All links.

Part of the "Critiques of Libertarianism" site.
http://world.std.com/~mhuben/libindex.html

Last updated 09/26/11.

Testimony before the Senate Committee on the Budget -- July 23, 1998
Henry J. Aaron's Senate testimony on the "problem" of Social Security.
The Myths of Social Security Crisis: Behind the Privatization Push
An article by Henry J. Aaron, detailing the fraudulent claims of crisis and the false "solutions". A Brookings Institution Opinion Piece.
Liberty, License or Anarchy? The Seductive Lie of Libertarianism
Stephen Abbott argues that liberty is not license.
Varieties Of Institutional Failure
James Acheson describes failures of resource management by markets, private property, government, and communal management. Libertarian emphasis on the first two only is inappropriate.
NEW 3/09: Milton Friedman: a study in failure
Friedman's most successful influence in government policy was one he regretted: creating the withholding tax.
AFT Voucher Home Page
The American Federation Of Teachers is of course interested in this issue, and keeps many up-to-the-minute reviews of research and arguments available.
NEW 11/06: Critics of Austrian Economics
Against Politics' index of books and articles criticizing Austrian Economics.
The Crisis of Public Reason
Phil Agre provides one of the most compact insights into modern public discourse ever written. And wallops Hayek in the process.
Conservative Rhetoric
Phil Agre discusses the common patterns of conservative propaganda employed in the Florida Recounts. These are very commonly encountered interacting with libertarians, especially projection.
The New Jargon
Phil Agre discusses the rhetorical technology of association and projection used to subvert rationality in political argument.
What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?
Phil Agre reminds us of the basics of conservatism. [Libertarianism is conservative because it would create a market-based aristocracy that conflicts with democracy.] A must read!
Archimedes Shrugged: The Great Libertarian Racket
Hugh Akston's critical review of the Libertarian Party, emphasizing the capture of the party for personal profit by a Harry Browne clique. Scathing.
Living in a Second-Best World
by Jodie T. Allen. A Slate article which does a fine job of introducing why deregulation and competition may not create their intended benefits, due to the Theory Of The Second Best.
ex-Libertarian email list.
Brent Allison has created this list for discussions of the ideological dogma that former libertarians have left behind. There are a lot of recovering libertarians out there: now they need to find this lis.
A Geolibertarian FAQ
Todd Altman's rebuts common libertarian arguments against land value taxes, including some really pathetic ones by Murray Rothbard.
Anarcho-Hucksters
An anarchist explains why anarcho-capitalism is not truly anarchist, and is generally undesirable to most people.
Is Medieval Iceland an example of "anarcho"-capitalism working in practice?
An excellent left-libertarian refutation of this position. Part of An Anarchist FAQ Webpage. Some rebuttals are available at David Friedman's home page.
An Anarchist FAQ Webpage.
A collaborative effort to present the basics of anarchism and correct misrepresentations by opponents. Updated and expanded versions of some Spunk Press items.
Is Medieval Iceland an example of "anarcho"-capitalism working in practice?
An excellent left-libertarian refutation of this position. Part of An Anarchist FAQ Webpage. Some rebuttals are available at David Friedman's home page.
Is "anarcho"-capitalism a type of anarchism?
Description (and criticism) of the differences between left libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism (right libertarianism.)
What are the myths of capitalist economics?
Is "anarcho"-capitalism a type of anarchism?
Description (and criticism) of the differences between left libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism (right libertarianism.)
What are the myths of capitalist economics?
Jonathan Andreas' Response to David Friedman's FAQ Critique
An unsolicited (but welcome!) rebuttal of some of David's arguments.
Jonathan Andreas' Response to David Friedman's Response
Jonathan continues his rebuttal.
NEW 12/08: The Dallas Accord Is Dead
Less Antman criticizes the Libertarian Party truce between minarchists and market anarchists. Looks like the LP is headed for another purge.
Jonathan R. Armstrong's ex-libertarian introduction.
"Suddenly, I realized that perhaps there might be a little more to it all than a cartoonish, one-dimensional view of a repressive 'government' that spawns evils that are divorced from any other sort of empirical reality."
Why People Go Hungry
Kenneth Arrow's review of Amartya Sen's Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Agrees with the point that "failure of market power" is precisely what chooses the victims of famine.
The Liberty Presidential Poll.
By Chester Alan Arthur. Analysis of Harry Browne's even smaller than expected support.
NEW 4/07: Milton Friedman's Hong Kong Misconceptions
This AsiaSentinel article points out that Friedman ignored four major areas of socialism in Hong Kong: subsidized housing, free medical care, free education, and external security provided by another nation.
Liberalism FAQ
Tom Asquith's fine overview of varieties of liberalism and how they contrast with other "isms". Peculiarly, this FAQ describes different varieties of libertarianism much better than libertarian FAQs.
The Atheism Web: Logic & Fallacies.
Briefly covers principles of argument and many sorts of fallacies.
The Privateers' Free Lunch
Dean Baker's The American Prospect article that shows privatizing Social Security will not result in the claimed big improvements.
NEW 3/08: Trade and inequality: The role of economists
Dean Baker faults economists for exaggerating benefits of trade, and dishonestly ignoring or downplaying the distributional consequences: who wins and who loses. At the post-autistic economics network.
NEW 8/08: The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer
The full text of Dean Baker's book. Not aimed at libertarians, but points out many things libertarians are confused about and ought to oppose by both libertarian and progressive standards.
Cyber-Netizen's Song
Marcus Bales' filk version of "A Modern Major General" is deadly accurate for libertarians, though it is somewhat more general.
The Pinnochio Theory
Richard Barbrook's very harsh review of Kevin Kelly's "Out of Control: the New Biology of Machines".
NEW 2/08: What Makes a Miracle: Some myths about the rise of China and India
Pranab Bardhan's Boston Review article debunks claims that China and India's economic development is solely due to capitalism: communism, democracy and socialism have also played major parts.
NEW 9/06: Blog: Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature
Daniel Barnes has started a blog for the discussion of Greg Nyquist's 'A.R.C.H.N' and other criticisms of objectivism.
NEW 9/06: The Virtue of Sycophancy (1)
The Virtue of Sycophancy (2)
Cringe and Win! - The 5 Most Embarrassing Moments in "PARC"
Daniel Barnes evaluates James Valliant's book "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics".
NEW 8/08: The Madness of King Leonard
Leonard Peikoff appears on Bill O'Reilly's show and rants so appallingly that O'Reilly looks sensible in comparison.
The Economics of the Welfare State
By Nicholas Barr. A college text that provides the mainstream economics background for defending the welfare state against libertarians.
NEW 5/10: Capitalism's Wicked Witch
Allen Barra's Daily Beast review of Anne Conover Heller's "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" and Jennifer Burns' "Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right".
Progressive and Regressive Taxes and Taxation Explained.
Doug Bashford explains some of the rudiments of why unequal taxation can be considered just.
The Rights (and Wrongs) of Ayn Rand
Robert Bass concludes that Rand's ambition exceeded her achievement. He effectively shows how all her most important arguments fail. Part of his Objectivism: Assorted Commentary page.
Libertarian to Liberal
Mike Bast presents a skeptic's repudiation of libertarianism.
Scientific American: The Economics of Child Labor
Shows valid economic grounds for government regulation of child labor (and 8 hour work days as well.) Subscription required.
