to bolster Buchanan’s central…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Vol. 9 (The Power to Tax)

Geoffrey Brennan (author)

Vol. 9 of The Collected Works. Originally published in 1980, The Power to Tax was a much-needed answer to the tax revolts sweeping across the United States. The public-choice approach to taxation which Buchanan had earlier elaborated…

The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Vol. 10 (The Reason of Rules)

James M. Buchanan (author)

Vol. 10 of The Collected Works. In his foreword, Robert D. Tollison identifies the main objective of Geoffrey Brennan and James M. Buchanan’s The Reason of Rules: ” . . a book-length attempt to focus the energies of economists and…

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), in one vol.

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a draft of the second edition of the collected works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist Lysander Spooner in chronological order of the year of publication. It is in a single large file in HTML…

A Collection of the Political Writings of William Leggett, vol. 1

William Leggett (author)

Volume 1 of a two volume collection of newspaper articles and other writings by the Jacksonian era journalist and advocate of free banking and other free market policies, William Leggett.

A Collection of the Political Writings of William Leggett, vol. 2

William Leggett (author)

Volume 2 of a two volume collection of newspaper articles and other writings by the Jacksonian era journalist and advocate of free banking and other free market policies, William Leggett.

A Collection of Tracts, 2 vols. (1751)

Thomas Gordon (author)

A two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on standing armies, religion, British politics, and economics.

A Collection of Tracts, vol. I

Thomas Gordon (author)

Volume 1 of a two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on standing armies, various sermons, on debt, taxation, and religion.

Colony

James Mill (author)

One of the articles James Mill wrote for the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Comedy of Protection (1906)

Yves Guyot (author)

Guyot provides a history of French tariff policy from the time of Colbert and a discussion of its effects on particular industries such as textiles and food. He then discusses protection in the US and Germany and refutes many…

Commentary on Filangieri’s Work

Benjamin Constant (author)

The Commentary is Constant’s most extensive treatment of economic matters. It is a response to a multi-volume work by the Italian jurist Gaetano Filangiero, The Science of Legislation (1780-88). Constant defends limited government…

Commerce and Government Considered in their Mutual Relationship

Étienne Bonnot, Abbé de Condillac (author)

This text covers such topics as value, money, agriculture, domestic and foreign trade, war, labor, interest rates, luxuries, and the various government policies that affect these subjects.The theme that unites these disparate…

Commerce Defended (1808)

James Mill (author)

This is a critique of both the idea that only agriculture is truly a productive activity and government war-time policy which resulted in rising food prices and taxes which had a deleterious impact on the poor.

Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism Before Adam Smith

Henry C. Clark (editor)

In this Liberty Fund book the editor has compiled some of the more important writings on economics before the appearance of Smith’s Wealth of Nations in 1776. It is particularly strong on the French contribution. Not all the pieces…

The Commonsense of Political Economy

Philip H. Wicksteed (author)

Contemporaneously with, though slightly following, Marshall, this book was one of the first “modern” textbooks leading from the 19th into the 20th century. Wicksteed substantively furthered the work of John Bates Clark on marginal…

The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution, 1625-1660

Samuel Rawson Gardiner (editor)

A collection of constitutional documents from the English Revolution of the mid-17th century. They include parliamentary speeches, letters and declarations by the monarch, legal proceedings, and other documents. They are preceded by…

Construction Construed and Constitutions Vindicated

John Taylor (author)

Taylor defends a strict “states rights” interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and advocates limited republican government.

The Continental System: An Economic Interpretation

Eli F. Heckscher (author)

The great Swedish economist, Heckscher’s, first effort to show how interventionist economic policies fail. He began with this 1918 study of Napoleon’s effort to wage economic warfare against the British known as The Continental…

Conversations on Political Economy

Jane Haldimand Marcet (author)

One of Marcet’s earlier efforts at popularizing free market economic ideas for ordinary working people. It first appeared in 1816, was enlarged an reprinted in 1827, going through 6 editions (giving some indication of its…

The Corn Laws. Speech of R. Cobden

Richard Cobden (author)

A cheap mass produced pamphlet of Cobden’s speech distributed by the Anti-Corn Law League.

Correspondence and Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834-1859, 2 vols. (1872)

Nassau William Senior (author)

A two volume collection of journal entries and letters between Tocqueville and Nassau Senior between 1834 and 1859. Vol. 1 contains material from 1834 to 1851. Vol. 2 contains material from 1851 to 1859.

Correspondence and Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834-1859, vol. 1 (1834-1851)

Thomas Kingsmill Abbott (author)

Volume 1 of a two volume collection of journal entries and letters between Tocqueville and Nassau Senior between 1834 and 1859. Vol. 1 contains material from 1834 to 1851.

Correspondence and Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834-1859, vol. 2 (1834-1851)

Nassau William Senior (author)

Volume 2 of a two volume collection of journal entries and letters between Tocqueville and Nassau Senior between 1834 and 1859. Vol. 2 contains material from 1851 and 1859.

“Cost of Production and Price Over Long and Short Periods”

Frank H. Knight (author)

A pioneering artcile on the cost of production which was pubished in one of the leading professional economics journals in the early 20th century.

Cours d’Economie Politique

Gustave de Molinari (author)

A 2 volume textbook on classical liberal political economy written by one of the leaders of the French laissez-faire school. It was written when Molinari was in exile in Belgium following the 1848 Revolution.

Cours d’Economie Politique vol. 1

Gustave de Molinari (author)

Vol. 1 of a 2 volume textbook on classical liberal political economy written by one of the leaders of the French laissez-faire school. It was written when Molinari was in exile in Belgium following the 1848 Revolution.

Cours d’Economie Politique vol. 2

Gustave de Molinari (author)

Vol. 2 of a 2 volume textbook on classical liberal political economy written by one of the leaders of the French laissez-faire school. It was written when Molinari was in exile in Belgium following the 1848 Revolution.

The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat, in 6 Vols.

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

A 6 vol. collection of the works of the 19th century French political economist Frédéric Bastiat. More than half of the material has never been translated into English before. The texts are accompanied by extensive glossaries, maps,…

The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat. Vol. 1: The Man and the Statesman: The Correspondence and Articles on Politics

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 1 of a 6 vol. collection of the works of the 19th century French political economist Frédéric Bastiat. This volume contains 209 letters and a selection of his articles on politics. A detailed glossary contains information about…

The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat. Vol. 2: The Law, The State, and Other Political Writings, 1843-1850

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume 2 of a collection of the works of the 19th century French political economist Frédéric Bastiat. This volume contains 19 essays on political theory, including “The State,” “The Law,” and “Property and Plunder.” A detailed…

The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat. Vol. 3: Economic Sophisms and “What is Seen and What is Not Seen”

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume 3 of a 6 volume collection of the works of the 19th century French political economist Frédéric Bastiat. This volume contains the complete collection of Economic Sophisms, a third of which have never been translated before; as…

Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy 3 vols.

Louis Wolowski (author)

A massive 3 volume, 3,000 page compendium of nearly every aspect of 19th century American economics and political institutions. Main contributors, with 10 or more articles each, are: Alexander Johnston (293), Maurice Block (85),…

Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy vol. 1 Abdication-Duty

John Joseph Lalor (editor)

Vol. 1 of a massive 3 volume, 3,000 page compendium of nearly every aspect of 19th century American economics and political institutions. An additional bonus are the numerous translation of articles written for the French-language

Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy vol. 2 East India Co. - Nullification

John Joseph Lalor (editor)

Vol. II of a massive 3 volume, 3,000 page compendium of nearly every aspect of 19th century American economics and political institutions. An additional bonus are the numerous translation of articles written for the French-language

Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy vol. 3 Oath - Zollverein

John Joseph Lalor (editor)

Vol. III of a massive 3 volume, 3,000 page compendium of nearly every aspect of 19th century American economics and political institutions. An additional bonus are the numerous translation of articles written for the French-language…

David Ricardo

This is a collection of key extracts by, and essays and study guides about David Ricardo (1772-1823).

See also the following works:

Works in the OLL by David Ricardo (1772-1823) Timeline: The Life of David Ricardo (1772-1823)

The Debates in the Several State Conventions vol. 4

Jonathan Elliot (editor)

Vol. 4 of an influential early 19th century edition of key documents about the ratification of the US Constitution by the states.

Defence of Usury

Jeremy Bentham (author)

An 1818 edition which combines Bentham’s defence of the practice of charging interest on loans with a critique of certain taxes which increased the cost of appearing before the courts.

Another copy of this book can be found in HTML…

Definitions in Political Economy

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

Malthus criticises a number of classical economists (such as Smith, Say, Ricardo, McCulloch). Say is given particular attention over the idea of value. Malthus then offers his own definitions of 70 economic concepts.

Democratick Editorials: Essays in Jacksonian Political Economy

William Leggett (author)

This volume is a collection of Leggett’s editorials and newspaper articles written during the 1830s in Jacksonian America. He is a consistent advocate of laissez-faire economic policy and limited government.

A Discourse of Trade

Nicholas Barbon (author)

Barbon’s A Discourse of Trade, is one of the best-known early tracts for freedom of trade, it also discusses topics as varied as the nature of value, the role of fashion in economic life, the importance of moral dispositions such as…

Discourses Upon Trade

Sir Dudley North (author)

North ’s Discourses upon Trade is one of the earliest attempts to theorize as a whole the workings of a market economy in England. There are two discourses: one concerning “the abatement of interest” and the other on “coyned money”.

LIBERTY MATTERS

The Distribution of Wealth: A Theory of Wages, Interest and Profits

John Bates Clark (author)

This 1908 edition is the third reprinting of Clark’s path-breaking, yet widely under-read, 1899 textbook, in which he developed marginal productivity theory and used it to explore the way income is distributed between wages,…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Dollar Stabilization

Irving Fisher (author)

The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was the last edition which appeared before the First World War destroyed the old liberal order in Europe. The next edition, the 12th, reproduced the 11th edition with the addition of 4…

LIBERTY MATTERS

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Early Economic Thought in Spain, 1177-1740

Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson (author)

In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, clerics gave lectures at the University of Salamanca on such topics as the varying purchasing power of money, the morality of money, and how price is determined. Marjorie…

Earth-Hunger and Other Essays (1913)

William Graham Sumner (author)

This is the first of four volumes of essays by Sumner published by Yale University Press after his death in 1910. It includes a series of 15 essays about liberty which he wrote between 1887 and 1889, along with several important…

The Economic Consequences of the Peace

John Maynard Keynes (author)

As part of the British delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference after WW1 Keynes had detailed knowledge of the debates about reparations which were demanded of Germany. He believed the demands on defeated Germany were too harsh…

Economic Freedom and Interventionism

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Economic Freedom and Interventionism is a primer of the thought of Ludwig von Mises and an anthology of his writings. This volume contains forty-seven articles edited by Mises scholar Bettina Bien Greaves. Among them are Mises’s…

Economic Harmonies (FEE ed.)

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

This is the translation by the Foundation for Economic Education of Bastiat’s longest and best known work Economic Harmonies. A new translation of this work by Liberty Fund is in progress. See the Summary of the Bastiat Project for…

Economic Liberalism, 2 vols.

William Dyer Grampp (author)

A two volume study of the intellectual origins of economic liberalism. Volume 1 deals with its beginnings in Stoicism, mercantilism, and the American Revolution. Volume 2 deals with the Classical School of the 19th century.

Economic Liberalism, vol. 1 The Beginnings

William Dyer Grampp (author)

A two volume study of the intellectual origins of economic liberalism. Volume 1 deals with its beginnings in Stoicism, mercantilism, and the American Revolution. Volume 2 deals with the Classical School of the 19th century.

Economic Liberalism, vol. 2 The Classical View

William Dyer Grampp (author)

A two volume study of the intellectual origins of economic liberalism. Volume 1 deals with its beginnings in Stoicism, mercantilism, and the American Revolution. Volume 2 deals with the Classical School of the 19th century.

The Economic Point of View (1976)

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

Kirzner’s The Economic Point of View is a thoughtful study of how and why economists are successful at sorting out certain issues but less successful at others, issues from welfare to wealth to human actions. Ludwig von Mises, for…

Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Economic Policy contains six lectures Ludwig von Mises delivered in 1959 for the Centro de Estudios sobre la Libertad in Argentina. This volume serves as an excellent introduction to what Mises sees as the simple truths of history in…

Economic Sophisms (FEE ed.)

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Foundation for Economic Education’s translation of Bastiat’s series of short essays in which he tries to correct common misunderstandings about the free market.

The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, 2 vols.

Sir William Petty (author)

A 2 volume collection of Petty’s writings, along with a lengthy introduction on Petty’s life and times and economic thought.

The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, vol. 1

Sir William Petty (author)

Vol. 1 contains a lengthy introduction on Petty’s life and times and economic thought, as well as A Treatise of Taxes (1662), Verbum sapienti (1664), The Political Anatomy of Ireland (1672), and Political Arithmetic (1676).

The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, vol. 2

Sir William Petty (author)

Vol. 2 includes writings about the cities of London, Dublin, Paris, and Rome, as well as on money.

Economics, 2 vols.

Frank A. Fetter (author)

Fetter’s 2 volume survey of economics written while he was a professor at Princeton University.

Economics, vol. 1: Economic Principles

Frank A. Fetter (author)

Volume 1 of Fetter’s 2 volume survey of economics written while he was a professor at Princeton University. Vol. 1 contains chapters on value and price, rent, wages, time-value and interest, enterprise and profit, and dynamic…

Economics as a Coordination Problem: The Contributions of Friedrich A. Hayek

Gerald P. O’Driscoll (author)

A full-length assessment of the contributions to economics of Friedrich Hayek (Nobel Prize 1974). Hayek is unique for a number of reasons: because of his emphasis on the function of institutions in coordinating the various plans of…

The Economics of Ludwig von Mises: Toward a Critical Reappraisal

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

A collection of papers from a Symposium on the economics of Mises held at the 44th meeting of the Southern Economics Association in Atlanta, Georgia on 15 November, 1974. There are articles by Laurence Moss, Fritz Machlup, Israel…

The Economics of Welfare

Arthur Cecil Pigou (author)

Pigou develops the concept of externalities at some length and uses their existence as a justification for government intervention.

Economics, vol. 2: Modern Economic Problems

Frank A. Fetter (author)

Vol. 2 of Fetter’s 2 volume survey of economics written while he was a professor at Princeton University. In this volume he deals the following problems: money and princes, banking and insurance, tariffs and taxation, wages and…

Elements of Political Economy (3rd ed. 1844)

James Mill (author)

James Mill’s work offers excellent summaries of diminishing marginal returns in Chapter II, of comparative advantage in Chapter III, Section V, of the quantity theory of money and the market for foreign exchange in Chapter II, and of…

Encouragement of Irish Linen Manufacture (August 1697)

John Locke (author)

Locke’s detailed proposals to encourage the Irish linen industry which was quoted in full in Fox Bourne’s The Life of John Locke (1876), vol. 2, pp. 363-372.