Become an Objectivist in Ten Easy Steps (with illustrations)
This one is relatively subtle.
Election 2004, 14: Abandoning Libertarianism
Bruce Baugh's sad evaluation of the worth of libertarianism and libertarians.
NEW 2/08: CFP's Laffer Curve Video
Law Professor Linda Beale debunks the latest Laffer Curve propaganda video from the "Center for Freedom and Prosperity" and CATO's Dan Mitchell.
Destroyed Arguments
Lowell Becraft, Jr., a lawyer and member of the "Freedom Movement", enumerates many tax, jurisdiction, and other legal issues which have been found invalid by the courts.
Assassination Politics
Convicted tax evader Jim Bell proposes a system of anonymous ecash awards for the murder of "aggressors", such as IRS agents. See also Crypto-Convict Won't Recant. What he misses is that his system, if tolerated, would merely force government to operate secretly rather than openly.
Critique of the Doctrine of Inalienable, Natural Rights
Jeremy Bentham, founder of utilitarianism, explains why natural rights are "nonsense on stilts", and points out that every right destroys some liberty.
Libertarian Man!
A John Bergstrom's Attack Cartoons feature that skewers some common libertarian/objectivist foibles.
Educational Reform in an Era of Disinformation
David Berliner's February 1993 article from Education Policy Analysis Archives. A FAQ detailing the false claims about declining performance of American students, and the false attributions of "cause".
Necessary E-Mail Netiquette
Charity and a number of other principles.
Making Work Pay: The Impact of the 1996-97 Minimum Wage Increase (executive summary)
Making Work Pay: The Impact of the 1996-97 Minimum Wage Increase (press release)
An Economic Policy Institute study by Jared Bernstein and John Schmitt that details the fact that raising the minimum wage has not resulted in job losses, contrary to libertarian propaganda ranging from the World's Smallest Political Quiz to the Libertarian Party Platform.
The 'freest economies in the world'.
John Berthelsen of the Asia Times points out that the Cato Institute's 'economic freedom' index seems to have no idea of the reality of government intervention and market oligopoly in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Contradiction in Anarchism.
By Robert J. Bidinotto. An excellent critique of the fundamental problems of libertarian anarcho-capitalism and its premises.
You're Not the Boss of Me!
Brooke Shelby Biggs informally, but accurately, characterizes libertarianism as "self-serving, immature hypocrisy". Calls a spade a spade. A Hotwired article.
A Fatal Instability in Anarcho-Capitalism
Anarcho-Capitalism Dissolves Into City States
Paul Birch shows some good reasons to think anarcho-capitalism is a utopian pipe-dream.
The Libertarian As Conservative.
By Bob Black. An unusual approach, viewing families, work, schools, and churches as being as coercive as government. Starts boring, then gets good.
White Man's Ghost Dance
Bob Black's hysterically funny debunking of libertarian "Constitutionalist" notions of common law.
Henry Blaskowski's FAQ criticisms (via Google Groups).
An extremely sloppy response to the FAQ, fraught with the usual fallacies of libertarian apologetics. It was only posted to the net.
Learning to Love the Gun
A review of Michael A. Bellesiles' Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture that explodes the mythology of early and free gun ownership. However some of the research is likely fraudulent, so the conclusions are questionable.
William Graham Sumner -- Social Darwinism and neo-liberalism in defense of laissez-faire capitalism
Libertarians recycle these hundred year old arguments that were refuted in the Progressive Era.
Tom The Dancing Bug: Ricky And Debbie Visit Enron
"The Invisible Hand" explains Enron.
Libertarianism Is Defunct
Joseph S. Bommarito shows that for libertarians, plagiarism (of the Critiques web site) is the sincerest form of flattery.
Robert H. Bork Critiques Libertarianism
A conservative criticism of libertarianism from his book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah."
Cyberselfish.
Paulina Borsook's Mother Jones article on the ingratitude of Silicon Valley libertarians for the system that created their environment.
Of greed, technolibertarianism and geek omnipotence.
An interview with Paulina Borsook about her book "Cyberselfish", where she skewers high-tech libertarianism.
The collected reviews of Cyberselfish.
Paulina's book web site attempts to collect all the reviews, favorable and unfavorable.
Willis Boyce's critique of the Non-Libertarian FAQ.
Another libertarian who ignores the stated purpose of the FAQ in the introduction and presumes that the FAQ is about opposition to the Libertarian Party.
Libertarianism, Property & Harm.
Chapter 2 of James Boyle's unpublished "Net Total: Law, Politics and Property in Cyberspace". Thoroughly dismantles three libertarian approaches to the problem of harms: [common] law, natural rights, and property.
Are U.S. Students Behind?
Gerald Bracey's March 1998 article from The American Prospect. Examines results of international comparisons, refuting the notion that our educational system is "broken".
Liberty Online's review of "Ayn Rand: A Sense Of Life"
by R. W. Bradford. A libertarian critic of Rand decries its propagandistic nature, its lies of omission and commission.
The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand: A Personal Statement.
Nathaniel Branden details some errors Ayn Rand was prone to. One of several self-aggrandizing discussions of her feet of clay, written conveniently after her death.
The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, Chapter 69. Policy issues and recommendations.
A 1972 report detailing pragmatic alternatives to the drug war from a public health point of view, without the ridiculous libertarian demand for total deregulation.
Essences, Orcs and Civilization: The Case for a Cheerful Libertarianism
David Brin speaks to the 2002 Libertarian Party National Convention, and tells them to quit being such stupid ideologues and become pragmatic liberals.
NEW 5/06: The Cato Hypocrisy
David Brin describes "truly grotesque hypocrisies, putting shame to any pretense that these Cato guys are "libertarians," let along honest intellects."
Ethical Egoism
Part of the Britannica.com article on ethics, which points out that Rand was hardly original in ethical egoism, that it must be defended in utilitarian terms, and that the claims of ethical egoism fail for very common prisoner's dilemmas.
Are You A Libertarian?
Ryan Brooke's parody of "The World's Smallest Political Quiz".
3 Problems of Libertarianism
Ryan Brooke illustrates some reasons why government should be involved in markets.
Brookings Review Summer 1997, "Privatizing Social Security"
Arguments Pro and Con. Pro goes first, and has an opportunity to rebut Con. The Con side (Henry J. Aaron again) faces the important realities that the Pro side usually glosses over or ignores. A Brookings Institution article.
Adam Smith's Soft Side
US Congressman Sherrod Brown points out that Adam Smith was not the one-dimensional "classical liberal" portrayed by libertarian historical revisionists.
Does libertarianism lead to statism?
A repugnant anti-immigration tract by Patrick Buchanon, blaming libertarian-approved immigration for growth of government.
Howard Spews on Anti-Libertarianism
A much milder and more agreeable statement than it sounds.
Privatizing Social Security: The Troubling Trade-Offs
An overview of the less emotional arguments about privatization, by Gary Burtless and Barry Bosworth. A Brookings Institution Policy Brief.
NEW 1/07: Comments on "Has U.S. Income Inequality Really Increased"
Gary Burtless of The Brookings Institution severely criticizes the analysis of Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute in the Reynold's paper Has U.S. Income Inequality Really Increased? The answer is yes, contrary to Cato propaganda.
Libertarians Draft Lawsuit After 'Double Cross'
The incompetence that Libertarian Party so frequently projects on the government is actually their own problem. Here's a humorous example where they have been exploited once again.
NEW 3/09: The Libertarian From Nazareth?
Jesus was a libertarian? This guy is serious! What did JC say about freeing slaves then?
True-blue bids for Senate
Libertarian candidate Stan Jones turned himself blue. Permanently. Gives new meaning to "local color". "They'll have to pry my colloidial silver from my warm blue fingers."
An Analysis Of The Cato Institute's "The Case Against a Tennessee Income Tax"
Senate finance panel examines Cato report, recognizes propaganda
Citizens For Tax Justice lay open the shoddy errors behind this typical example of the claims Cato makes. The Tennessee Senate finance panel also identified a large number of other errors.
Lessons Of Chile's Voucher Reform Movement
Professor Martin Camoy of Stanford points out that real voucher reforms have failed to improve test scores, and have widened the gap between privileged and underprivileged. From Rethinking Schools.
Debating with Jehovah's Witnesses
Libertarians are not usually as dogmatic as JW's, but the parallels are fairly strong (with a few exceptions.) The parallels with Objectivists are even stronger.
Why I Am Not an Austrian Economist.
Bryan Caplan's dismissal of Austrian Economics. He's more courteous than they deserve.
Libertarians: The Enemy Within
A college conservative takes libertarians to task for ignoring real-world experience and tradition in favor of ideology.
A Response To The Non-Libertarian FAQ
Brian Carnell's second version of his rebuttal. Primarily based on arguments I didn't make.
Internet Bunk: The Junk Science Page
The CATO Institute is a corporate front that employs Steven Milloy to tarbrush opponents scientific arguments as "Junk Science". Robert Todd Carroll's excellent The Skeptic's Dictionary details Milloy's unscientific part in this PR campaign.
Do Windmills Eat Birds?
David Case, executive editor of TomPaine.com, exposes a quotation out of context by CATO in a case of pretend environmental concern.
NEW 8/10: Wealthcare: the Cult of Ayn Rand
Jonanthan Chait's big-picture view of Objectivism's influence after reading the two Rand biographies.
Big Sister is Watching You
by Whittaker Chambers. The 1957 National Review book review of Atlas Shrugged. Wants to be sympathetic, but just can't: the book was just too awful.
Libertarian Failure From A to Z
Dean Chambers, a former Libertarian Party insider, details the ineffectiveness of the Libertarian Party.
NEW 5/06: No Longer Getting By: An Increase in the Minimum Wage Is Long Overdue
Amy Chasanov's Economic Policy Institute briefing paper explains why minimum wages are a good idea and refutes the usual conservative/libertarian arguments against them.
Open Letter to Rand
Roy Childs presents an anarcho-libertarian refutation of Rand's minarchist position.
NEW 11/07: This Choir Does The Preaching!
The Milton Friedman choir sings of how corporations are amoral and have no choice, so let us rejoice in privatization. Bizarre!
Democracy and the Market section 2: The Flight of the Bumble Bee.
In Part II of Noam Chomsky's Year 501; The Conquest Continues. Exposes free market theory as a hostile weapon against development of emerging nations.
Old wine in new bottles: A bitter taste.
Noam Chomsky describes Jane Kelsey's "The New Zealand Experiment" (which was critical of privatizations) in its historical context. He discerns recurrent patterns of "reform" inflicted on the helpless for the private benefit of the "reformers", and classifies Kelsey as a fellow observer. Part of the Symposium on "The New Zealand Experiment" published in the Electronic Journal of Radical Organisation Theory.
How free is the free market?
Noam Chomsky identifies free market policy as markets for the poor, socialism for the rich.
Libertarians' Toy-Gun Joke Is a Flop in East Harlem
A NY times article about a Libertarian Party protest of a regulation against toy guns.
NEW 2/07: How To Explain Things to Libertarians
A good description of the wierd feeling you get, why you get it, and how to deal with it. A great parody of the quiz, too. An enormous response in agreement.
The Late, Great Libertarian Macho Flash
Michael Cloud, a Libertarian Party political strategist, points out that people will be turned off if told directly what libertarians really believe. Which is why anti-libertarian activists direct people to the party platform.
Objectivism and Thomas Jefferson
by Eyler Robert Coates, Sr. Objectivists are taken to task for selective quoting from Jefferson, whose writings give many sound reasons to reject Objectivism.
The "Sovereignty" Of The Individual
Was Jefferson A Libertarian?
Eyler Robert Coates, Sr. tersely describes some important differences between Jefferson's views and those of libertarians.
NEW 4/08: Information and Economics: A Critique of Hayek
Outlines Hayek's false assumptions, and points out problems of market capitalist economic miscalculation.
NEW 4/07: Libertarian (from "Wikiality, the Truthiness Encyclopedia")
The Colbert Report's take on libertarianism.
NEW 4/06: The Food And Agricultural Global Cartels Of The 1990s: Overview And Update
John Connor at Purdue details roughly 13 billion dollars of customer overcharges due to price fixing in just one industry sector. An excellent argument for the continued importance of antitrust law.
NEW 3/07: A New Paradigm for the Second Amendment
Saul Cornell criticizes much recent scholarship: "Second Amendment originalists have created something akin to an alternate history science-fiction fantasy[...]"
For A New Libertarianism.
Paul Coulam finds errors by Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard and David Friedman in an attempt to patch together a workable libertarianism, with a surprise twist ending!
The prototypical title.
The prototypical description.
Anarcho-Capitalism: Opposing_Views
The DMOZ Open Directory catalog. Heavy on criticisms by other libertarians, quite incomplete, but otherwise good.
Libertarian: Opposing_Views
The DMOZ Open Directory catalog. Sparse coverage of a large subject.
Objectivism: Opposing_Views
The DMOZ Open Directory catalog. A fairly good list of criticisms.
Don't Legalize Drugs
Theodore Dalrymple's City Journal article warns of the many unexpected results that are likely from adopting legalization of drugs as a social policy. Very pragmatic.
Liberalism and socialism: a case study of philosophical factions on the Internet.
Richard Davies shows how the "philosophical" principle "Everyone should be free to do as they please, as long as their actions don't harm anyone else" is so ridiculously vague that socialists can accept it also.
The Truth About Winners and Losers
A concise summary of who would benefit from Social Security privatization: no group alive today. Because of transition costs. Based on Mueller's NCPSSM study.
Old Rules for the New Economy
J. Bradford DeLong's criticisms of the economic naivete of Kevin Kelly's "New Rules for the New Economy".
No Libertarians in the Seventeenth-Century Highlands
Brad DeLong ridicules a debate held at the Reason magazine 35th anniversary banquet.
Economics In One Lesson
Brad DeLong's review of Henry Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson. Brad explains at length why this brilliant libertarian classic is damaging to young brains. Simply put, it ignores the premises and history of economics; and the ideological blinders are so strong that Hazlitt's quotes and summaries are sometimes dishonest.
NEW 11/08: Lessons from the Great Depression Blogging
The rightwing/libertarian revisionist idea that the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression is debunked, with reference to Krugman's schooling of George Will.
Critics of Austrian Economics
An outstanding page of criticisms, including luminaries such as David Friedman, Gordon Tullock, and Robert Nozick.
If Housepets Were Libertarians.
A cute editorial cartoon.