Encyclopedic Liberty: Political Articles in the Dictionary of Diderot and D’Alembert

Denis Diderot (author)

This anthology unites the most significant political writing from the compendium known as The Encyclopedia. It includes eighty-one of the most original, controversial and representative articles on political ideas, practices, and…

Classics of Liberty: The Enhanced Editions

David M. Hart (editor)

This is a collection of classic works on liberty from the Online Library of Liberty collection which have been “enhanced” to assist readers is learning more about these important works. The enhancements include, in addition to the…

An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain

Henry Thornton (author)

An important work on banking and money which was produced in reaction to the crisis of 1797 when the Bank of England suspended cash payments due to the costs of the wars against France. It has an equally important introduction by…

Die Entwicklung des gutsherrlich-bäuerlichen Verhältnisses in Galizien (1772-1848)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This is Mises dissertation which began his academic career. It is about the liberation of the peasants in Galicia under reform minded Kaisers and bureaucrats from just before the French Revolution up to the outbreak of the 1848…

Epistemological Problems of Economics (1933, 2013)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Epistemological Problems of Economics presents Ludwig von Mises’s views on the logical and epistemological features of social interpretation as well as his argument that the Austrian theory of value is the core element of a general…

Essay on the Nature of Trade in general (Higgs ed.)

Richard Cantillon (author)

Cantillon wrote one major work, Essay on the Nature of Trade in General, which was regarded by Jevons and Hayek as an important early contribution to the theory of marginal utility. It lay forgotten for over 100 years until Jevons…

Essay on the Nature of Trade in General (LF ed.)

Richard Cantillon (author)

The Liberty Fund edition is a modernized translation of Richard Cantillon’s Essai sur la nature du commerce en général (1755) with a new introduction by Antoin E. Murphy. Cantillon outlined an extraordinary model-building approach…

An Essay of the Impolicy of a Bounty on the Exportation of Grain (1804)

James Mill (author)

Mill provides a brief history of the Corn Laws and argues for their abolition.

An Essay on the Principle of Population [1798, 1st ed.]

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

This is the first edition of Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population. In this work Malthus argues that there is a disparity between the rate of growth of population (which increases geometrically) and the rate of growth of…

An Essay on the Principle of Population, 2 vols. [1826, 6th ed.]

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

This is the 6th expanded edition of Essay on the Principle of Population. In this work Malthus argues that there is a disparity between the rate of growth of population (which increases geometrically) and the rate of growth of…

An Essay on the Principle of Population, vol. 1 [1826, 6th ed.]

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

Vol. 1 of the 6th expanded edition of Essay on the Principle of Population. In this work Malthus argues that there is a disparity between the rate of growth of population (which increases geometrically) and the rate of growth of…

An Essay on the Principle of Population, vol. 2 [1826, 6th ed.]

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

Vol. 2 of the 6th expanded edition of Essay on the Principle of Population. In this work Malthus argues that there is a disparity between the rate of growth of population (which increases geometrically) and the rate of growth of…

An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species

Thomas Clarkson (author)

The first of many anti-slavery tracts written by the Quaker Thomas Clarkson. This one began as a prize-winning Latin dissertation submitted to Cambridge University in 1785. In it he examines the history of slavery, the slave trade,…

Essays (Glamorgan Pamphlets)

Jane Haldimand Marcet (author)

These economic fairy tales and parables published by Jane Marcet in the 1830s charm with their light-hearted wit. IMarcet illustrates such topics as the economics of wages and income distribution. The John Hopkins series reprinted…

Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.)

David Hume (author)

This edition of Hume’s much neglected philosophical essays contains the thirty-nine essays included in Essays, Moral, and Literary, that made up Volume I of the 1777 posthumous Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. It also…

Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative, vol. 3

Herbert Spencer (author)

Volume 3 of a three volume collection of Spencer’s essays which cover political philosophy, sociology, science, and current affairs.

Extract from The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia (Illustrations and Topical index)

Thomas Jefferson (author)

This file contains the following extracts from the Jeffersonian Cyclopedia: the editor’s Preface, the illustrations of Jefferson, a chronology of his life and work, the appendix of key documents, and the Topical Index.

Fabian Essays in Socialism

George Bernard Shaw (editor)

This collection of essays by the so-called “Fabian Socialists” (who advocated socialism by means of gradual political and economic reform instead of by revolution as preferred by the Marxists) prompted a vigorous defense of…

The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols.

Bernard Mandeville (author)

Mandeville is a witty satirist who used a poem to make the profound economic point that “private vices” (or self-interest) lead to “publick benefits” (such as orderly social structures like law, language, and markets).

The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, Vol. 1

Bernard Mandeville (author)

Mandeville is a witty satirist who used a poem to make the profound economic point that “private vices” (or self-interest) lead to “publick benefits” (such as orderly social structures like law, language, and markets).

The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, Vol. 2

Bernard Mandeville (author)

Mandeville is a witty satirist who used a poem to make the profound economic point that “private vices” (or self-interest) lead to “publick benefits” (such as orderly social structures like law, language, and markets).

LIBERTY MATTERS

Feminist Economics: The Conversation

Giandomenica Becchio (contributor)

The Conversation

Giandomenica Becchio,Response

Mikayla Novak, Response

Arnold Kling, Response

Jayme Lemke,Are there better ways to understand gender norms?

Giandomenica Becchio, Final Response:Do we need feminist...

Fiat Money Inflation in France

Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay (author)

This work began as a paper read before the members of Congress in 1876. The later printed edition also includes a section from Macaulay’s History of England on cheap coinage.

“Finance and Banking in the Austrian Empire and the Republic of Austria”

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was the last edition which appeared before the First World War destroyed the old liberal order in Europe. The next edition, the 12th, reproduced the 11th edition with the addition of 4…

The Forgotten Man and Other Essays (corrected edition)

William Graham Sumner (author)

24 essays and papers on topics ranging from protection, gold and silver currency, commercial crises, strikes, sociology, and education.

The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics

David R. Henderson (editor)

The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics was published in 1993. It went online in 2003 as The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. It contains articles by leading economists on basic concepts of economics, economic systems and schools, as…

The Foundations of Modern Austrian Economics (1976)

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

A volume in the collection Studies in Economic Theory, first published by the Institute for Humane Studies. This is a collection of papers given at a conference on Austrian economics in June 1974. They cover the uniqueness of the…

Four Introductory Lectures on Political Economy

Nassau William Senior (author)

Four lectures on political economy which Senior gave at the University of Oxford in 1847. They cover the retardation of the progress of political economy, political economy as a “mental study” and as a positive science.

Four Tracts on Political and Commercial Subjects

Josiah Tucker (author)

Four essays on trade, war, and the rebellion in the American colonies.

Frédéric Bastiat

Frédéric Bastiat (contributor)

This is a collection of key extracts by, and essays and study guides about Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850).

See also the following works:

Anthology: The Best of Bastiat Timelines:The Life and Works of Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)

Free Trade and Other Fundamental Doctrines of the Manchester School

Francis W. Hirst (editor)

A collection of speeches and articles illustrating the broad range of views of the British classical liberals and free traders of the 19th century known as the Manchester School. They cover foreign policy, free trade, the repeal of…

Free Trade: America’s Opportunity

Leland B. Yeager (author)

A brief and succinct defense of free trade.

THE READING ROOM

Freedom and Work in Severance

By: Joy Buchanan

Are employees free when they are at work? The new science-fiction TV show Severanceexplores themes about workplace culture and political oppression. Severance can also be very funny, in the tradition of Dilbert and Office Space.
Fugitive Essays: Selected Writings of Frank Chodorov

Frank Chodorov (author)

A collection of Chodorov’s essays selected from The Freeman and Human Events and other publications.

THE READING ROOM

G.K. Chesterton and Work in 20th Century America

By: Joy Buchanan

One hundred years ago, the British writer G.K. Chesterton traveled to the United States for a lecture tour. He published his observations of America in What I Saw in America (1922). In an essay titled “The American Businessman”,…
Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre

Carl Menger (author)

One of the works which appeared independently in 1871 (along with a work by Jevons and Walras) which revolutionized thinking about economics. The theory of marginal utility and new ways of thinking about marginal value and price…

Grundzüge einer Klassifikation der Wirtschaftwissenschaften

Carl Menger (author)

An off-print from the journal Jahrbüchern für Nationalökonomie und Statistik.

THE READING ROOM

Happy Birthday Joseph Schumpeter!

By: Sarah Skwire

I have been a fan of Joseph Schumpeter ever since someone told me of his famous comment, "Early in life I had three ambitions. I wanted to be the greatest economist in the world, the greatest horseman in Austria, and the best lover…

THE READING ROOM

Happy Birthday, Adam Smith!

By: OLL Editor

It's Adam Smith's 300th birthday this month! Here are a few ways to celebrate!
Harriet Martineau’s Autobiography, 2 vols.

Harriet Martineau (author)

Thinking she was close to death Martineau wrote her autobiography in 1855 but lived for another 20 years. She recounts her activities in various mid-19th century reform movements, her struggle to become a professional writer, and her…

Harriet Martineau’s Autobiography, vol. 1

Harriet Martineau (author)

Thinking she was close to death Martineau wrote her autobiography in 1855 but lived for another 20 years. She recounts her activities in various mid-19th century reform movements, her struggle to become a professional writer, and her…

Harriet Martineau’s Autobiography, vol. 2 and Memorials of Harriet Martineau

Maria Weston Chapman (author)

Thinking she was close to death Martineau wrote her autobiography in 1855 but lived for another 20 years. She recounts her activities in various mid-19th century reform movements, her struggle to become a professional writer, and her…

A History of American Currency

William Graham Sumner (author)

A collection of Sumner’s writing on money and banking with a reprint of the 1810 British *Report on Bullion”.

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 1 (U.S.A.)

William Graham Sumner (author)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York. Vol. 1 consists of “The United States,” by W.G. Sumner.

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 2

Antoine E. Horn (author)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city. Vol. 2 consists of: “Great Britain,” by H.D. Macleod; “The Russian Empire,” by A.E. Horn; “Savings Banks in the United…

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3

Pierre des Essars (author)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city. Vol. 3 consists of: “The Latin Nations,” by P. Des Essars; “The Banks of Alsace-Lorraine after the Annexation,” by A.…

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 4

Max Wirth (contributor)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city. Vol. 4 consists of “Germany and Austria-Hungary,” by M. Wirth; “The Netherlands,” by R. van der Borght; “The Scandinavian…

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, 4 vols.

Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin (editor)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city.

The History of Bimetallism in the United States (1898)

J Laurence Laughlin (author)

Laughlin states in the introduction that his aim is “to present only the facts bearing on the experiments of the United States with metallic money. No special attention, therefore, has been devoted to the theory of bimetallism or to…

A History of Political Economy

John Kells Ingram (author)

A nice older history of economic thought written when the marginal revolution and the emerging Austrian school were young and on the top of every young researcher’s agenda.

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (FEE ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The first comprehensive treatise on economics written by a leading member of the modern Austrian school of economics.

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, in 4 vols. (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

In the foreword to Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, Mises explains complex market phenomena as “the outcomes of countless conscious, purposive actions, choices, and preferences of individuals, each of whom was trying as best as…

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, vol. 1 (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

In the foreword to Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, Mises explains complex market phenomena as “the outcomes of countless conscious, purposive actions, choices, and preferences of individuals, each of whom was trying as best as…

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, vol. 2 (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

In the foreword to Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, Mises explains complex market phenomena as “the outcomes of countless conscious, purposive actions, choices, and preferences of individuals, each of whom was trying as best as…

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, vol. 3 (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

In the foreword to Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, Mises explains complex market phenomena as “the outcomes of countless conscious, purposive actions, choices, and preferences of individuals, each of whom was trying as best as…

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, vol. 4 (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The 4th and final volume contains a brief appendix by Mises on the work of Boehm-Bawerk and a glossary of terms prepared by the editor.

THE READING ROOM

Hume on Love of Glory, not Usury

By: Eric Schliesser

It’s probably not a major surprise that prompted by the first three volumes of the Italian translation of Hume’s History of England, the Vatican placed all of Hume’s writings on the Index Librorum prohibitorum in 1827. [1] After…
“I, Pencil: My Family Tree” as told to Leonard E. Read, Dec. 1958

Leonard E. Read (author)

A charming story which explains how something as apparently simple as a pencil is in fact the product of a very complex economic process based upon the division of labor, international trade, and comparative advantage.

THE READING ROOM

Ibn Al-Khaldun Approaches Buchanan’s Bridge

By: Owen Holzbach

For the student of the history of economic thought, it is interesting to think about whether the pre-Classical thinkers would grade well on an exam given by Buchanan on what economists should do. Specifically, how would Ibn…
Illustrations of Political Economy 9 vols.

Harriet Martineau (author)

Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 1

Harriet Martineau (author)

The first volume of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 2

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 2 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates. This volume contains her well known tale “Demerara” about slave labour.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 3

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 3 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 4

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 4 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 5

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 5 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 6

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 6 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 7

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 7 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 8

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 8 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Political Economy, vol. 9

Harriet Martineau (author)

Vol. 9 of 9 in which Martineau writes short “tales” to show ordinary readers how the free market operates.

Illustrations of Taxation (1-5)

Harriet Martineau (author)

Martineau continues her popularization of economic ideas which began with the Illustrations of Political Economy in this series of “Tales” addressed to the working class.

Imperialism: A Study

John A. Hobson (author)

A classic analysis of imperialism by a British economic journalist who explores the way in which mercantile interests in the home country can manipulate the power of the state in order to get benefits in the colony.

L’individualisme économique et social

Albert Schatz (author)

One of the few historical accounts of the development of the idea of individualism from its origins in the 18th century opposition to mercantilism to the radical individualists of the late 19th century. Schatz uncovers a number of…

“The Influence of the Rate of Interest on Prices”

Knut Wicksell (author)

A paper read before the Economic Section of the British Association, 1906.

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), in 2 vols.

Adam Smith (author)

Cannan’s justly famous early 20th century edition of Smith’s Wealth of Nations with his introduction and notes.

An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), vol. 1

Adam Smith (author)

Cannan’s justly famous early 20th century edition of Smith’s Wealth of Nations with his introduction and notes.

An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), vol. 2

Adam Smith (author)

Cannan’s justly famous early 20th century edition of Smith’s Wealth of Nations with his introduction and notes.