NEW 6/10: The 24 Types of Libertarian
Ampersand (Barry Deutsch) identifies 24 libertarian points of view in this cartoon.
Objectivism: Who Needs It -- A Warning To Young Readers
Tom Devine emphasizes that "we should never trust a person whose system of thought has a name." A very good rule of thumb.
New Zealand's Vaunted Privatization Push Devastated The Country, Rather Than Saving It.
New Zealand was the site of a neoliberal/libertarian policy triumph, which Murray Dobbin describes as catastrophic.
The Devil In Devolution
John D. Donahue's The American Prospect article that discusses races to the bottom and other pitfalls of moving federal government responsibilities to the states.
Information about Specific Groups: Neo-Tech.
The Neo-Tech Skeptic FAQ and a collection of Mike Doughney's posts describing how Neo-Tech is a cult. Part of the .ex-cult archive page, which is well worth a visit.
Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies.
Why I am not a Libertarian
Professor Steven Dutch says: "In short, they combine the personal irresponsibility of liberals with the social, economic and environmental irresponsibility of conservatives." Nicely supported with quotes from the LPUSA platform.
Too Easy and Too Free: A Review of Murray's Libertarianism
by Ronald W. Dworkin. Even with extreme generosity, Murray is found to fail badly, a foolish pollyanna.
Mrs Logic And The Law: A Critique Of Ayn Rand's View Of Government.
Nicholas Dykes' anarcho-libertarian criticism of Rand's denuciation of anarchy.
Social Security Website Links
A terrific, perhaps exhaustive, set of links. Part of the EBRI Social Security Research Program of the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
The Second Amendment In The Twentieth Century: Have You Seen Your Militia Lately?
Keith Ehrman and Dennis Henigan's University of Dayton Law Review detailing the origins, history, and judicial interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Capitalism, Right Libertarianism and the problem of "externalities?"
Gary Elkin's brief explanation of the problems capitalism causes for ecology.
NEW 6/10: Matt Ridley: Optimism without limits
Liz Else, associate editor at NewScientist, shows skepticism of the Rational Optimist. Follow the link to the experts criticisms where failed banker Ridley defends himself by claining the experts are in it for the money: a standard denialist tactic from policy entrepreneurs who ARE in it for the money.
NEW 8/07: Bryan Caplan's Curiously Elitist Capitalism
"... claims the credentials of a scientist but is really far too ideological to be called one."
NEW 9/10: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought
Tony Endres' scathing review of Rothbard's magnum opus. "Rothbard has produced two volumes which are highly jaundiced and purblind." From History of Economics Review.
Common Property and Regulation of the Environment
The bibliographical database of the Encyclopedia Of Law & Economics
Private And Common Property Rights (PDF)
Part of the Encyclopedia Of Law & Economics
Encyclopedia Of Law And Economics: Contents
Some excellent summations of the research on a variety of subjects. Seems non-ideological. See especially The Coase Theorem (PDF) and Takings (PDF).
The Libertarian Quartet.
Richard Epstein criticizes the deductive absolutism of Randy E. Barnett's "The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law". See especially the part about Coase's lighthouse example.
The Stance Of Atlas: An Examination of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand
by Peter F. Erickson. This advertisement for his book claims to patch Objectivism's failings, but his blurb sounds even crankier.
Canadian Socialized Medicine.
A sarcastic retort to a libertarian by Greg Erwin in support of the Canadian medical system. A fun read that touches on many of the often-recited myths.
Libertarian Follies
Amitai Etzioni makes a communitarian critique of Tibor Machan and the failings of economic models of human behavior.
Tax Protester FAQ
Dan Evans' outstanding set of responses to the amazingly lengthy and looney claims of tax protesters.
The Myth of Social Security's Imminent Collapse
An Extra! (the magazine of FAIR, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting ) article that covers the two major fallacies of the "collapse" scare strategy.
Media Moguls on Board: Murdoch, Malone and the Cato Institute
An Extra! (the magazine of FAIR, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting ) article that describes how media giants use Cato to lobby Congress for corporate welfare and legal monopolization.
What Is an Economy For?
James Fallows' describes how Asians employ pervasive strategic economic policies yet still are winning the competition against free marketeers. From Atlantic Unbound.
How the World Works.
James Fallows' debunks free trade as an engine of growth, detailing Friedrich List's theory and protectionist history of major economic powers. From Atlantic Unbound.
Goofy may be a Libertarian.
Don Feder, a Boston Herald columnist, ridicules the Libertarian Party by exposing its platform.
NEW 10/07: Charles Koch and Libertarianism: How to "Buy" a University
Robert D. Feinman's overview of the financing of libertarian George Mason University faculty by Koch Foundations. Faculty such as Tyler Cowan, Alex Tabarrok, and Bryan Caplan. Sucking at the capitalist tit has never been so good!
The Social Dilemmas
Leon Felkins provides good explanations of the dilemmas, though he fails to even wonder why our solutions work as well as they do.
NEW 3/07: Ask a Libertarian, Part II: The Constitution as Libertarian Myth
Logan Ferree does a good job of dispelling libertarian myths about being like classical liberalism and the early USA. He also tries to distinguish between libertarians and objectivists.
NEW 5/06: Rothbard as a philosopher
Conservative philosopher Edward Feser says: "he seems incapable of producing even a minimally respectable philosophical argument, by which I mean an argument that doesn't commit any obvious fallacies or fail to address certain obvious objections." Ouch! Rothbard's argument for self-ownership is dissected.
Libertarianism: An Objective Evaluation
Logan Feys is evidently the one true objectivist, who has the goods on how both the ARI and TOC objectivist factions are irrational. As if we didn't know. Libertarians need his philosophical guidance too.
Libertarianism, Conservatism, and Christianity
A lawyer's bizarre analysis of why Christianity is better than libertarianism or conservatism. Ends with "May God help us to shuck Thomas Jefferson for King Jesus."
Libertarianism Makes You Stupid
Seth Finkelstein has written a clear, concise explanation of the major flaws of libertarian ideological "reasoning". Look past the insulting title: you will see the ideologues' playbook. An article from The Ethical Spectacle.
1st American Group -- Scams and Traps Page
Many nonsense legal arguments are parts of scams or promotions of products, and that is one of the major reasons these are propagated in the first place: somebody wants to make a buck by misinforming people. An excellent index.
Federal Reserve Conspiracy Myths
A (middle) section of Edward Flaherty's skeptical home page, aimed at debunking many economics-related myths.
Abuse your Illusions
Thomas Fleming scathingly dissects libertarian ideology taken to extremes by Block, Hoppe, Mises, and Hayek. Undermined by his assumption of extreme conservatism as a norm.
The American Antitrust Institute
A very new, independent watchdog organization interested in promoting increased competition through antitrust. Many topical articles on current antitrust developments and the justification for antitrust. Also has an excellent list of internet resources, including international sites, and a fine guide to the organizations dealing with antitrust issues on both sides.
Public Choice Theory Criticized - McChesney, Money for Nothing.
Albert Foer's American Antitrust Institute review summarizes Public Choice theory as presented in McChesney's book, and ends with a clear presentation of the conflict of this Public Choice theory with reality.
NEW 5/06: Dogmatic Libertarians
John Fonte (in National Review) writes a conservative response to the dogmatic Cato position on open borders. He points out the obvious that somehow libertarians seem to miss: borders are important to self-governance for basic reasons of security.