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Manuel Ayau

Manuel Ayau (author)

Manuel Ayau was the founder and former rector and teacher of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquin. In addition to being a successful businessman, Ayau was Chairman of the Guatemala Stock Exchange, a member of the Guatemala…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: Una Conversacion con Manuel Ayau

Manuel Ayau (author)

Manuel Ayau is the founder and former rector and teacher of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquin. In addition to being a successful businessman, Ayau is a former Chairman of the Guatemala Stock Exchange, was a member of the…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Lord Peter Thomas Bauer

Lord Peter Thomas Bauer (author)

One of the twentieth century’s leading thinkers on the relationship between free trade and the economics of developing countries, Lord Peter Thomas Bauer discusses his clear ideas on the effectiveness of government aid and…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Gary S. Becker

Gary S. Becker (author)

Gary S. Becker discusses his economic ideas with Edward Glaeser, Judge Richard A. Posner, and Edward Lazear. Gary Becker is one of the most original and pathbreaking economists in recent times. When he was named the 1992 Nobel…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with James M. Buchanan (Part 1)

James M. Buchanan (author)

The Nobel Prize winning economist, James M. Buchanan, discusses in part 1 of a two part conversation, the theory of public choice, his exchange theory of economics, and constitutional thought.

Watch the video and explore related…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with James M. Buchanan (Part 2)

James M. Buchanan (author)

The Nobel Prize winning economist, James M. Buchanan, discusses in part 2 of a two part conversation, the work ethic, the logic of free markets, subjectivism, anarchy, federalism, the influence of philosophy, and the significance of…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Ronald H. Coase

Ronald H. Coase (author)

Ronald Coase talks about his life work, his contributions to economics, and the law and economics movement which he helped create as editor of the Journal of law of Economics from 1964 to 1982.

Watch the video and explore related…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Richard Cornuelle

Richard Cornuelle (author)

Cornuelle talks about the vital role voluntary institutions have played in American society and how they might be further encouraged to solve social problems without resorting to the state.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel.

The…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman (author)

Milton Friedman discusses his economic ideas with Gary S. Becker. Recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, Milton Friedman was a leader of the Chicago school of monetary economics. He was also the Paul Snowden Russell…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: Lord Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon

Lord Ralph Harris (author)

As leaders of the Institute of Economic Affairs, or IEA, in London for many years, Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon pioneered the thoughtful application of free-market principles and greatly influenced public policy and economic…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: The Life and Thought of Friedrich A. Hayek

Friedrich August von Hayek (author)

F. A. Hayek was one of the most important economists of the 20th century, winning the Nobel Prize for Economic Science in 1974. A member of the Austrian school of economics, he taught at the London School of Economics and the…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Anthony de Jasay

Hartmut Kliemt (interviewer)

The relationship of the individual and the state is the central theme of Anthony de Jasay’s distinguished career. Here he discusses the concepts of…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Israel Kirzner

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

Israel Kirzner discusses the differences between Austrian Economics and neo-classical economics, his experiences as a student of Ludwig von Mises, and his careeer as a professor of economics at New York University.

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Paul W. McCracken

Paul W. McCracken (author)

McCracken, the Edmund Ezra Day Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, discusses his activities as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under several presidents…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Ljubo Sirc

Ljubo Sirc (author)

Sirc draws upon his experiences of fighting in the Resistance and the Yugoslav Army, his political opposition and arrest under communism to discuss the economics of socialism and life under communism.

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Sir Alan Walters

Sir Alan Walters (author)

Alan Walters discusses his role in the transformation of the British economy during the 1980s as economic advisor to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Henry Manne

Fred McChesney (interviewer)

Fred McChesney, the James B. Haddad Professor at Northwestern University School of Law, interviews Henry Manne who founded the Center for Law and Economics, now at George Mason University, and has directed scores of law and economics…

THE READING ROOM

Internal Improvements

By: Andrew Smith

Whenever I drive through parts of my hometown of Indianapolis, I cross a small waterway with a trail running alongside - the Central Canal.
Today, it’s a recreational area, with people walking and biking along its towpath and…
Interventionism: An Economic Analysis

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Interventionism provides Mises’s analysis of the problems of government interference in business from the Austrian School perspective. Written in 1940, before the United States was officially involved in World War II, this book…

Introductory Lectures on Political Economy

Richard Whately (author)

Whately followed Nassau Senior as Professor of Political Economy at the University of Oxford. He brought logical clarity to the previously murky relationship between morals and the underpinnings of economics. These are a serious of…

Die Irrthümer des Historismus in der deutschen Nationalökonomie

Carl Menger (author)

One of the founders of the Austrian school of economics and the subjective theory of value takes issue with the historical school’s metholdolgy in economics.

LIBERTY MATTERS

James M. Buchanan

James M. Buchanan (contributor)

This is a collection of key extracts by, and essays and study guides about James M. Buchanan (1919-2013).

See also the following works:

Works in the OLL by James M. Buchanan (1919-2013) Liberty Matters Discussion Forum: Geoffrey…

The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia

Thomas Jefferson (author)

This is a 1,000 page alphabetical compilation of the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson. The entries are taken from the 12 volume collection of his works edited by Paul Leicester Ford. It also includes numerous illustrations of Jefferson…

John Hopkins’s Notions on Political Economy

Jane Haldimand Marcet (author)

Marcet was self-taught in many fields and became a successful popularizer of several demanding fields (such as chemistry and economics) in spite of being discriminated against as a women. This book is one of her works of popularizing…

THE READING ROOM

John Stuart Mill and Thomas Carlyle: An Unlikely Bond

By: Chris Loukas

John Stuart Mill and Thomas Carlyle might seem to be unlikely friends. Mill was a politician, philosopher and economist and Carlyle an essayist and novelist. Mill was a radical, a liberal and a utilitarian and Carlyle was…

THE READING ROOM

John Stuart Mill on Genius and AI Tools

By: Philip D. Bunn

In a short period of time, new, consumer-facing, generative AI tools have exploded in capabilities and applications. Anyone with an internet connection and some time to kill can now use these tools to produce realistic images, short…

THE READING ROOM

John Stuart Mill on Lighthouses

By: Rosolino A. Candela

The limits of laissez-faire as a principle by which to limit the role of the government in a market economy has never been without controversy. Among the biggest “hotspots” that is representative of this controversy, still debated…

THE READING ROOM

John Stuart Mill on Say’s Law

By: Rosolino A. Candela

One of the most important and controversial principles originating from classical economics is the principle known as “Say’s Law,” or the fundamental law of markets. Although this economic principle can trace its roots back to Adam…

THE READING ROOM

John Stuart Mill, Private Property, and Slavery

By: Rosolino A. Candela

In recent years, there has been a growing literature among historians regarding the relationship between slavery and capitalism, known as the “New History of Capitalism,” which postulates that slavery was the institutional basis for…

THE READING ROOM

Josiah Child, John Locke, and the Value of Hands

By: Eric Mack

Here is what may be regarded as a footnote to Eric Schliesser’s Reading Room essay, “The Encyclopedie, Trade, and the Jews” (1/25/2022) -- in particular, to Schliesser’s discussion of the late seventeenth century economic thinker,…

THE READING ROOM

JS Mill:The Principles of Political Economy

By: Jon Murphy

In 1848, John Stuart Mill published his Principles of Political Economy. The book was an elaboration on the concepts and ideas developed by Adam Smith and David Ricardo and included applications to social philosophy and political…
Justice and Its Surroundings

Anthony de Jasay (author)

Author of The State, Anthony de Jasay, has been described as one of the few genuinely original minds in modern political philosophy. He breaks new ground with Justice and Its Surroundings - a new collection of essays that seek to…

Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie

Karl Marx (author)

This is a German edition of Karl Marx’s multi-volume work Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie which appeared between 1867 and 1894. Only the first volume appeared in Marx’s lifetime. The others were edited and published by…

Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Oekonomie. Buch 1 (1867)

Karl Marx (author)

This is the first German edition of volume 1 of Karl Marx’s multi-volume work Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie which appeared between 1867 and 1894. Only this volume appeared in Marx’s lifetime. The others were edited and…

Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Buch 1 (1890)

Karl Marx (author)

This is the fourth German edition of volume 1 of Karl Marx’s multi-volume work Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (1867-1894) which appeared in 1890. Only this volume appeared in Marx’s lifetime - see the first edition…

Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Buch 2 (1885)

Karl Marx (author)

This is the first German edition of volume 2 of Karl Marx’s multi-volume work Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (1867-1894) which appeared in 1885. Here we have a facsimile PDF of the 1885 edition. An HTML version can be…

Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Buch III, erster Theil (1894)

Karl Marx (author)

This is a German edition of volume 3 part 1 of Karl Marx’s multi-volume work Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (1867-1894) which appeared in 1894. Here we have a facsimile PDF of the 1894 edition. An HTML version can be…

Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Buch III, zweiter Theil (1894)

Karl Marx (author)

This is a German edition of volume 3 part 2 of Karl Marx’s multi-volume work Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (1867-1894) which appeared in 1894. Here we have a facsimile PDF of the 1894 edition. An HTML version can be…

Karl Marx and the close of his system, a criticism

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (author)

A translation of Böhm-Bawerk’s devastating review of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital vol. 3 which had been published posthumously in 1894 by Engels.

An HTML version of the text can be found here. The German language original can be found…

Zur Kritik der Politischen Oekonomie

Carl Menger (author)

An off-print from the journal Zeitschrift fuer das Privat- und oeffentliche Recht der Gegenwart.

L.S.E. Essays on Cost

James M. Buchanan (editor)

A volume in the collection Studies in Economic Theory first published by the Institute for Humane Studies. This is a collection of essays written in the LSE opportunity cost tradition by scholars associated with the London School of…

The Law (FEE ed.)

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The translation by the Foundation of Economic Education of one of Bastiat’s most famous pamphlets, written as part of his opposition to the growth of socialism in France in the 1840s and where he states that “the state is the great…

The Law (revised LF ed.)

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

This is a revised edition of Liberty Fund’s translation of Bastiat’s famous essay on The State which was one of the last things he wrote before he died in 1850.

The Law of Intellectual Property (1855)

Lysander Spooner (author)

Although this is entitled volume 1 and a proposed list of contents for a volume 2 was appended to the work, no volume 2 ever appeared. Spooner takes a strong position on the property right of an author to his ideas in perpetuity with…

LIBERTY MATTERS

The League. (1843-1846).

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

The organ of the National Anti-Corn-Law League was based in London and appeared between 1843 and 1846. It closed when the League achieved its goal of abolishing the Corn Laws in 1846. It was perhaps the first lobby group to use…

The League. 1843 (Sept. 30 1843 - Dec. 30 1843).

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

The organ of the National Anti-Corn-Law League was based in London and appeared between 1843 and 1846. It closed when the League achieved its goal of abolishing the Corn Laws in 1846. It was perhaps the first lobby group to use…

The League. 1844 Part 1 (Jan. 6 - June 29 1844).

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

The organ of the National Anti-Corn-Law League was based in London and appeared between 1843 and 1846. It closed when the League achieved its goal of abolishing the Corn Laws in 1846. It was perhaps the first lobby group to use…

The League. 1844 Part 2 (July 6 - Dec. 28 1844).

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

The organ of the National Anti-Corn-Law League was based in London and appeared between 1843 and 1846. It closed when the League achieved its goal of abolishing the Corn Laws in 1846. It was perhaps the first lobby group to use…

The League. 1845 Part 1 (Jan. 4 - June 28 1845).

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

The organ of the National Anti-Corn-Law League was based in London and appeared between 1843 and 1846. It closed when the League achieved its goal of abolishing the Corn Laws in 1846. It was perhaps the first lobby group to use…

The League. 1846 (Jan. 17 - July 4 1846).

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

The organ of the National Anti-Corn-Law League was based in London and appeared between 1843 and 1846. It closed when the League achieved its goal of abolishing the Corn Laws in 1846. It was perhaps the first lobby group to use…

A Lecture on Free Trade, in connexion with the Corn Laws

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

An example of one of Hodgskin’s popular lectures to a working class audience, this time on the benefits of free trade.

Lectures on Political Economy

Mountifort Longfield (author)

A series of lectures Longfield gave in 1833 at Trinity College, Dublin. One of his key points was that wages could not be raised artificially by the actions of trade unions but reflected the supply and demand for labor.

Lectures on Political Economy, 2 vols.

Dugald Stewart (author)

Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in the first decade of the 19th century. Volume 1 contains his lectures on population, productive and unproductive labour, and money. Volume 2 contains his lectures on free trade,…

Lectures on Political Economy, vol. 1

Dugald Stewart (author)

Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in the first decade of the 19th century. Volume 1 contains his lectures on population, productive and unproductive labour, and money.

Lectures on Political Economy, vol. 2

Dugald Stewart (author)

Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in the first decade of the 19th century. Volume 2 contains his lectures on free trade, taxation, the Poor Laws, education, and his theory of government.

The Legacy of Friedrich von Hayek, 7 vols.

Gary S. Becker (author)

This is a collection of 7 lectures which were given between October 7 and November 13 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek. The lecture series was sponsored by Liberty…

The Legacy of Friedrich von Hayek, vol. 1 Austrian and Neoclassical Economics

Sherwin Rosen (author)

The 1st lecture in a collection of 7 lectures which were given between October 7 and November 13 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek. The lecture is introduced by…

The Legacy of Friedrich von Hayek, vol. 2 Hayekian Socialism

Richard A. Epstein (author)

The 2nd lecture in a collection of 7 lectures which were given between October 7 and November 13 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek.

The Legacy of Friedrich von Hayek, vol. 4 Hayek, Radical Reactionary

Lord Ralph Harris (author)

The 4th lecture in a collection of 7 lectures which were given between October 7 and November 13 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek.

The Legacy of Friedrich von Hayek, vol. 5 Hayek’s Legacy

Kurt Leube (author)

The 5th lecture in a collection of 7 lectures which were given between October 7 and November 13 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek.

The Legacy of Friedrich von Hayek, vol. 7 Morality and Community

James M. Buchanan (author)

The 7th lecture in a collection of 7 lectures which were given between October 7 and November 13 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek.

Letters and Journal

William Stanley Jevons (author)

Extracts of many letters by Jevons edited by his wife. Includes a bibliography of his writings.

Letters on the Factory Act

Nassau William Senior (author)

A collection of letters written by Senior on the Factory Act along with replies by Horner, Ashworth, and Thomson.

Letters to Mr. Malthus, and A Catechism of Political Economy

Jean-Baptiste Say (author)

Say replies to Malthus’s negative views about the impact of population on the well-being of workers, and provides a popularization of his economic views.

Lettres d’un habitant des Landes

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

A collection of letters by Bastiat mainly to his friends the Cheuvreux family, which did not make it into the Complete Works published in 1855.

Liberalism: The Classical Tradition (1927) (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises provides a concise and tightly-argued one volume defense of classical liberalism, focusing on the core concepts of private property, limited government, peace, and the free market.

Liberalism: A Socio-Economic Exposition (IHS ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises provides a concise and tightly-argued one volume defence of classical liberalism, focussing on the core concepts of private property, limited government, peace, and the free market.

Liberty and Liberalism (1888)

Bruce Smith (author)

Smith was a follower of Herbert Spencer and the English Liberty and Property Defence League. His book is a critique of the growing intervention of the state in economic and civil matters in Australia and elsewhere in the late 19th…

Liberty Matters: James Buchanan: An Assessment (March, 2013)

Geoffrey Brennan (author)

This online discussion is part of the series “Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Matters pertaining to Liberty.” Geoffrey Brennan assesses the work of the Nobel Prize winning economist James Buchanan with responses and…

Liberty Matters: Gustave de Molinari’s Legacy for Liberty (May, 2013)

Roderick T. Long (author)

This online discussion is part of the series “Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Matters pertaining to Liberty.” Roderick T. Long assesses the work of the French political economist Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) with…

Liberty Matters: Bastiat and Political Economy (July, 2013)

Robert Leroux (author)

This online discussion is part of the series “Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Matters pertaining to Liberty.” Robert Leroux discusses the work of the French political economist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) with…

Liberty Matters: Arthur Seldon and the IEA (November, 2013)

John Blundell (author)

This online discussion addresses the contribution of Arthur Seldon ((1916-2005) to the success of the London based Institute of Economic Affairs in spreading free market ideas in Britain. Much of its success can be attributed to…

Liberty Matters: Ludwig von Mises’s The Theory of Money and Credit at 101 (January, 2014)

Lawrence H. White (author)

This online discussion is part of the series “Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Matters pertaining to Liberty.” Lawrence H. White revisits Mises' pathbreaking 1912 book on Mises’ book The Theory of Money and Credit. The…

Liberty Matters: Deirdre McCloskey and Economists’ Ideas about Ideas (July, 2014)

Donald J. Boudreaux (author)

The key issue of this Liberty Matters discussion is to try to explain why “the Great Enrichment” of the past 150 years occurred when and where it did. McCloskey argues that a fundamental change in ideas took place which raised the “…

Liberty Matters: Richard Cobden: Ideas and Strategies in Organizing the Free-Trade Movement in Britain (Jan. 2015)

Stephen Davies (author)

This online discussion is part of the series “Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Matters pertaining to Liberty.” Here we examine the career of Richard Cobden and in particular the way that he pioneered forms of advocacy…

Liberty Matters: Assessing Böhm-Bawerk’s Contribution to Economics after a Hundred Years (April, 2015)

Richard Ebeling (author)

This online discussion is part of the series “Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Matters pertaining to Liberty.” In this discussion the contributors evaluate the contributions of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914) who was…

Liberty Matters: Reassessing the Political Economy of John Stuart Mill (July 2015)

Steven Kates (author)

In this month’s Liberty Matters online discussion we reassess the economic ideas of John Stuart Mill as found in his classic work Principles of Political Economy and other writings. The Lead Essay by Steven Kates argues that in the…

Liberty Matters: Anthony de Jasay and the Political Economy of the State (Sept. 2015)

Hartmut Kliemt (author)

The Anglo-Hungarian economist Anthony de Jasay turned 90 in 2015. To celebrate this event Liberty Fund organized a Liberty Matters discussion of his work as an economic and political theorist which came to public attention with the…

Liberty Matters: Montesquieu on Liberty and Sumptuary Law (Nov. 2015)

Henry C. Clark (author)

In this discussion of Montesquieu’s economic thought, in particular his ideas about the need for sumptuary laws in republics, Henry Clark of Dartmouth College investigates this little appreciated aspect of Montesquieu’s thinking and…

Liberty Matters: Ludwig von Mises and the Theory of Interventionism (March, 2016)

Sanford Ikeda (author)

ty.” In this discussion Sanford Ikeda returns to the original theory of interventionism posed by Mises in 1940 to examine it in the light of the work done in Austrian economic theory since then.

Liberty Matters: Israel M. Kirzner and the Entrepreneurial Market Process (March 2017)

Peter J. Boettke (author)

This Liberty Matters online discussion examines Israel Kirzner’s insights into the rivalrous nature of competitive behavior and the market process, his analysis of market theory and the operation of the price system, the…

Life & Works of Richard Cantillon by Henry Higgs

Related Links:

Richard Cantillon Henry Higgs

Source: Appendix to Cantillon's Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General, edited with an English translation and other material by Henry Higgs, C.B. Reissued for The Royal Economic…

Life of Adam Smith

John Rae (author)

A useful late-19th century biography of Adam Smith which was based upon research undertaken at the University of Glasgow, the Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (the Hume Correspondence), and the University of Edinburgh.

The Life of Richard Cobden

John Morley (author)

A lengthy biography (along with many letters) of the leading advocate for free trade in mid-19th century Britain.

Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market

Walter Bagehot (author)

When Walter Bagehot wrote Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market, in 1873, he did the unthinkable: In language as fresh and clear today as it was over 100 years ago, he respectfully dissected the Bank of England’s…

Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises (contributor)

This is a collection of key extracts by, and essays and study guides about Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973).

See the Liberty Matters online discussion of Ludwig von Mises’s The Theory of Money and Credit at 101.

See also the following…

THE READING ROOM

Luxury and Literature in Shakespeare and Mandeville: Too Much of a Good Thing

By: Sarah Skwire

Whenever economic times get tough, the debate over luxury--what defines it and how much of it is too much--reappears as part of public discourse. Photos from this year’s Met Gala, and the recent return of “maximalism” and its “too…
The Man versus the State, with Six Essays on Government, Society and Freedom (LF ed.)

Herbert Spencer (author)

This volume contains the four essays that Spencer published as The Man Versus the State in 1884 as well as five essays added by later publishers. In addition, it provides “The Proper Sphere of Government,” an important early essay by…

The Manchester School of Economics

William Dyer Grampp (author)

A history of the so-called “Manchester School” of economic thought which emerged in the 19th century in order to challenge protectionism, especially the corn laws in Britain. It continued a as force after the repeal of the Corn Laws…

Mandeville: His Life and Work

Related Links:

Works by Bernard de Mandevile

Source: Editor's Introduction to Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols. With a Commentary Critical, Historical, and Explanatory by F.B. Kaye…

Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei. Veröffentlicht im Februar 1848

Friedrich Engels (author)

Written in late 1847 and published during the February Revolution in 1848, this pamphlet outlines Marx’s theory of history and his demands for revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

A Manifesto. Fabian Tracts No. 2 (1884)

George Bernard Shaw (author)

The “Fabian Society” was founded in England in 1884 with the aim of bringing about a socialist society by means of intellectual debate, the publication of books and pamphlets, and the “permeation” of socialist ideas into the…

Manifesto of the Communist Party

Friedrich Engels (author)

The classic late-19th century translation of the Communist Manifesto done with the assistance of Engels. See also:

the German original an HTML version of the English translation

Manifesto of the Communist Party (1888)

Marx and Engels, "Manifesto of the Communist Party" (Feb. 1848, 1888)

Source

The pamphlet was written in late 1847 and first published and distributed in Paris in February 1848.

The original version in German is available…

Market Theory and the Price System (2011)

Israel M. Kirzner (author)

The second volume in Liberty Fund’s The Collected Works of Israel M. Kirzner series, Market Theory and the Price System was published in 1963 as Kirzner’s only textbook. The basic aim of Market Theory is to utilize the tools of…

Methods of Social Reform and Other Papers

William Stanley Jevons (author)

A collection of Jevon’s papers and addresses on topics as diverse as public libraries and museums, trade societies and partnerships, married women in factories, cruelty to animals, and the post office and railways.

THE READING ROOM

Miracles: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

The concurrence of Ramadan, Pesach, and Easter sent me to the Liberty Fund archives to see if I could find an appropriate book title to highlight this week. Goodrich's collection did not disappoint.
Money and the Mechanism of Exchange

William Stanley Jevons (author)

Jevons’s formative 1875 classic work came into print at the height of interest in gold, silver, and international monetary standards. Of particular interest are the clear discussions of Gresham’s Law (Ch. VIII), competitively…

Nation, State, and Economy: Contributions to the Politics and History of Our Time

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Nation, State, and Economy, published less than a year after Austria’s defeat in World War I, examines and compares prewar and postwar economic conditions and explicates Mises’s theory that each country’s prosperity supports rather…

Das National System der politischen Oekonomie

Friedrich List (author)

A German language edition of List’s work in favor of internal free trade but high protection for the national economy.

The National System of Political Economy

Friedrich List (author)

A German historian who wrote in favor of protective tariffs and trade retaliations between industrial nations, even if they maintain free trade within each country. During the 1820s, he lived in Pennsylvania, where he contributed to…

The Natural and Artificial Right of Property Contrasted

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

In this series of letters to Lord Braugham, Hodgskin distinguishes between the natural right of property (based upon Lockean principles of natural law) and the artificial right of property (which is decreed by parliament). He…

The Natural Law of Money

William Brough (author)

An analysis of money and banking from the free banking perspective, i.e. by privately owned banks which issue their own currency.

Another copy of this book can be found in HTML format at our sister website Econlib.

Natural Value

Friedrich von Wieser (author)

An early and significant contribution to the Austrian theory of value.

New Directions in Austrian Economics

Ludwig M. Lachmann (author)

A collection of papers which explores methodoogy, econometrics, social cost, monopoly theory, the supply of money, interest theory, and macroeconomics.

New Individualist Review

Milton Friedman (author)

Initially sponsored by the University of Chicago Chapter of the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists, the New Individualist Review was more than the usual “campus magazine.” It declared itself “founded in a commitment to human…

THE READING ROOM

Niko Nikoladze: Liberal Nationalism, the Constitution of the United States and International Law

By: Irakli Javakhishvili

In 1865, when he was a student, young Niko Nikoladze met Karl Marx in London. The latter offered him the opportunity to be the representative of the First International in Transcaucasia, which Nikoladze delicately refused.

THE READING ROOM

No Such Thing as a Free Salad Chez Shakespeare

By: Lucie Alden

Though William Shakespeare may have wished it otherwise, there was no such thing as a free lunch or, in Jack Cade’s terms, a “sallet” in the bard’s garden. Conversations of self-interest and social distribution pervade Henry VI,…
Notes and Recollections with The Historical Setting of the Austrian School of Economics (2013)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This volume contains Mises' brief memoir Notes and Recollections he wrote just prior to migrating to the U.S. in 1940 and an essay on the history of the Austrian school of economics from 1962. His memoir is accompanied by a…

Notions fondamentales d’Économie politique et programme économique

Gustave de Molinari (author)

Towards the end of the 19th century the doyen of laissez-faire economic thought in France evaluates the successes and failures of the liberal reform agenda.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. 6 vols.

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The 1st edition of Bastiat’s works is in 6 volumes and was published only 4 years after his death. A second edition in 1862 contained an essay on his life and work and an additional 7th volume of material.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. vol 1 Correspondance. Mélanges

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol.1 of the 1st edition of Bastiat’s works contains his correspondence, his first writings from 1830-44, and a number of essays and book reviews.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. vol. 2 Le libre-échange

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol.2 of the 1st edition of Bastiat’s works contains his writings and speeches on the free trade movement.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. vol. 3 Cobden et la ligue

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol.3 of the 1st edition of Bastiat’s works contains a long introduction by Bastiat on the English Anti-Corn Law League’s agitation for free trade and then Bastiat’s translation of a selection of speeches and newspaper articles by…

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. vol. 4 Sophismes économiques. Petits pamphlets I

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 4 of the 1st edition of Bastiat’s works contains the first and second series of Economic Sophisms and a selection of shorter pamphlets such as L’État and Le Loi.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. vol. 5 Sophismes économiques. Petits pamphlets II

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 5 of the 1st edition of Bastiat’s works contains a selection of shorter pamphlets, the exchagne between Bastiat and Proudhon on Gratuité du crédit, and Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 1st ed. vol. 6 Harmonies économiques

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 6 of the 1st edition of Bastiat’s works contains the 3rd revised edition of Bastiat’s magnum opus Harmonies économiques. The first incomplete edition was published in early in 1850. The second was posthumously published and…

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. 7 vols.

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

A 7 volume collection of Bastiat’s writings.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 1 Correspondance et mélanges

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume I of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains his correspondence and some of his earliest political writings.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 2 le Libre-Échange

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume II of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains his correspondence and some of his writings for the French Free Trade Assocaition.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 3 Cobden et La Ligue

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume III of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains his lengthy introduction on the British Anti-Corn Law League and his translations of their material and summaries of their public meetings.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 4 Sophismes Économiques. Petits pamphlets I

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 4 of a 7 volume set of the works of Bastiat. It contains the 1st and 2nd series of Economic Sophisms and a number of pamphlets such The Law and The State.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 5: Sophismes économiques. Petits pamphlets II

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 5 of a 7 volume set of the Works of Bastiat. It contains several smaller pamphlets, his debate with Proudhon Free Credit, and What is Seen and What is Not Seen.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 6: Harmonies économiques

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Vol. 6 of a 7 volume set of the works of Bastiat. It contains the 5th edition of the Economic Harmonies.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 2nd ed. vol. 7 Essais, Ébauches, Correspondance

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume VII of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains numerous shorter works, sketches, book reviews, journalism, and letters.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 3rd ed. 7 vols

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The third edition of the 7 volume set of the works of Bastiat.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 3rd ed. vol. 4 Sophismes économiques et Petits pamphlets I

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume IV of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains 1st and 2nd series of essays called Economic Sophisms in which Bastiat tries to refute some of the most common misunderstandings about the free market, and some…

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 3rd ed. vol. 5 Sophismes économiques et Petits pamphlets II

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume V of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains more of his lengthier pamphlets such as What is Seen and What is Not Seen and his letters to Proudhon on Free Credit.

Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, 3rd ed. vol. 6 Harmonies économiques

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

Volume VI of Bastiat’s collected writings in 7 volumes, which contains his longest and best known work Economic Harmonies.