TV guide review of "Ayn Rand: A Sense Of Life"
by Ken Fox. A dead-accurate and scathing review both of the movie and Rand's "importance". A lot said in few words.
Why I Am NOT a Libertarian
Rev. Jimi Freidenker's plain, straightforward reasons for rejecting his former libertarian/objectivist beliefs.
The Progressive Assault On Laissez Faire: Robert Hale And The First Law And Economics Movement.
The best work for understanding the reasons for the Progressive Era reforms that libertarians rail against. It turns out that most libertarian free-market arguments are resurrected from the 19th century, and were rejected in the early 20th for sound reasons.
Left Libertarianism: A Review Essay (PDF)
Barbara Fried brilliantly dissects the notion of self-ownership by left and right libertarians, and finds that the idea doesn't really work to establish the ideas of either.
David Friedman's Response to the Non-Libertarian FAQ
A disappointingly standard selection of weak libertarian arguments. Better than the other criticisms, but that's a very low hurdle. A response is planned.
Some Problems with Ayn Rand's Derivation of Ought from Is
by David Friedman. Illuminates a few of the gaping holes in Rand's "logic".
The Machinery of Freedom: Chapter 41: Problems.
An introduction to the newest and best section of David Friedman's otherwise evangelical text. He takes most libertarians to task for their much too simplistic philosophical claims.
A Positive Account of Property Rights.
David Friedman's persuasive essay about the nature of rights, which incidentally dismisses most libertarian notions of rights, including natural and negative rights.
A Response to a Rebuttal of a Critique of an faq
David's response to Jonathan.
"What's Wrong With Libertarianism" [PDF]
"The Libertarian Straddle: Rejoinder to Palmer and Sciabarra" [PDF]
Jeffrey Friedman, editor of Critical Review magazine, details how libertarian philosophy and economics rely on each other, and neither can bear the weight.
How the NRA Rewrote the Constitution
Howard Friel, of Alethia Press, describes how successfully the propaganda of the NRA has out-publicized the real court decisions on the meaning of the Second Amendment.
NEW 6/10: Serial Mistake-Makers on Climate Change (Part I): On Matt Ridley and Bjorn Lomborg
Serial Mistake-Makers on Climate Change (2)
Howard Friel, who wrote The Lomborg Deception, points out the weak basis of the arguments in Matt Ridley's : a circle jerk of industry-funded pseudoscience PR and bad references.
Market Myths: The Failings of Conservative Economics
James K. Galbraith reviews Selling the Free Market by J. Aune; One Market Under God by Thomas Frank; and After Progress by Norman Birnbaum. Three books critical of the propaganda that markets solve all.
An Open Letter to a Libertarian
Ronald W. Garrison explains libertarianism as a superficial yuppie ideology that overlooks the interests of non-yuppies, and those who are not in the corporate elite.
Libertarianism and some points in its favour: A response to 'The Non-Libertarian FAQ'
Marc Geddes has problems with the social construction of property rights and the nature of social contract.
Response to Marc Geddes
Mike Huben answers the criticisms.
Libertarianism. I've been conned! Part 1
Libertarianism. I've been conned! Part 2
Marc Geddes describes his conversion from libertarianism to his friends at the World Transhumanist Association. Summary: poor models of human nature make for poor politics and economics.
The Henry George School Gopher Site
Henry George Foundation of America
Henry George Institute
Henry George was a 19th century economist who advocated a single tax on land. A number of documents based on his ideas. His major work was Progress and Poverty.
Seven Nobel Prize Winners Endorse Land Value Taxation
Libertarians who like quoting their own Nobel Prize winners might find it hard to reconcile these brief economic statements with their ideology.
A Short History Of Neo-Liberalism
Susan George provides a terse overview of the rise and effects of neoliberalism.
UNCOMPROMISING POSITION: Is "Libertarian politics" an oxymoron?
By Nick Gillespie. From the July 97 Reason Online. A candid discussion of many of the real problems of the Libertarian Party, that cuts through the hype.
Bookmarks for Common Libertarian Arguments
An excellent collection of links to resources that can help you compose your own rebuttals to topical libertarian arguments against the FDA, revisionist history, etc.
The Libertarian Lobe: Libertarianism tells kids everything they want to be told.
A National Review article describing a conservative viewpoint of why libertarianism is wrong.
Freedom Kills: John Walker, Andrew Sullivan, and the libertarian threat.
Jonah Goldberg attacks "cultural libertarianism" in this National Review article.
The Internet and the Abiding Significance of Territorial Sovereignty
by Jack Goldsmith. Shows why it is both desirable and practical for territorial governments to regulate the internet. See also the other related articles in Indiana Journal of Global Studies Volume 5 Issue 2 Spring 1998.
The Meaning Of Freedom?
Sean Gonsalves takes on "free-market" propaganda with Adam Smith.
Polluted Data
Eban Goodstein and Hart Hodges' The American Prospect article that documents overestimated costs of environmental regulation by all sides and explains why regulation has always been much cheaper than expected, even by proponents.
Air Piracy
Merrill Goozner's The American Prospect article explains why airline deregulation has been a failure: the promised competition has not materialized over 20 years.
Ask a Silly Question
David Gordon, of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, judges that Virginia Postrel doesn't have a hairy enough chest to be a true libertarian in this scathing review of her book "The Future And Its Enemies".
Bailing Out Private Jails
Judith Greene's The American Prospect article describes the failures of jail privatization compared to government jails and how they are becoming yet one more corrupt industry feeding at the government trough.
Libertarianism is radical -- deal with it.
Anthony Gregory is proud of radical libertarian beliefs that moderate libertarians attempt to conceal and make palatable to the public.
The Second Amendment
Second Amendment Articles
Parts of the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence site. These sections describe the history and court interpretations of the 2nd Amendment, contradicting NRA propaganda and a recent spate of "academic" law review publications. Essential reading.
John Lott's More Guns, Less Crime: An Alternate Q&A
Part of the Handgun Control site. Describes recent statistics that refute Lott's conclusions.
Libertarians & Conservatives
by Ernest van der Haag. A 1979 National Review comparison of libertarianism to conservatism that finds libertarianism to be "anarcho-totalitarianism".
In Pursuit of Fairness
Ian Hacking's review of Amartya Sen's Inequality Reexamined. Exposes the hidden premises involved in discussions of equality, and presents the many dimensions along which equality should be considered.
NEW 8/10: Our Daughter Isn't A Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn't Read Atlas Shrugged.
Eric Hague's first person description of Objectivist parenting.
NEW 2/07: Good for the Goose, Bad for the Gander: International Labor Standards and Comparative Development
Austrian economists Joshua C. Hall and Peter T. Leeson claim developing Sub-Saharan African nations are up to centuries from being able to afford labor standards. By their logic, Sub-Saharan Africa should reinstitute slavery for another 62 years and indentured servitude another 89 years. Can't you just feel the liberty we'd be granting them by avoiding western labor standards?
A Critique Of Libertarianism.
James Hammerton's criticisms of Nozick and Hayek's ideas. Excellent philosophical rebuttals of some libertarian axioms.
The Tom Hartmann Show, Friday, August 22nd, 2003, featuring Mike Huben.
The last hour of this 30Mb, 3 hour mp3 file has Tom interviewing Mike Huben about libertarians on his liberal talk radio show. Available for a short time only. Mostly FAQ issues are covered.
Hayek's Road To Serfdom (a criticism by Walter Block)
Hayek On The Role Of The State: A Radical Libertarian Critique (Radnitzky)
F. A. Hayek On Government And Social Evolution: A Critique (Hoppe)
Socialism: A Property Or Knowledge Problem? (Hoppe)
Hayek: Some Missing Pieces (de Jasay)
While Hayek is widely claimed as a libertarian and an Austrian economist, he's not pure enough for these libertarians (who find him a coercive socialist.) Oh, and of course von Mises is the one, true, infallible Austrian economist too.
NEW 4/10: The Road to Serfdom in Cartoons
Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom" is comical enough without being actually a comic book. It just hasn't happened anywhere, let alone in places like Sweden.
NEW 8/07: Who's Afraid of Democracy?
"... many conservatives would favor free markets without democracy"
Human Rights: Chimeras In Sheep's Clothing?
Professor Andrew Heard's overview of the origin, nature, and content of human rights.
Internet Resources for Human Rights Issues
Andrew Heard's resource list for his Pol 417 course on human rights theories.
Regulation of Firearms
David Hemenway's New England Journal Of Medicine editorial presenting the public health rationale for regulation. "Much can be done to decrease the gun problem in the United States without changing the fundamental availability of firearms for most citizens."
NEJM Book Review of "More Guns, Less Crime".
David Hemenway's New England Journal Of Medicine review of John Lott's More Guns, Less Crime. See also the followup correspondence by Lott and Hemenway.
Anti-Market Forces.
Doug Henwood's census of failed free-market dogmas of the recent past. From his Left Business Observer.
Antisocial Insecurity.
Doug Henwood's astute analysis of the "Social Security crisis" and various schemes to save it. From his Left Business Observer.
Neo-Tech FAQ
Some of the more obvious dirt on Neo-Tech, which is like a Scientologist's interpretation of Objectivism.
Word Tricks & Propaganda.
How the mainstream media server their corporate/political masters.
Gun Crazy: Constitutional False Consciousness And Dereliction Of Dialogic Responsibility
Andrew Hertz's much-cited Boston University Law Review article rebutting the NRA and the so-called "Standard Model" proponents. Important academic reading.
Scrutinizing Propaganda
J. E. Hill's Internet Infidels discussion of propaganda devices.
Why Privatizing Social Security Would Hurt Women
An Institute For Women's Policy Research rebuttal to Cato Institute proposals and claims about Social Security privatization.
Voices from the Right.
Not much more here than a statement of differences in position. Not your average conservative, either.
John Hodges: Why I'm a former Objectivist and former Libertarian.
What Russia Teaches Us Now: How Weak States Threaten Freedom.
Stephen Holmes' EXCELLENT article in The American Prospect which addresses the fundamental error that prevents libertarians from understanding liberalism. Strong, ACCOUNTABLE government creates rights and fosters prosperity. The current Soviet Union exposes the lie of Atlas Shrugged.
NEW 6/07: The Liberal Idea
Stephen Holmes explains how modern liberals follow the traditions of the "classical" liberals, contrary to libertarian revisionist propaganda.
Liberalism FAQ and its model, a Libertarian FAQ.
Chris Holt wrote a close parallel of Eric Raymond's Libertarian FAQ. I recommend opening two windows or printing both to compare side by side.
NEW 3/07: The Denialists' Deck of Cards: An Illustrated Taxonomy of Rhetoric Used to Frustrate Consumer Protection Efforts
Chris Jay Hoofnagle details the public relations methodology of CATO and other anti-consumer, business-funded organizations. Count how many of these you've heard on your favorite topic: global warming, for example.
The Political Economy Of Monarchy And Democracy, And The Idea Of A Natural Order
"First, the idea of democracy and majority rule must be delegitimized." A Ludwig Von Mises Institute article by Hans-Herman Hoppe that calls for a return to aristocracy. This guy is a MAJOR Austrian crank.
Commentaries by Jacob G. Hornberger
A Libertarian Party activist who's leading the assault on Harry Browne and David Bergland. Excellent political infighting, exposing the basic problem of treating political parties as private property.
Axioms and Egoisms
John Hospers points out the errors in axioms such as "non-initiation of force", such as intermediates between consent and force.
Takings: Rhetoric, Not Substance
Professor F. Patrick Hubbard presents the big picture of takings, showing that the issues are not as presented by the takings ideologues.
A Non-Libertarian FAQ.
A general introduction to discussion with libertarians, with an extensive discussion of arguments commonly used by libertarian evangelists.
Unsolicited Praise for the Non-Libertarian FAQ.
Criticisms of the Non-Libertarian FAQ.
The importance of the current extinction crisis.
Two extropian libertarians didn't think extinctions were important, and thought libertarianism was the answer. Mike Huben explains it to them.
2000 Libertarian Party Campaign Song
The parallel to "Pinky and the Brain" was too much to resist. Updated from the 1996 version.
Gilbert & Sullivan Online
Many libertarian ideologues are Newsgroup Personalities, and well described by this version of The Major General's Song.
Original Intent And The Constitution.
The beginning of a page on the problems with ideas of "Original Intent" of the founders, a conservative propaganda ploy much favored by libertarians. The first segment is taken from A Process of Denial: Bork and Post-Modern Conservatism by James Boyle.
Contra Social Contract Theory
Tim Starr has updated Lysander Spooner's rant against government. Mike Huben shows why Starr and Spooner haven't begun to address classical liberal arguments of Locke and Jefferson.
Responses to hate mail from cloudmichael@hotmail.com.
Does the Libertarian Party's Michael Cloud waste time trolling by email? This guy is arrogant and obnoxious enough to be the real one.
Skepticism of Rationality
Many Objectivists (libertarians too) think that their ideas are more "rational" than those of other people. Let's look at the term.
Distrust in Logic
Why we cannot trust even logical arguments, and instead must subject them to critical judgement.
Libertarianism in One Lesson; The Second Lesson.
Why is there a second lesson when the title says one lesson? Libertarianism is so double-plus-good.... :-) for the humor-impaired.
NEW 5/09: Parable of the ship: why Austrian Economics fails.
Austrian economics cannot deal correctly with multicausal problems because its methodology is innumerate and based on biased moral assumptions.
Libertarianism in One Lesson.
Mike Huben's guide to becoming a libertarian. If you've argued with libertarians, you'll understand them well enough to ROTFL. :-) for the humor-impaired.
So You Want To Discuss Libertarianism....
Brief, basic ideas about how to discuss libertarianism meaningfully. Common sense that is often ignored.
Quotations relevant to libertarianism.
You've seen the quotes the libertarians select. Now see the others....
Mike Huben's comments on "A Non-Statist FAQ"
Mike Huben's reply to Blaskowski's FAQ criticisms.
Email to Brian Carnell describing his erroneous criticism.
David Friedman rebutted by Mike Huben and Steve Hendricks.
On government and public education.
Resources Of Interest.
Why I Am Not An Objectivist
by Michael Huemer. A philosophical examination of some Objectivist claims by a skeptic coming from a very similar position and using similar methodology.
Critique of "The Objectivist Ethics"
Michael Huemer finds eight fatal flaws in Rand's derivation of objectivist ethics. (That's all?)