Of Population. An Enquiry concerning the Power of Increase in the Numbers of Mankind

William Godwin (author)

A lengthy and belated reply to Malthus by the radical individualist Godwin. Whereas Malthus took a pessimistic view of the pressures of population growth, Godwin was more optimistic about the capacity of people to limit the growth of…

THE READING ROOM

OLL’s June Birthday: Harriet Martineau

By: Peter Carl Mentzel

June’s birthday is the British liberal social theorist, writer, and political activist Harriet Martineau (born June 12, 1802). Often described as the first female sociologist, Martineau wrote on a wide variety of subjects such as…

THE READING ROOM

OLL’s March Birthday: Gustave de Molinari (March 3, 1819 – January 28, 1912)

By: Peter Carl Mentzel

This month’s featured birthday anniversary is the Franco-Belgian economist and social scientist Gustave de Molinari. Over the course of his long life, he wrote numerous books and essays in which he argued that the forces of the free…

THE READING ROOM

OLL’s May Birthday–Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883)

By: Peter Carl Mentzel

May’s featured OLL Birthday is the Journalist, classical economist, historian, and political activist Karl Marx. Marx’s many contributions in these areas are so profound that it is scarcely possible to understand the history of the…

THE READING ROOM

OLL’s September Birthday: Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1890)

By: Peter Carl Mentzel

This month’s featured birthday anniversary is the American Political Economist Henry George, best known as the founder of an economic and political philosophy subsequently called “Georgism.” His work was tremendously influential…
Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Published in 1944, during World War II, Omnipotent Government was written and published after Mises arrived in the United States. In this volume Mises provides in economic terms an explanation of the international conflicts that…

On the Manipulation of Money and Credit: Three Treatises on Trade-Cycle Theory

Ludwig von Mises (author)

On the Manipulation of Money and Credit includes some of Mises’s most important contributions to monetary and trade-cycle theories. “Stabilization of the Monetary Unit from the Viewpoint of Theory,” discusses the consequences of the…

On the Probable Fall in the Value of Gold

Michel Chevalier (author)

As a result of Peel’s Bank Act of 1844 and the discovery of gold in California in 1848 a dramatic increase in the amount of gold entered into circulation. Richard Cobden translated an expanded version of Chevalier’s essay in order to…

Outlines of American Political Economy, in a series of letters (1827)

Thomas Jefferson (author)

The German political economist and protectionist List defends his views in this series of letters published in Virginia.

Paper against Gold and Glory against Prosperity (1815)

William Cobbett (author)

Cobbett wrote the first volume of 28 Letters while in prison for two years (1810-11) for opposing the flogging of some militia men. It is a history of how Britain funded the war effort against Napoleon by increasing the national…

Paper against Gold and Glory against Prosperity, vol. 1 (1815)

William Cobbett (author)

Cobbett wrote the first volume of 28 Letters while in prison for two years (1810-11) for opposing the flogging of some militia men. It it a history of how Britain funded the war effort against Napoleon by increasing the national…

Paper against Gold and Glory against Prosperity, vol. 2 (1815)

William Cobbett (author)

Cobbett wrote the first volume of 28 Letters while in prison for two years (1810-11) for opposing the flogging of some militia men. It is a history of how Britain funded the war effort against Napoleon by increasing the national…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Perspectives on Mises' Socialism After 100 Years (August 2022)

Virgil Henry Storr (contributor)

In 1922 Ludwig von Mises published his third book,Die Gemeinwirtschaft:Untersuchungen über den Sozialismus, translated into English in 1936 under the titleSocialism. The LibertyClassics edition was published in 1981....

LIBERTY MATTERS

Perspectives on Mises' Socialism After 100 Years (August 2022)

By: Virgil Henry Storr, Alberto Mingardi, Yana Chernyak, and Clemens Schneider

In 1922 Ludwig von Mises published his third book, Die Gemeinwirtschaft: Untersuchungen über den Sozialismus, translated into English in 1936 under the title Socialism. The LibertyClassics edition was published in 1981. It seems…

Petty’s Life and Economic Thought

Related Links:

William Petty

Source: Extracts from the Introduction to Petty's The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, together with The Observations upon Bills of Mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt, ed. Charles…

The Physiocrats: Six Lectures on the French Economistes of the 18th Century

Henry Higgs (author)

The English historian of economic thought Higgs discusses iin a series of lectures given at the London School of Economics in 1896 the 18th century free market Physiocratic school, its origins, ideas, political and intellectual…

Pictures of the Socialistic Future

Eugen Richter (author)

Pictures of the Socialistic Future is Richter’s satire of what would happen to Germany if the socialism espoused by the trade unionists, social democrats, and Marxists was actually put into practice. It is thus a late 19th century…

Planning for Freedom: Let the Market System Work. A Collection of Essays and Addresses

Ludwig von Mises (author)

In this anthology, Mises offers an articulate and accessible introduction to and critique of two topics he considers especially important: inflation and government interventionism.

A Plea for Liberty: An Argument against Socialism and Socialistic Legislation (1891 ed.)

Auberon Herbert (author)

This collection of essays was originally published in 1891 in response to a collection of Fabian Essays on Socialism which advocated policies which would eventually lead to the modern welfare state. The theoretical and empirical…

A Plea for Liberty: An Argument against Socialism and Socialistic Legislation (LF ed.)

Thomas Mackay (author)

This collection of essays was originally published in 1891 in response to a collection of Fabian Essays on Socialism which advocated policies which would eventually lead to the modern welfare state. The theoretical and empirical…

A Policy of Free Exchange

Thomas Mackay (editor)

The companion volume to A Plea for Liberty which continued the argument against the Fabian Socialists and for a policy of strict non-intervention in the economy by the government.

Political Economy

Francis Amasa Walker (author)

One of the most widely used economics text books in 19th century America.

Political Economy (1850 ed.)

Nassau William Senior (author)

This work is a summary statement of the nature of economic thought by one of the leading theorists of the English classical school in the mid-19th century.

Political Economy and the Philosophy of Government

Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de Sismondi (author)

This works contains the prefaces and introductions to Sismondi’s main economic writings, as well as numerous essays he wrote for journals on landed property, national income, the power of princes, and constitutional monarchy.

Political Economy, Concisely

Anthony de Jasay (author)

A collection of Jasay’s articles written for Liberty Fund’s website, the Library of Economics and Liberty (Econlib), between 2003 and 2007. They have been organized into the following categories: Property Rights, the common sense of…

Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money

Pelatiah Webster (author)

Written during the American Revolution these economic essays cover topics such as money, free trade, the rate of interest, the nature of the constitution, public debt, bank credit, and taxation.

The Political Writings of James Mill (1815-1836)

James Mill (author)

This is an anthology of James Mill’s writings compiled from The British Review, and London Critical Journal [1815], the Supplement to the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica [1815-1824], Parliamentary History…

Poor Law Commissioners’ Report of 1834

Nassau William Senior (author)

A path-breaking British Parliamentary report, primarily written by Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadwick, into the state of public charity in Britain. It was one of the key pieces of reformist legislation during the Victorian era.

Popular Political Economy. Four lectures delivered at the London Mechanics Institution

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

Thomas Hodgskin, an officer in the British Navy who later worked for The Economist, was one of the earliest popularizers of economics for audiences of non-economists. He gave lectures on free trade, the corn laws, and labor to “…

The Positive Theory of Capital

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (author)

The second volume of Boehm-Bawerk’s monumental three volume work on Capital and Interest.

The Postulates of English Political Economy

Walter Bagehot (author)

Alfred Marshall, in his introduction to this book, argued that Bagehot provided a useful service to readers by removing the older and less understood Ricardian aspects from political economy and reworking them. Bagehot in turn in his…

Principles of Economics (8th ed.)

Alfred Marshall (author)

This is the 8th edition of what is regarded to be the first “modern” economics textbook, leading in various editions from the 19th into the 20th century. The final 8th edition was Marshall’s most-used and most-cited.

The Principles of Free Trade

Condy Raguet (author)

A collection of essays written in the early 1830s as part of a campaign in favor of free trade. The second edition of 1840 contains the minutes of a Free Trade Convention held in Philadelphia in 1831 as well as a dedication to…

Principles of Political Economy

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

The first edition was published in 1820. This is the second edition of 1836. It is one of the major works in the classical school of political economy along with Smith’s Wealth of Nations and Ricardo’s Principles of Political Economy…

The Principles of Political Economy (5th ed. 1864)

John Ramsay McCulloch (author)

A revised and expanded edition of McCulloch’s major treatise on the principles of political economy.

The Principles of Political Economy (1st ed. 1825)

John Ramsay McCulloch (author)

The first edition of McCulloch’s major treatise on the principles of political economy. This became the standard text in classical political economics until it was replaced by J.S. Mill’s Principles in 1848. it went through many…

Principles of Political Economy (Ashley ed.)

John Stuart Mill (author)

Principles of Political Economy, with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy was published in 1848 in London and was republished with changes and updates a total of seven times in Mill’s lifetime. The edition presented here…

Progress and Poverty

Henry George (author)

Perhaps Henry George’s best known work in which he examines the casuses of poverty and, among other things, blames it on the monopoly of land ownership.

Proposed Poor Law Reform (October 1697)

John Locke (author)

Locke’s detailed proposals for the reform of the Poor Laws which was quoted in full in Fox Bourne’s The Life of John Locke (1876), vol. 2, pp. 377-391.

Protection or Free Trade

Henry George (author)

George was not just an advocate of the single tax on the unimproved value of land, but also a strong defender of free trade, as this work demonstrates.

Read the Liberty Classic on this title from Econlib

Protectionism: the -ism which teaches that waste makes wealth

William Graham Sumner (author)

A clear and strong case for free trade against proctectionism. The chapter of the fallacies of protectionism is very thorough.

A Protest against Law-Taxes

Jeremy Bentham (author)

From an 1818 edition which combines Bentham’s defence of the practice of charging interest on loans with a critique of certain taxes which increased the cost of appearing before the courts.

Public Finance

Charles F. Bastable (author)

One of the first textbooks ever written on the subject, and still eminently readable, with clear organization, definitions and explanations. The taxation of income, capital, imports, consumption goods, etc., and the effects on wages,…

The Purchasing Power of Money

Irving Fisher (author)

A classic book by one of America’s greatest mathematical economists. Fisher states in the introduction that “The purpose of this book is to set forth the principles determining the purchasing power of money and to apply those…

THE READING ROOM

“Put money in thy purse”: Shakespeare and Investment

By: Lucie Alden

Much like Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part I, Shakespeare understood that with reward, comes risk and with individual risk and reward, come certain inequities. Shakespeare’s status as a rational, cautious investor distinguished him from…
The Rationale of Central Banking and the Free Banking Alternative

Vera C. Smith (author)

Written as a doctoral dissertation under Friedrich Hayek at the London School of Economics in the early 1930s, the book covers the history of free banking in the 19th century and reviews the theoretical arguments both for and against…

THE READING ROOM

Reading A Room of One’s Own: Parts 3&4

By: Janet Bufton

Returning to A Room of One’s Own, we find ourselves in the home—the room—of Woolf’s narrator, Mary. Having made her observations out in the world, she returns here to tease out and develop her thoughts. Disappointed with her trip to…
Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Riches

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (author)

An 1898 edition of one of the more important works on economics before Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. It covers a broad range of topics including money, exchange, value, and capital investment in agriculture. Turgot discussed…

Report of the Secretary of the Treasury; on the Subject of Public Roads and Canals

Albert Gallatin (author)

Gallatin was Secretary of the Treasury and in this Report urged that Congress spend over $16 million of taxpayer money on building road works and canals.

The Representation of Business in English Literature

John Blundell (foreword)

In The Representation of Business in English Literature, five scholars of different periods of English literature produce original essays on how business and businesspeople have been portrayed by novelists, starting in the eighteenth…

Retrospect of Western Travel, 3 vols.

Harriet Martineau (author)

After her trip to American in 1834-36, Martineau wrote a perceptive analysis of social and economic conditions in the U.S.

Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. 1

Harriet Martineau (author)

After her trip to American in 1834-36, Martineau wrote a perceptive analysis of social and economic conditions in the U.S.

Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. 2

Harriet Martineau (author)

After her trip to American in 1834-36, Martineau wrote a perceptive analysis of social and economic conditions in the U.S.

Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. 3

Harriet Martineau (author)

After her trip to American in 1834-36, Martineau wrote a perceptive analysis of social and economic conditions in the U.S.

“Richard Cantillon”

Friedrich August von Hayek (author)

Such was Hayek’s interest in the writings of Richard Cantillon, whom he believed had had a number of “Austrian insights”, that he introduced the German translation which appeared in 1931. This is a translation of that introduction by…

Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit

Frank H. Knight (author)

This careful work investigating the nature of profits also includes material on the institutional structure of firms and the distribution of residuals, particularly in Part III, Chapter IX-X. It contains an interesting discussion of…

A Select Collection of Early English Tracts on Commerce (1856)

Sir Dudley North (author)

A collection of eight early English tracts on trade and commerce edited by John McCulloch for the Political Economy Club. It includes works by Thomas Mun, Lewes Roberts, Samuel Fortrey, and other anonymous authors.

A Select Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts on Money

Matthew Raper (author)

The second of two important collections of early economics works made by McCulloch. This volume deals with coins and coinage, the export of gold and silver, and the history of coinage in Scotland, Ireland, England, and ancient Greece…

Select Works of Edmund Burke, vol. 4

Francis Canavan (foreword)

This volume contains some of Burke’s speeches on parliamentary reform, on colonial policy in India, and on economic matters.

Selected Economic Writings (1966)

James Mill (author)

A collection of Mill’s writings on economics, including his early essays on The Impolicy of a Bounty on the Exportation of Grain, Commerce Defended, and selections from his Elements of Political Economy and his History of British…

Selected Essays on Political Economy (FEE ed.)

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

The Foundation for Economic Education translated some of Bastiat’s most famous pamphlets, written as part of his opposition to the growth of socialism in France in the 1840s. The volume contains “What is Seen and What is Not Seen”, “…

The Selected Works of Gordon Tullock, vol. 3 The Organization of Inquiry

Gordon Tullock (author)

In The Organization of Inquiry, Gordon Tullock sets out to answer such questions as: how do scientists engage in apparently cooperative contributions in the absence of hierarchic organization and why are scientific contributions…

Selected Writings of Ludwig von Mises, 3 vols

Ludwig von Mises (author)

A three volume collection of Mises’s writings from the so-called “lost papers” found in a Moscow archive in 1996. These were seized by the Gestapo and then taken back to Russia after the war by the Russian government.

Selected Writings of Ludwig von Mises, vol. 1: Monetary and Economic Problems Before, During, and After the Great War

Richard Ebeling (editor)

Vol. 1 of a three volume collection. The articles that comprise this book include Mises’s policy memoranda, essays, and speeches that were found in a formerly secret KGB archive in Moscow. They deal with Mises’s thoughts on the…

Selected Writings of Ludwig von Mises, vol. 2: Between the Two World Wars: Monetary Disorder, Interventionism, Socialism, and the Great Depression

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Vol. 2 of a three volume collection of Mises' essays found in Moscow in 1996. Vol. 2 contains essays on inflation, interventionism, the great depression, Austrian economic policy, autarchy, the theory of Austrian economics, and…

Selected Writings of Ludwig von Mises, vol. 3: The Political Economy of International Reform and Reconstruction

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Vol. 3 of a three volume collection of Mises' essays found in Moscow in 1996. Vol. 3 contains essays on postwar reconstruction, American foreign trade policy, monetary policy, and plans for European union.