The Libertarians & Me.
Lee Hughey's amused reaction to the Georgia Libertarian Party.
Electricity Deregulation: The Costs
An Institute For Public Accuracy summary with links from experts independent of the energy industry. Written in 8/00, it correctly presaged the enormous problems in 2001 in California.
The Atheism Web: Logic & Fallacies.
Where the Public Good Prevailed
Stephen Isaacs' American Prospect article detailing public health successes in lead, fluoride, and auto safety.
The Hooey School has its points on the environment, but...
by Molly Ivins. She takes Julian Simon to task.
Deregulation Fails All Over Again
Molly Ivins points out the poor historical track record of deregulation.
Government for Modern Markets
It's time to rediscover the state, not as the central planner but as the provider of the framework that complex modern markets need to operate efficiently. If a country's citizens don't ask their government to be a responsible and pro-active partner in building a market economy, the best-intentioned reform initiatives will ultimately go wrong and the economy will stagnate. "Fair and efficient markets do not occur by accident," wrote economic development expert Dr. Robert Klitgaard, "they are the products of . . . intelligent laws and public policies and environments rich in information."
Libertarians.
Part of Rack Jite's Conservatively Incorrect: The Journal Of Hard Response site. Dedicated to giving back to the right as good as they give the left.
Self-Evident Truths
Chapter 6 of "Forgotten Founders: How the American Indian Helped Shape Democracy" by Bruce E. Johansen. Extensive discussion of the origin of Franklin and Jefferson's non-libertarian ideas about property, and their reflection in the Declaration Of Independence.
A Critique of Barlow's "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace"
Reilly Jones' Extropy article lambasting the otherworldlyness of the rather ludicrous declaration.
Economic Utopia and its Handmaidens
Evan Jones details the harmful invasion of libertarian ideas into Australia, and gets in good shots against Hayek and Oakeshott.
Smashing the State: the strange rise of libertarianism.
Gary Kamiya's introductory Salon Magazine article on libertarianism. Starts off sounding credulous, but in the second section turns damning.
Get Uncle Sam off my back! and other misguided impulses.
Gary Kamiya's review of A Necessary Evil" by Garry Wills. Praises the debunking of many Revolutionary Era myths of the Founders and Constitution exploited by anti-governmentalists.
LIBERALISM RESURGENT: A Response to the Right.
Steve Kangas' enormous review of liberal responses to right wing (including libertarian) claims.
The Short Faq On Liberalism.
A positive statement of what Liberalism means. It's surprising how many liberals have never seen a straightforward presentation of liberalism, and rely on their intuitive conceptions.
The Long Faq On Liberalism.
Partly inspired by the Non-Libertarian FAQ, but written at much greater length, the Long Faq On Liberalism rebuts many libertarian attacks on liberal positions.
Glossary Of Political And Economic Terms.
Basic, acceptable definitions essential to discussion of modern politics and economics.
Myth: The Austrian School of Economics is "apart and above" mainstream economics.
Explains why Austrianism is pseudoscientific.
Liberalism Resurgent's Glossary Of Political And Economic Terms
Myths about The Bell Curve
by Steve Kangas. Part of the excellent Long FAQ On Liberalism.
Myth: A gun in the home increases personal safety.
A brief review and defense of Arthur Kellermann et. al., "Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home". Part of Steve Kangas' excellent Liberalism Resurgent: A Response to the Right.
Myth: The Second Amendment guarantees the individual right to own a gun.
Part of Steve Kangas' excellent Liberalism Resurgent: A Response to the Right.
Myth: The gold standard is a better monetary system.
Part of Steve Kangas' excellent Liberalism Resurgent: A Response to the Right. Gold standards return to bigger problems than they might prevent.
Myth: Taxes are theft.
Part of Steve Kangas' excellent Liberalism Resurgent: A Response to the Right. Taxes are payments for the public goods and services you consume.
A Third Way For The Third World
Akash Kapur's review of "Development As Freedom", Amartya Sen's most important work, that relates freedom to economic development and political liberty of ALL individuals.
Zoning: A Reply To The Critics
Bradley C. Karkkainen's article from the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law. A scholarly examination of the arguments for and against zoning. It provides strong rebuttals to libertarian positions, a plausible explanation for the value of zoning and why it is so prevalent (Houston is the ONLY major US city without zoning.)
The Chile Con: Privatizing Social Security in South America.
Stephen J. Kay's The American Prospect article that shows Chile's "solution" is not an appropriate model for US Social Security.
Discover Freoland: Welcome To The Land Of Laissez-Faire
Libertarian propaganda targeted at 9 to 12 year olds. No kidding. Funny how much it all sounds like fairy tales.
The Divine Right of Capital
An excerpt from Marjorie Kelly's booklet and forthcoming book question the mandate to maximize returns to shareholders.
New Zealand Today - An Alternative View
Life In The Economic Test-Tube: New Zealand "experiment" a colossal failure.
Two brief articles based on Jane Kelsey's books "Rolling Back the State: Privatisation of Power in Aotearoa/New Zealand" and "Economic Fundamentalism: The New Zealand Experiment - A World Model for Structural Adjustment?"
The Takings Project: Using Federal Courts to Attack Community and Environmental Protections
A history of the conspiracy to overturn government regulatory powers by appeal to bogus constitutional interpretation. See especially "Epstein Critiqued" in Chapter 2.
Alexander Khan's "Some criticisms of LaRochelle's Non-Statist FAQ".
I'm Still Not a Libertarian
Paul Kienitz' revised essay provides a good, big-picture introduction to the basic reasons why libertarianism is unworkable.
NEW 7/10: Stateless in Somalia, and Loving It
Yumi Kim (at Mises Daily) praises the customary clan law in Somalia, because cheap luxuries are available to the elites. No mention of piracy and kidnapping trades, and warlords are downplayed. At best, shows that warlordism may be better than centralized kleptocracy. Libertarians should move to Somalia!
Break the Voting Monopoly! If the election were run like a business, we might be satisfied customers.
Michael Kinsley's Time Magazine article satirizes anti-government arguments.
Social Security Magic Tricks
Michael Kinsley's Slate article points out the clear economic fallacies in the promise of higher returns if Social Security is privatized.
A Very Small Political Quiz
Ilkka Kokkarinen's "Are You a Libertarian" shows how to bias questions the opposite way from the usual libertarian "outreach" propaganda.
The Market Is Not The Answer
Jonathan Kozol, author of "Savage Inequalities" explains that "monopoly" is not the problem: it is a scapegoat for the inequalities between public school systems. From Rethinking Schools.
A Modern Libertarian
Hugh Kramer's gently mocking song, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's "Model of a Modern Major General".
Entertainment Values
Paul Krugman's Slate article ridicules prophets of the Knowledge Economy, the Network Economy, and the "new economy". He points out a number of industries which have already matured which have had increasing returns, and explains why this knowledge makes these boosters look foolish.
NEW 1/06: Health Care Confidential
Brad DeLong quotes Paul Krugman's New York Times article on the success of the Veteran's Health Administration. Medical insurance and health care have such poor market incentives that our centralized bureaucracy can easily outperform markets. A strong argument for nationalized health care.
Who knew? The Swedish model is working.
Paul Krugman points out that CATO and other conservatives were dead wrong in their predictions for Sweden, and that big welfare states do sometimes work well. From The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive.