Self Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct

Samuel Smiles (author)

An early Victorian self-help book that combines Victorian morality with sound free market ideas into moral tales showing the benefits of thrift, hard work, education, perseverance, and a sound character. Smiles drew upon the personal…

The Shorter Works and Pamphlets of Lysander Spooner, 2 vols. (1834-1884)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a compilation of Spooner’s shorter works and pamphlets. Vol. 1 contains works on deism, law, poverty, the post office, and money, which were published between 1834 and 1861. Vol. 2 contains works on money and banking,…

The Shorter Works and Pamphlets of Lysander Spooner, Vol. 1 (1834-1861)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a compilation of Spooner’s shorter works on deism, law, poverty, the post office, and money, which were published between 1834 and 1861.

The Shorter Works and Pamphlets of Lysander Spooner, Vol. 2 (1862-1884)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a compilation of Spooner’s shorter works and pamphlets. Vol. 2 contains works on money and banking, copyright, law, and political philosophy, which were published between 1861 and 1884. The essay “Vices are not Crimes” (1875)…

THE READING ROOM

Shylock on Rats and Rational Choice

By: Lucie Alden

Written less than a decade after Marlowe’s Jew of Malta, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice explores many of the same themes.

THE READING ROOM

Soccer’s Invisible Hand: Globalization

By: Garth Bond

In my previous post in honor of the World Cup, I explored the role that soccer’s early adoption of professionalism played both in its rapid growth and in that tournament’s founding. But that a World Cup was even feasible by the…

THE READING ROOM

Soccer’s Invisible Hand: Professionalism

By: Garth Bond

On Sunday, November 20th, in Qatar, the World Cup kicked off its 22nd edition since debuting in Uruguay in 1930. There is little question, for better or worse, that viewing the World Cup is among the most widely shared human…
Social Contract, Free Ride: A Study of the Public Goods Problem

Anthony de Jasay (author)

Jasay refutes the common idea that we need a government as a provider of public goods. He argues that without taxation voluntary contributions to provide freely accessible benefits would be made by some members of groups adjusting…

The Social Contract and Discourses

G.D.H. Cole (editor)

This 1913 edition of Rousseau’s works includes the famous Social Contract as well as 3 discourses on Arts and Sciences, the Origin of Inequality, and Political Economy. Rousseau’s writings inspired liberals and non-liberals alike…

Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis

Ludwig von Mises (author)

This is a newly annotated edition of the classic first published in German in 1922. It is the definitive refutation of nearly every type of socialism ever devised. Mises presents a wide-ranging analysis of society, comparing the…

Socialistic Fallacies

Yves Guyot (author)

Guyot wrote sseveral books attacking socialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here he provides a brief history of socialist ideas, especially utopian thinking from Plato to Paraguay, and an extensive critique of modern…

The Society of Tomorrow

Gustave de Molinari (author)

In this vision of a future society, the Belgian laissez-faire economist Molinari suggests how many, if not most, public goods could be provided by the free market or by radically decentralized local governments.

Society, Manners and Politics in the United States

Michel Chevalier (author)

Observations by a French economist of his trip to the United States. Like Tocqueville, Chevalier was sent by the French government in 1834 to inspect American institutions - Tocqueville was sent to inspect American prisons, Chevalier…

Les Soirées de la Rue Saint-Lazare (1849)

Gustave de Molinari (author)

Following the rise of socialism in France during the 1840s and the 1848 Revolution, Molinari wrote this fictitious “dialogue” between an economist, a conservative, and a socialist, to expose the folly of socialism, demonstrate how…

Some Aspects of the Tariff Question

Frank William Taussig (author)

Taussig, a professor of economics at Harvard, wrote what has become a classic work on modern trade theory. The book is an elaboration of articles which he wrote for the Quarterly Journal of Economics and other journals in the late…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Some Problems of Logical Method in Political Economy

Jacob Viner (author)

Source: http://de.academic.ru/dic.nsf/dewiki/1410388

Speeches on Free Trade

Richard Cobden (author)

A collection of 25 of Cobden’s speeches on free trade given between 1841-1853. It was a cheap reprint from the larger two volume collection of his speeches and was part of Macmillan’s Sixpenny Series of cheap books.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, 2 vols.

John Bright (author)

A two volume collection of John Bright’s speeches. Vol. I contains speeches on India, Canada, America, Ireland, and Russia; Vol. II contains speeches on Reform, Free Trade, Agriculture, Peace, Taxation, and other matters.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, vol. 1

John Bright (author)

Volume 1 of a 2 volume collections of Bright’s speeches. Vol. 1 contain speeches on India, Canada, America, Ireland, and Russia.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, vol. 2

John Bright (author)

Volume 2 of a two volume collection of Bright’s speeches. Vol. 2 contains speeches on Reform, Free Trade, Agriculture, Peace, Taxation, and other matters.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, 2 vols.

Goldwin Smith (introduction)

A two volume collection of Cobden’s speeches on Free Trade, Finance, War, Foreign Policy, and Parliamentary Reform.

Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance

Goldwin Smith (introduction)

Volume 1 of a two volume collection of Cobden’s speeches on Free Trade, Finance, War, Foreign Policy, and Parliamentary Reform.

The State

Anthony de Jasay (author)

The State is a brilliant analysis of modern political arrangements that views the state as acting in its own interest contrary to the interests of individuals and even of an entire society.

Read the Liberty Classic on this title from…

The State (revised LF ed.)

Frédéric Bastiat (author)

This is a thoroughly revised edition of one of Bastiat’s best known essays. It is the third and longest version he wrote between June 1848 and April 1849 when he was engaged in challenging the growing socialist movement on the…

State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff

Frank William Taussig (editor)

Taussig has collected speeches and reports by Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gallatin, R.J. Walker, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster on the issue of free trade and tariffs. He used these documents in his course at Harvard University on the…

Studies in the Theory of International Trade

Jacob Viner (author)

A magisterial history of the theory of international trade. Viner shows where economists went wrong and were they were right in the understanding of this idea. Along the way he refutes the fallacies of mercantilism, just as Adam…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Étienne Bonnot, Abbé de Condillac (1714-1780)

Related Links:

Étienne Bonnot, Abbé de Condillac

Source: Commerce and Government Considered in their Mutual Relationship, translated by Shelagh Eltis, with an Introduction to His Life and Contribution to Economics by Shelagh…

“Tariff”

Frank William Taussig (author)

The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was the last edition which appeared before the First World War destroyed the old liberal order in Europe. The next edition, the 12th, reproduced the 11th edition with the addition of 4…

Taxation and Anarchism: A Discussion between the Hon. Auberon Herbert and J.H. Levy

Joseph Hiam Levy (author)

A discussion between two radical individualists under the auspices of the Personal Rights Association. The exchange took place over many years and this booklet appeared after the death of one (Herbert in 1906) and one year before the…

Taxation and Work: A Series of Treatises on the Tariff and the Currency

Edward Atkinson (author)

Atkinson applies the free trade ideas of Bastiat and Cobden to the American situation. He criticizes the tradition of Hamilton, debunks the idea that protection improves the economic condition of ordinary workers, argues that free…

La teorica delle produttività marginali

Giovanni Montemartini (author)

An important Italian contribution to the early develoment of the marginal school of economic thought which also influenced the Public Choice school in the US.

THE READING ROOM

The Deadweight Loss of the Magi

By: Sarah Skwire and Amy Willis

Last year, Sarah Skwire and Amy Willis got together to discuss two famous Christmas stories by Charles Dickens. This year, they did some thinking about the equally classic Christmas story, "The Gift of the Magi," by O. Henry. It's a…

THE READING ROOM

The Economics of Modern Soccer

By: Garth Bond

With the World Cup concluding yesterday, some readers will be quietly relieved at not having to pay attention to soccer for another four years, while others will be anxiously awaiting the European season’s restart with the English…

THE READING ROOM

The Encyclopedie, Trade, and the Jews

By: Eric Schliesser

In volume 3 of the original edition of the Encyclopédie, edited by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, is an entry, ‘Trading Company’ (French: Compagnie de Commerce), written by Véron de Forbonnais (1722-1800), a leading…

THE READING ROOM

The Fairy Godmother and the Invisible Hand: Jane Marcet’s Economic Tales

By: Caroline Breashears

Fairy tales have long conveyed lessons about morality, survival, and even success. Charles Perrault's "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" (1697), for instance, illustrates the values of not only kindness and grace but…

THE READING ROOM

The Free Sea: Hugo Grotius and the Right to Trade

By: Eric Mack

In early 1603 an armed merchant ship of the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) attacked and captured the Portuguese ship Sta. Catarina in the Straits of Singapore. The south-east Asian spices and products carried by that ship were…

The Industrial Revolution Part 2: Freedom Under Law

Watch the video on our YouTube channel.

Related Links:

Collections: History Collections: Economics Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living, from theConcise Encyclopedia of Economics

Source: Video: The The Industrial…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Anthony de Jasay

Anthony de Jasay (contributor)

The relationship of the individual and the state is the central theme of Anthony de Jasay’s distinguished career. Here he discusses the concepts of power, politics, and freedom that led to such seminal works as The State.

Watch the…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Armen A. Alchian

Armen A. Alchian (contributor)

Armen Alchian discusses his contribution to economics as the founder of the “UCLA tradition” of economic thought with its emphasis of the rational, self-seeking behavior of individuals.

Watch the video and explore related resources…

THE READING ROOM

The Magic of Merchants in The Arabian Nights

By: Garth Bond

In a previous visit to the Reading Room, I made a case for The Arabian Nights as an anti-epic embodying the commercial values of medieval and early modern Islamic silk road merchants. Today, I want to talk a bit about the actual…
Zur Theorie des Kapitals

Carl Menger (author)

An off-print from the journal Jahrbüchern für Nationalökonomie und Statistik.

Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Mises applies his theory of methodological individualism to an analysis of history. Along the way he debunks other theories of history which are based upon notions of race, dialectical materialism (Marxism), and determinism.

Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution (LF ed.)

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Theory and History is primarily a critique of Karl Marx, his materialism, and his prediction of the inevitability of socialism. This book discusses the theory of economics, i.e., the study of purposive human action, and with history,…

The Theory of Free Banking: Money Supply under Competitive Note Issue

Lawrence H. White (foreword)

This is a defense of the theory and practice of free banking, i.e. the competitive issue of money by private banks as opposed to the centralised and monopolised issuance of currency under a system of central banking.

The Theory of Interest

Irving Fisher (author)

Fisher was one of America’s greatest mathematical economists. This book is still used a textbook and is an outstanding example of clearly written economic theory.

The Theory of Money and Credit

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The Theory of Money and Credit opened new economic vistas. It integrated monetary theory into the main body of economic analysis for the first time, providing fresh new insights into the nature of money and its role in the economy.…

The Theory of Political Economy

William Stanley Jevons (author)

One of three seminal works published in 1871 (along with Walras and Menger) which introduced the idea of the marginal theory of utility and thus a revolution in economic thinking.

The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions

Thorstein Veblen (author)

A pioneering work of sociology in which the nature of the ruling elite was explored.

Three Lectures on the Transmission of Precious Metals

Nassau William Senior (author)

In a rather grumpy “advertisement” Senior tells us that he rather unwillingly had to give a formal lecture as Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University and have it published. The books contains a lecture on the transmission…

Three Lectures on the Cost of Obtaining Money

Nassau William Senior (author)

Senior gave these lectures at the University of Oxford in Trinity Term 1829. The Third Lecture is on “Some Effects of Government Paper Money” and deals with a number of historical episodes of hyper inflation.

Three Lectures on the Rate of Wages

Nassau William Senior (author)

Lectures given by Senior at the University of Oxford in 1830 to offer insights into the cause and solution of recent rioting by labourers in England.

The Three Prize Essays on Agriculture and the Corn Law

National Anti-Corn Law League (editor)

This is a collection of essays published by the National Anti-Corn Law League. It consists of three prize winning essays on the Corn Laws and a collection of other Anti-Corn Law League propaganda. It was issued as a presentation copy…

Toward Liberty: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises, vol. 1

Friedrich August von Hayek (editor)

Volume 1 of a 2 volume collection of essays by leading classical liberals and supporters of the free market from around the world who joined together to celebrate Mises’ accomplishments on behalf of liberty.

Toward Liberty: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises, vol. 2

Gustavo R. Velasco (editor)

Volume 2 of a 2 volume collection of essays by leading classical liberals and supporters of the free market from around the world who joined together to celebrate Mises’ accomplishments on behalf of liberty.

Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics Vol. 8 Addendum (1638-1643) (forthcoming)

Ross Kenyon (editor)

The Levellers were a political movement active in England from 1646 to 1649. They were a populist movement that emphasized equal rights, religious toleration, and reformation of political and judicial corruption. They are…

“Trade Unionism in the United States: General Character and Types”

Robert Franklin Hoxie (author)

A pioneering article on trade unions which was pubished in one of the leading professional economics journals in the early 20th century.

Travels in the North of Germany, 2 vols.

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

A two volume work in which Hodgskin describes in great detail the economic, political, legal, and social conditions he observed in his travels across northern Germany.

Travels in the North of Germany, vol. 1

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

Vol. I of a two volume work in which Hodgskin describes in great detail the economic, political, legal, and social conditions he observed in his travels across northern Germany.

Travels in the North of Germany, vol. 2

Thomas Hodgskin (author)

Vol. II of a two volume work in which Hodgskin describes in great detail the economic, political, legal, and social conditions he observed in his travels across northern Germany.

Arthur Young’s Travels in France during the Years 1787, 1788, 1789

Arthur Young (author)

Arthur Young was an 18th century pioneer in the detailed observation of economic conditions in the countryside and the collection of statistical data relating to agriculture. He was extraordinarily lucky in being in France on the eve…

A Treatise on Metallic and Paper Money and Banks (1858)

John Ramsay McCulloch (author)

This is an 80 page encyclopedia article on money and banking which includes a discussion of gold and silver backed money, paper money, private banks, and a brief history of banking in England, France, Scotland, Ireland, and the US.

A Treatise On Political Economy

Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy (author)

An important work in the development of French liberal thought during the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period. Thomas Jefferson was very impressed with his writings and had them translated in English.

A Treatise on Political Economy

Jean-Baptiste Say (author)

One of the most influential works on Political Economy in the 19thC. It set the stage for the development of the study of political economy in France and an early translation into English helped make it become the most used economics…

A Treatise on Political Economy (LF ed.)

Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy (author)

Destutt de Tracy’s Treatise on Political Economy is a foundational text of nineteenth-century, free-market economic thought and remains one of the classics of nineteenth-century French economic liberalism. Destutt de Tracy was one of…

Treatises and Essays on Subjects connected with Economic Policy (1853)

John Ramsay McCulloch (author)

A collection of essays some of which were previously published in the Encyclopedia Britannica. They cover money, exchange, rent, the history of commerce, maritime law, and biographical essays on Quesnay, Smith, and Ricardo.

The True Interest and Political Maxims, of the Republic of Holland

Pieter de la Court (author)

A strong defence of the benefits of free trade and an open and tolerant society in which economic, social and religious liberties go hand in hand to make a vibrant society like late 17th century Holland. The book angered some clerics…

THE READING ROOM

Two Christmas Stories by Dickens: A Discussion

By: Sarah Skwire and Amy Willis

Amy Willis and Sarah Skwire recently took a little time out of all our behind the scene work at Liberty Fund's websites to have a lively and wide-ranging discussion about two Christmas stories by Charles Dickens. We hope you enjoy…
Two Lectures on Population

Thomas Robert Malthus (author)

Senior generally agrees with Malthus on population but there are some differences which are brought out in the correspondence between them.

The Tyranny of Socialism

Yves Guyot (author)

One of several books Guyot wrote attacking socialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this volume, in the tradition of Bastiat, he criticises what he calls “socialistic sophisms,” socialistic legislation, strikes,…

Tyranny Unmasked

John Taylor (author)

John Taylor of Caroline (1753-1824) was one of the foremost philosophers of the States’ rights Jeffersonians of the early national period. In keeping with his lifelong mission as a “minority man,” John Taylor wrote Tyranny Unmasked

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method

Ludwig von Mises (author)

Written toward the end of Mises’s life, his last monograph, The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, returned to economics as a science based on human action.

Universal Economics

Armen A. Alchian (author)

Universal Economics shows the critical importance of property rights to the existence and success of market economies.

Untersuchungen über die Methode der Sozialwissenschaften

Carl Menger (author)

One of the pioneering works in Austrian economic theory of methodology.

“The Use of Knowledge in Society” (1945)

Friedrich August von Hayek (author)

One of Hayek’s most important contributions to economic theory is his demonstration of the part prices play in disseminating widely diffused knowledge about consumer demand and the availablility of economic resources in order to make…

THE READING ROOM

Virtue and Wealth in Pride and Prejudice

By: Maia Cummings

Although it is now an iconic title and story, Pride and Prejudice was originally supposed to be entitled “First Impressions”. Despite the name being scrapped, its implications are ever present throughout the novel. It is through…
Vorlesungen über Nationalökonomie auf Grundlage des Marginalprinzipes

Margarethe Langfeldt (translator)

A two volume set of lectures given by Wicksell. He bases his ideas on the idea of the marginal principle and covers topics such as population, value, production and distribution, and the growth of capital. It is in German.

Vorlesungen über Nationalökonomie auf Grundlage des Marginalprinzipes. Vol. 1

Margarethe Langfeldt (translator)

Volume 1 of a two volume set of lectures given by Wicksell. He bases his ideas on the idea of the marginal principle and covers topics such as population, value, production and distribution, and the growth of capital. It is in…

Vorlesungen über Nationalökonomie auf Grundlage des Marginalprinzipes. Vol. 2

Margarethe Langfeldt (translator)

Volume 2 of a two volume set of lectures given by Wicksell. He bases his ideas on the idea of the marginal principle and covers topics such as money, credit, and banking. It is in German.

The Wages Question: A Treatise on Wages and the Wages Class

Francis Amasa Walker (author)

Francis A. Walker’s The Wages Question is generally credited as having demolished the prior, antiquated “wages fund” theory of wages. Walker laid the groundwork for John Bates Clark’s definitive descriptions of the marginal products…

Wealth: A Brief Explanation of the Causes of Economic Wealth

Edwin Cannan (author)

Cannan provides a brief survey of the basic principles of economics, the division of labour, the nature of demand, income, and concludes with his own chapter on “the wealth of nations.” It is based upon his lectures to first year at…

THE READING ROOM

What Irish Enlightenment? The Case of Maria Edgeworth

By: Walter Donway

Pursuing the elusive character of the Irish Enlightenment through its leading figures (so far in this series, John Toland, Jonathan Swift, and George Berkeley), one issue that arises is the historical parameters of the European…
Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed

Harriet Franc Baker (translator)

One of several books Guyot wrote attacking socialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this volume, drawing upon his experience as the French Minister for Public Works, Guyot discusses the differences between public and…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Why Do We Need Feminist Economics? (March 2023)

Giandomenica Becchio (contributor)

What is feminist economics? Is it a complement or subsitute for standard economic analysis? Regardless,why do we need it today? These are the questions that animate this Liberty Matters symposium. Led by Professor...

LIBERTY MATTERS

Why Do We Need Feminist Economics? (March 2023)

By: Giandomenica Becchio, Mikayla Novak, Arnold Kling, and Jayme Lemke

What is feminist economics? Is it a complement or subsitute for standard economic analysis? Regardless, why do we need it today? These are the questions that animate this Liberty Matters symposium. Led by Professor Giandomenica…

LIBERTY MATTERS

Why We Don’t Need a “New” History of Capitalism (October 2023)

By: Phillip W. Magness

Was a single industry – cotton – the primary driver of American economic development in the 19th century, and thus the basis of wealth today? This is the claim behind what have become known as the "New Histories of Capitalism." While…

William Brough and Gresham’s Law

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The Natural Law of Money

Source: This biographical essay was originally written by Lauren Landsburg, the Editor of the Library of Economics and Liberty (Econlib) and it can be found here. Special thanks to George…

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, 6 vols.

William Cobbett (author)

A six volume collection of Cobbett’s essays and journalism.

The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes

John Locke (author)

A nine volume collection of the works of John Locke.

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, vol. 1

William Cobbett (author)

Volume 1 of a six volume collection. Vol. 1 contains his American writings 1794-1800 and his English writings beginning in 1801.

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, vol. 2

William Cobbett (author)

Volume 2 of a six volume collection. Vol. 2 contains essays from 1805-1809.

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, vol. 3

William Cobbett (author)

Volume 3 of a six volume collection. Vol. 3 contains writings from the Political Register 1809-11.

The Works of John Locke, vol. 4 Economic Writings and Two Treatises of Government

John Locke (author)

Volume 4 of the 1824 edition of the collected works of John Locke. This volume contains his essays on money and a version of the Two Treatises of Government.

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, vol. 4

William Cobbett (author)

Volume 4 of a six volume collection. Vol. 4 contains writings from the Political Register 18011-16.

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, vol. 5

William Cobbett (author)

Volume 5 of a six volume collection. Vol. 5 contains essays from the Political Register between Nov. 1816 to April 1820.

Selections from Cobbett’s Political Works, vol. 6

William Cobbett (author)

Volume 6 of a six volume collection. Vol. 6 contains essays from the Political Register between May 1820 to June 1835.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, 10 vols.

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This 10 volume collection consists of 9 volumes of Bagehot’s collected writings and a volume of biography.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 2 (Historical & Financial Essays)

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains essays on Macaulay, Gibbon, Peel, Shelley, and two essays on banking and the currency crisis.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 5

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains essays on Money, Grote, and The English Constitution.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 6

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains Lombard Street, essays on Guizot & Cairnes, and The Depreciation of Silver.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 7 (Economic Studies and Essays)

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains various essays on Smith, Disraeli, Arnold, and Senior, as well as the Economic Studies.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 8

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains Physics and Politics, The Currency Monopoly, Principles of Political Economy, and other essays.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 9

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains essays published in The Economist from 1859-1877 and The Saturday Review (1856-1859).

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 10 (The Life)

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains a biography of Bagehot.

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), 12 vols.

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

A 12 volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton.

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 2

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. II (Convention of New York; Letters of H.G.; Taxation and Finance; Finance) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 3

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. III (Finance; National Bank) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are important for understanding this period as he…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 4

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. IV (Coinage and the Mint; Industry and Commerce; Commercial Relations; Foreign Relations) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 8

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. VIII (Miscellaneous Papers) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are important for understanding this period as he…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 9

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. IX (Miscellaneous Papers; Private Letters 1771-1792) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are important for…

The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. I Autobiography, Letters and Misc. Writings 1725-1734

John Bigelow (editor)

Volume 1 of a 12 volume collection of the works of Franklin edited by the New York lawyer and politician John Bigelow. The bulk of vol. 1 contains the Autobiography and a number of essays and letters written between 1724 and 1734.

The Works of David Ricardo (McCulloch ed. 1846, 1888)

David Ricardo (author)

A one volume collection of Ricardo’s most important writings, edited by the great English classical economist J.R McCulloch who has a lengthy introduction on the life and work of Ricardo.

Works of Jeremy Bentham, 11 vols.

Jeremy Bentham (author)

An 11 volume collection of the works of Jeremy Bentham edited by the philosophic radical and political reformer John Bowring. For a complete list of the titles in The Works of Jeremy Bentham see this page.

Vol. 1 Table of Contents

The Works of Jeremy Bentham, vol. 2

John Bowring (editor)

An 11 volume collection of the works of Jeremy Bentham edited by the philosophic radical and political reformer John Bowring.

The Works of Jeremy Bentham, vol. 3

John Bowring (editor)

An 11 volume collection of the works of Jeremy Bentham edited by the philosophic radical and political reformer John Bowring.

The Works of Jeremy Bentham, vol. 8

John Bowring (editor)

An 11 volume collection of the works of Jeremy Bentham edited by the philosophic radical and political reformer John Bowring.

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), in 5 vols.

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a five volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist Lysander Spooner. It is in chronological order of the year of publication.

A full list of Spooner’s works in both…

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), vol. 1 (1834-1850)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a 5 volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist in chronological order of the year of publication. Vol. 1 contains 10 pieces from the period 1834-1850.

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), vol. 3 (1858-1862)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a 5 volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist in chronological order of the year of publication. Vol. 3 contains material from 1858-1862, including works on the…

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), vol. 4 (1863-1873)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a 5 volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist in chronological order of the year of publication. Vol. 4 contains material from 1863-1873.

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), vol. 5 (1875-1886)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a 5 volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist in chronological order of the year of publication. Vol. 5 contains material from 1875-1886. The essay “Vices are not Crimes” (1875)…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, 11 vols (Sraffa ed.)

David Ricardo (author)

This eleven-volume set of The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo contains all of Ricardo’s published and unpublished writings, and provides great insight into the early era of political economics by chronicling Ricardo’s…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 1 Principles of Political Economy and Taxation

David Ricardo (author)

On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation provides analysis of the allocation of money between capitalists, landowners, and agricultural workers in Britain. Through this analysis, Ricardo came to advocate free trade and…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 2 Notes on Malthus

David Ricardo (author)

David Ricardo and T. R. Malthus were friends despite a contentious divergence of opinion on many political economic issues. This volume contains the formal remnants of their differences. Ricardo analyzes, issue-by-issue, his points…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 3 Pamphlets and Papers 1809-1811

Piero Sraffa (editor)

This volume focuses on Ricardo’s shorter essays printed in the Morning Chronicle, which deal with his thoughts on the inflationary monetary policy of the Bank of England and the Bullion Crises. In these essays, the genesis of Ricardo…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 4 Pamphlets and Papers 1815-1823

Piero Sraffa (editor)

This volume contains a collection of assorted short essays written for publication in the latter part of David Ricardo’s life from 1815 to 1823. These essays include: An Essay on the Influence of a low Price of Corn on the Profits of…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 5 Speeches and Evidence

Piero Sraffa (editor)

Speeches and Evidence contains the texts of Ricardo’s numerous speeches. It consists of his speeches given in the House of Commons and evidentiary advocacies before Parliamentary committees. The introduction provides insightful…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 6 Letters 1810-1815

Piero Sraffa (editor)

Volume 6 is the introductory volume to the four volumes containing relevant letters between Ricardo and many influential thinkers of his age. Many of these letters influenced the development of Ricardo’s ideas on political economy.…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 7 Letters 1816-1818

Piero Sraffa (editor)

Volume 7 is the second volume of four volumes comprising the collection of Ricardo’s letters. It spans the years of Ricardo’s life from 1816 to 1818. This period saw the development and initial defense of his most influential work On…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 8 Letters 1819-June 1821

Piero Sraffa (editor)

This period of Ricardo’s life witnessed his entrance into Parliament as a member of the House of Commons where he became an influential advocate of free trade through his opposition to Britain’s restrictive “Corn laws.” These letters…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 9 Letters 1821-1823

Piero Sraffa (editor)

The letters in this volume continue to cover Ricardo’s correspondence while a member of the House of Commons and provide subtle refinements and elaborations to his political economic thoughts. This volume includes a complete index to…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 10 Biographical Miscellany

Maurice Herbert Dobb (editor)

This volume is a collection of personal correspondence and recollections that focus on Ricardo’s life outside of his political economic endeavors. These missives concern Ricardo’s character, his amiable and generous nature, his…

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 11 General Index

Maurice Herbert Dobb (editor)

The last volume of this collection is a comprehensive index to the previous ten volumes of The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo.

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, 3 vols.

Henry Adams (editor)

Vols. 1 and 2 contain Gallatin’s letters to people such as Jefferson, J.Q. Adams, and Henry Clay and Vol. 3 contains longer works such as speeches and reports on elections, the finances of the US, public lands, currency and banking,…

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 1

Henry Adams (editor)

Vol. 1 contains reports and letters written between 1788 and 1816.

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 2

Henry Adams (editor)

Vol. 2 contains letters written between 1816 and 1848.

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 3

Henry Adams (editor)

Vol. 3 contains longer works such as speeches and reports on elections, the finances of the US, public lands, currency and banking, Oregon, the war with Mexico.

THE READING ROOM

216 years of John Stuart Mill

By: Chris Loukas

The 20th of May marks the birthday of John Stuart Mill who was born in 1806, 216 years ago. He was a prolific economist, philosopher and politician who advocated for equal rights for women and individual freedom. His books like On…

Young, Arthur: A Biographical Sketch

Related Links:

Arthur Young

Source: Arthur Young’s Travels in France during the Years 1787, 1788, 1789, ed. Miss Betham-Edwards (London: George Bell and Sons, 1909).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH by Matilda Betham-Edwards

ARTHUR YOUNG…

Zum Abschluss des Marxschen Systems

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (contributor)

The German original of Böhm-Bawerk’s devastating review of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital volume 3 which had appeared posthumously in 1894.

An HTML version of his essay can found here. An English translation of this can be found here in PDF…

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Quotes

Economics

Adam Smith and Loveliness

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith and the Uniform Quest for Betterment

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith argued that the “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange” was inherent in human nature and gave rise to things such as the division of labour (1776)

Adam Smith

Free Trade

Adam Smith argues that retaliation in a trade war can sometimes force the offending country to lower its tariffs, but more often than not the reverse happens (1776)

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith debunks that idea that when it comes to public debt “we owe it to ourselves” (1776)

Adam Smith

Colonies, Slavery & Abolition

Adam Smith notes that colonial governments might exercise relative freedom in the metropolis but impose tyranny in the distant provinces (1776)

Adam Smith

War & Peace

Adam Smith observes that the true costs of war remain hidden from the taxpayers because they are sheltered in the metropole far from the fighting and instead of increasing taxes the government pays for the war by increasing the national debt (1776)

Adam Smith

Education

Adam Smith on compulsory attendance in the classroom (1776)

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith on consumption as the only end and purpose of production

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith on Good Wine and Free Trade

Adam Smith

Free Trade

Adam Smith on how “furious monopolists” will fight to the bitter end to keep their privileges (1776)

Adam Smith

Taxation

Adam Smith on how governments learn from each other the best way of draining money from the pockets of the people (1776)

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith on Inequality Between the Rich and the Poor

Adam Smith

Money & Banking

Adam Smith on money as an instrument of commerce as well as a measure of value

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith on the Butcher, the Brewer, and the Baker

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith on the greater productivity brought about by the division of labor and technological innovation (1760s)

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith on the natural ordering Tendency of Free Markets, or what he called the “Invisible Hand” (1776)

Adam Smith

Free Trade

Adam Smith on the “liberal system” of free trade (1776)

Adam Smith

Education

Adam Smith on who colleges and universities ACTUALLY benefit

Adam Smith

Economics

Adam Smith, Employment, and the Advantages to Society

Adam Smith

Quote

Alchian on Competition and Coordinated Cooperation

Armen A. Alchian

Economics

Anthony de Jasay on the free rider problem (2008)

Anthony de Jasay

Economics

Armen Alchian and the Scarcity of Resources

Armen A. Alchian

Economics

Armen Alchian on Perpetuities

Armen A. Alchian

Economics

Arthur Seldon on the problem of “who guards us from the guardians”? (1990)

Arthur Seldon

Money & Banking

Bagehot on Government, the banking system, and moral hazard (1873)

Walter Bagehot

Money & Banking

Bagehot on the monopoly central bank (1873)

Walter Bagehot

Economics

Bastiat asks the fundamental question of political economy: what should be the size of the state? (1850)

Frédéric Bastiat

Socialism & Interventionism

Bastiat criticizes the socialists of wanting to be the “Great Mechanic” who would run the “social machine” in which ordinary people were merely so many lifeless cogs and wheels (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

War & Peace

Bastiat on disbanding the standing army and replacing it with local militias (1847)

Frédéric Bastiat

Politics & Liberty

Bastiat on the fact that even in revolution there is an indestructible principle of order in the human heart (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Politics & Liberty

Bastiat on the many freedoms that make up liberty (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Free Trade

Bastiat on the most universally useful freedom, namely to work and to trade (1847)

Frédéric Bastiat

Politics & Liberty

Bastiat on the need for urgent political and economic reform (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Parties & Elections

Bastiat on the scramble for political office (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Free Trade

Bastiat on the spirit of free trade as a reform of the mind itself (1847)

Frédéric Bastiat

Economics

Bastiat on the state vs. laissez-faire (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Economics

Bastiat on trade as a the mutual exchange of “a service for another service” (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Liberty

Bastiat’s has a utopian dream of drastically reducing the size of the French state (1847)

Frédéric Bastiat

The State

Bastiat’s Malthusian theory of the growth of the state (1847)

Frédéric Bastiat

Food & Drink

Bastiat, the 1830 Revolution, and the Spilling of Wine not Blood (1830)

Frédéric Bastiat

Economics

Bentham on the liberty of contracts and lending money at interest (1787)

Jeremy Bentham

Economics

Bernard Mandeville concludes his fable of the bees with a moral homily on the virtues of peace, hard work, and diligence (1705)

Bernard Mandeville

War & Peace

Bernard Mandeville on how the Hardships and Fatigues of War bear most heavily on the “working slaving People” (1732)

Bernard Mandeville

Economics

Bernard Mandeville uses a fable about bees to show how prosperity and good order comes about through spontaneous order (1705)

Bernard Mandeville

Politics & Liberty

Bernhard Knollenberg on the Belief of many colonial Americans that Liberty was lost because the Leaders of the People had failed in their Duty (2003)

Bernhard Knollenberg

Free Trade

Condy Raguet argues that governments cannot create wealth by means of legislation and that individuals are better judges of the best way to use their capital and labor than governments (1835)

Condy Raguet

Taxation

David Ricardo considered taxation to be a “great evil” which hindered the accumulation of productive capital and reduced consumption (1817)

David Ricardo

Property Rights

David Ricardo on how “insecure tenure” of property rights harms the poor (1824)

David Ricardo

Economics

David Ricardo on Taxation

David Ricardo

Money & Banking

David Ricardo on the “mere increase of money” (1809)

David Ricardo

Economics

David Ricardo on Wages and the Deflation of Currency

David Ricardo

Economics

David Ricardo, Paper Money, and the Abuse of Power

David Ricardo

Economics

Destutt de Tracy on society as “nothing but a succession of exchanges” (1817)

Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy

Economics

Destutt de Tracy on the damage which government debt and the class which lives off loans to the state cause the industrious classes (1817)

Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy

Economics

Destutt de Tracy on the mutually beneficial nature of exchange (1817)

Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy

Socialism & Interventionism

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk argues that Marx ignored the fact that the same amount of labor time should be rewarded differently depending upon where along the structure of production it took place (1898)

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

Origin of Government

Frédéric Bastiat, while pondering the nature of war, concluded that society had always been divided into two classes - those who engaged in productive work and those who lived off their backs (1850)

Frédéric Bastiat

Economics

Frank Taussig argues for the reverse of a common misconception about the relationship between high wages and the use of machinery (1915)

Frank William Taussig

The State

Frédéric Bastiat and the state as “la grande fiction à travers laquelle Tout Le Monde s'efforce de vivre aux dépens de Tout Le Monde (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Law

Frédéric Bastiat asks what came first, property or law? (1850)

Frédéric Bastiat

The State

Frédéric Bastiat on the state as the great fiction by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else (1848)

Frédéric Bastiat

Free Trade

Frédéric Bastiat’s theory of plunder (1850)

Frédéric Bastiat

Money & Banking

Friedrich Hayek rediscovers the importance of Henry Thornton’s early 19th century work on “paper credit” and its role in financing the British Empire (1802)

Henry Thornton

Economics

Friedrich List and Manufacturing Power

Friedrich List

Free Trade

Guyot on the protectionist tyranny (1906)

Yves Guyot

Economics

Hayek on Spontaneous Order and the Division of Labor

Friedrich August von Hayek

Free Trade

Henry George on a “free trade America” as the real city set on a hill (1886)

Henry George

Free Trade

Henry George on how trade sanctions hurt domestic consumers (1886)

Henry George

Free Trade

Henry George on the scramble to get government favors known as trade “protection” (1886)

Henry George

Society

Herbert Spencer on the idea that society is a spontaneous growth and not artificially put together (1860)

Herbert Spencer

Economics

Horace Say on “I, Pin” and the international division of labor (1852)

Horace Émile Say

Economics

Israel Kirzner on the Individual and the Market

Israel M. Kirzner

Colonies, Slavery & Abolition

J.B. Say argues that colonial slave labor is really quite profitable for the slave owners at the expense of the slaves and the home consumers (1817)

Jean-Baptiste Say

Property Rights

J.B. Say on the self-evident nature of property rights which is nevertheless violated by the state in taxation and slavery (1817)

Jean-Baptiste Say

War & Peace

J.M. Keynes reflected on that “happy age” of international commerce and freedom of travel that was destroyed by the cataclysm of the First World War (1920)

John Maynard Keynes

Economics

James Buchanan on “process” and the market order (1982)

James M. Buchanan

Economics

James Mill’s formulation of “Say’s Law” (1808)

James Mill

Free Trade

Jane Haldimand Marcet, in a popular tale written for ordinary readers, shows the benefits to workers of foreign trade, especially at Christmas time (1833)

Jane Haldimand Marcet

Law

Jasay on the superiority of “spontaneous conventions” over “legal frameworks” (2007)

Anthony de Jasay

Colonies, Slavery & Abolition

Jean-Baptiste Say argues that home-consumers bear the brunt of the cost of maintaining overseas colonies and that they also help support the lavish lifestyles of the planter and merchant classes (1817)

Jean-Baptiste Say

Economics

Jean-Baptiste Say argues that there is a world of difference between private consumption and public consumption; an increase in the latter does nothing to increase public wealth (1803)

Jean-Baptiste Say

Free Trade

Jean-Baptiste Say regards regulations which favor producers as a form of political privilege at the expence of the community (1803)

Jean-Baptiste Say

Economics

Kirzner defines economics as the reconciliation of conflicting ends given the existence of inescapable scarcity (1960)

Israel M. Kirzner

Politics & Liberty

Leggett on the tendency of the government to become “the universal dispenser of good and evil” (1834)

William Leggett

Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

Leonard Read on Ludwig von Mises as the economic dictator of the U.S. (1971)

Leonard E. Read

Economics

Lord Macaulay writes a devastating review of Southey’s Colloquies in which the Poet Laureate’s ignorance of the real condition of the working class in England is exposed (1830)

Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay

Economics

Ludwig Lachmann and the free market as a leveling process in the distribution of wealth (1956)

Ludwig M. Lachmann

Socialism & Interventionism

Ludwig von Mises argues that monopolies are the direct result of government intervention and not the product of any inherent tendency within the capitalist system (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Economics

Ludwig von Mises argues that the division of labor and human cooperation are the two sides of the same coin and are not antagonistic to each other (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Ludwig von Mises lays out five fundamental truths of monetary expansion (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Socialism & Interventionism

Ludwig von Mises on the impossibility of rational economic planning under Socialism (1922)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Ludwig von Mises shows the inevitability of economic slumps after a period of credit expansion (1951)

Ludwig von Mises

Economics

Mandeville on the social cooperation which is required to produce a piece of scarlet cloth (1723)

Bernard Mandeville

Property Rights

McCulloch argues that the right to property extends to “the faculties of (one’s) mind and the powers of (one’s) body” (1864)

John Ramsay McCulloch

Liberty

Milton Friedman and the Free Society

Milton Friedman

The State

Milton Friedman on the Deconcentration of Power

Milton Friedman

Free Trade

Mises on how the “boon” of a tariff privilege is soon dissipated (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Mises on the gold standard as the symbol of international peace and prosperity (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Economics

Mises on the interconnection between economic and political freedom (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Taxation

Mises on the public sector as “tax eaters” who “feast” on the assets of the ordinary tax payer (1953)

Ludwig von Mises

Property Rights

Molinari defends the right to property against the socialists who want to overthrow it, and the conservatives who defend it poorly (1849)

Gustave de Molinari

Rhetoric of Liberty

Molinari on mankind’s never-ending struggle for liberty (1849)

Gustave de Molinari

Economics

Montesquieu thought that commerce improves manners and cures “the most destructive prejudices” (1748)

Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

The State

Nassau Senior argues that government is based upon extortion (1854)

Nassau William Senior

Socialism & Interventionism

Nassau Senior objected to any government regulation of factories which meant that a horde of inspectors would interfere with the organization of production (1837)

Nassau William Senior

Money & Banking

Nassau Senior on how the universal acceptance of gold and silver currency creates a world economy (1830)

Nassau William Senior

Free Trade

Nicholas Barbon on the mutual benefits of free trade even in luxury goods (“wants of the mind”) (1690)

Nicholas Barbon

Sport and Liberty

Nisbet on how violent, contact sports like football redirect people’s energies away from war (1988)

Robert A. Nisbet

Economics

Paul Heyne on THE economic way of thinking (1995)

Paul Heyne

Economics

Philip Wicksteed on how impersonal economic relations help others (1910)

Philip H. Wicksteed

Economics

Philip Wicksteed on “non-tuism” in economic relations (1910)

Philip H. Wicksteed

Economics

Philip Wicksteed’s positive vision of the “cash nexus” (1910)

Philip H. Wicksteed

Free Trade

Richard Cobden on how free trade would unite mankind in the bonds of peace (1850)

Richard Cobden

Free Trade

Richard Cobden’s “I have a dream” speech about a world in which free trade is the governing principle (1846)

Richard Cobden

War & Peace

Robert Nisbet on the Shock the Founding Fathers would feel if they could see the current size of the Military Establishment and the National Government (1988)

Robert A. Nisbet

Economics

Samuel Fortrey, Public Profit, and Public Good

Samuel Fortrey

Property Rights

Say on a person’s property right in their own “industrious faculties” (1819)

Jean-Baptiste Say

Economics

Spooner on the “natural right to labor” and to acquire all one honestly can (1846)

Lysander Spooner

Money & Banking

The 11th Day of Christmas: Mises on the gold standard and peace on earth (1934)

Ludwig von Mises

Free Trade

The 12th Day of Christmas: Frank Chodorov on free trade as the harbinger of goodwill among men and peace on earth (1940)

Frank Chodorov

Taxation

Thomas Hodgskin noted in his journey through the northern German states that the burden of heavy taxation was no better than it had been under the conqueror Napoleon (1820)

Thomas Hodgskin

Property Rights

Thomas Hodgskin on the futility of politicians tinkering with bad laws when the whole political system needed to be changed (1832)

Thomas Hodgskin

Money & Banking

Vera Smith on Central Banking and the Scottish System

Vera C. Smith

Money & Banking

Vera Smith on How the Civil War Changed the US Banking System

Vera C. Smith

Class

William Cobbett on the dangers posed by the “Paper Aristocracy” (1804)

William Cobbett

Money & Banking

William Cobbett opposes the government bail-out at taxpayer expence of those who lent money to the state (1815)

William Cobbett

Free Trade

William Fox on the hypocrisy of those who do not want to be dependent on foreign trade (1844)

William Johnson Fox

Free Trade

William Grampp shows how closely connected Richard Cobden’s desire for free trade was to his desire for peace (1960)

William Dyer Grampp

Free Trade

Yves Guyot accuses all those who seek Protection from foreign competition of being “Socialists” (1893)

Yves Guyot

Socialism & Interventionism

Yves Guyot on the violence and lawlessness inherent in socialism (1910)

Yves Guyot

Notes About This Collection

Adam Smith (1723-1790) Frdric Bastiat (1801-1850) Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

See also the extracts, chapters, and introductions in the Economics section of the Ideas page.

More material on Economics can be found at our sister website The Library of Economics and Liberty (Econlib). As its name suggests, it specializes in material relating to economics and includes over 120 titles of economic classics, monthly articles on economic topics from around the world, a blog for the discussion of economic ideas (EconLog), a collection of interviews and podcasts (EconTalk), resources for high school teachers of economics, and an Encyclopedia of Economics.