Earth in the Balance Sheet: Economists go for the green.
"... I would be hard pressed to think of a single economist not actually employed by an anti-environmental lobbying operation who believes that the United States should protect the environment less, not more, than it currently does." Paul Krugman
Laissez Not Fair
Paul Krugman's New York Times article uses Enron's fall and Argentina's collapsing economy as examples of why government activist policies are important for tasks such as preventing financial abuses and fighting recession. From The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive.
Greed Is Bad
Paul Krugman's New York Times article details how the current accounting problems of corporations are a product of attempting to motivate executives by their greed. Another illustration of why laissez-faire doesn't work. From The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive.
For Richer
Paul Krugman's New York Times article describes the growing problems of income inequality and plutocracy, problems libertarians do not recognize. From The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive.
Buying Into Failure
Paul Krugman's New York Times article points out that Britain and Chile have attempted similar reforms to Bush's Social Security plans, and they have both failured to live up to their promises. From The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive.
Cycles of Conventional Wisdom on Economic Development (pdf)
Paul Krugman points out that the association between free trade and economic development is not supported by economic research, and in fact is a recent, spurious belief.
The Hangover Theory: Are recessions the inevitable payback for good times?
Paul Krugman skewers Austrian business cycle theory.
Objections to Objectivism
John Ku's excellent critique of Rand's theory of ethics.
The Right's Wrongs on Education and Savings
A Robert Kuttner editorial pointing out how those who beat us in international tests violate right wing prescriptions.
The Limits Of Markets.
Robert Kuttner's article in The American Prospect which summarizes his book "Everything For Sale". This short article goes a long way towards explaining the fallacies of libertarian economic arguments. Highly recommended.
Globalism Bites Back
Robert Kuttner's article in The American Prospect which details problems of naive internationalist economic foreign policy.
Everything for Sale: The Virtues and Limits of Markets
By Robert Kuttner. The "must read" for arguing with libertarians.
Rampant Bull
Robert Kuttner's The American Prospect article provides the best overview of Social Security, its origins, its goals, its politics, and possible reforms.
Rules That Liberate
Robert Kuttner's American Prospect article discussing shallow libertarian notions of liberty and how they affect our daily lives.
If You Took An Airplane Recently, You Know Deregulation's A Loser
Robert Kuttner describes the recent failures of deregulation in airlines, power, and banking.
An Industry Trapped by a Theory
Robert Kuttner describes why power industry deregulation doesn't work well.
Blood Count: Cultivating the ethic that everyone should give blood
Robert Kuttner describes why markets for blood don't work as well as volunteerism, and that volunteerism needs to be encouraged by government.
Contemporary Political Philosophy
By Will Kymlicka. Specifically dissects many libertarian claims (mostly those of Nozick) for 65 pages.
National Platform of the Libertarian Party
The 2004 platform is still as ridiculously extreme as its predecessors. It calls for legalization of baby selling, polygamy, secession, child prostitution, all drugs, insider trading, etc. It calls for abolition of public schools, medicaid, and Social Security, patents, and copyrights. And even privatization of air. All that and lots more, cloaked in vague statements of "liberty", and now carefully sanitized so that non-libertarians won't realize how truly extreme it is.
Why Libertarianism Is Mistaken
by Hugh LaFollette. A published academic examination of the incoherence of founding libertarianism on negative rights and liberty.
Mark LaRochelle's "A Non-Statist FAQ".
By far the largest of the criticisms, though it is fundamentally flawed. The biggest error is his misunderstanding of FAQ-nature: presentation of useful background for newsgroups, rather than the most rigorous possible argument. Comical touches are accusations of fallacies (which he commits frequently in his criticisms) and the frequent portraits of the authorities he likes. Major flaws include definition of libertarianism as the glittering generality "libertarianism is the ideology that aggression is bad", assumption that rejection of libertarianism means preference for its diametric opposite, and the pretense that property, rights, and common law are not created by force, without consent. (I found a text-only version: the original doesn't seem to be available anywhere.)
George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics.
Lakoff describes how conservatives have poured billions of dollars into the linguistic framing of issues. Orwellian.
The 'free market' doesn't exist.
Lakoff describes how the 'free market' is an example of linguistic framing.
Archive Of Tim Lambert's Postings On Gun Control
An excellent set of posts that tears apart many of the most popular claims of gun proponents. Kleck and many other heavily relied upon sources are thoroughly disassembled. Part of his Gun Control Page.
Do more guns cause less crime?
Tim Lambert's thorough critique of John Lott's More Guns, Less Crime. Shows clearly the errors of scholarship, measurement, statistics, and logic.
NEW 2/06: The Scourge of Public Libraries
Jeff Landauer somehow concludes that public libraries are failures because one of their minor sidelines, video tapes, doesn't do the volume of Blockbuster Video. Come see the violence inherent in the library!
The Voluntary Provision of Public Goods
Cliff Landesman's Princeton doctoral dissertation discussing why voluntary provision would be expected to fail, ie. fall far below Pareto optimality. Especially for rational egoists (in chapter 2.)
Knee-Jerk Libertarianism
The Libertarian Party has terrible problems with its own ideologues who believe its own propaganda. It has to caution them about saying what they really believe, suggesting instead politically forked tongues.
NEW 6/08: Who's Afraid of Friedrich Hayek? The Obvious Truths and Mystical Fallacies of a Hero of the Right
Jesse Larner gives Hayek his due on planned economies and information, but then roundly criticizes Hayek's numerous failures.
NEW 2/08: FAQ: Ron Paul and his Racist Newsletter
Ron Lawl provides a convenient FAQ rebutting the myriad excuses made for Ron Paul's longstanding activities with racists. Part of The Ron Paul Survival Report blog.
Castles In The Sea: A Survey of Artificial Islands and Floating Utopias
James Lee surveys a number of historical and planned artificial utopias, including some libertarian ones.
Liberty, Libertarians and Legalization
Amod Lele explains how libertarians prefer private, unaccountable restrictions to accountable government restrictions.
When Theft is Moral
Amod Lele examines the assumptions behind "theft", observing the coercion that underlies all property.
The Bell Curve Flattened
by Nicholas Lemann. Subsequent research has seriously undercut the claims of the controversial best seller. A Slate article.
Should Public Policy Support Open-Source Software?
In a roundtable discussion, Lawrence Lessig takes Eric Raymond's foolish libertarianism to task.
Educational Vouchers: Effectiveness, Choice, And Costs
Henry M. Levin's 1997 American Economics Association presentation, which examines real-world evidence on vouchers. A must-read for those who oppose voucher programs and wish to debunk pro-voucher propaganda.
Scrooge Defended.
Michael Levin's Austrian Economics perspective on Dickens, so Panglossian and full of stacked assumptions that it is howlingly funny.
The Liberty Poll and What it Means.
A Liberty magazine poll measured variation and change in influences and beliefs of libertarians (at least those that they sampled.) Contains very nice capsule descriptions of writers influential to libertarians. Also describes a fundamental moral schism among libertarians.
Government's Greatest Achievements of the Past Half Century
A Brookings Institution report based on survey responses from 450 history and political science professors.
Spheres of Affluence
Michael Lind's The American Prospect article points out ahistorical libertarian ideas on the benefits of free trade.
Lizard's Political FAQ
Concludes with "Greed is God". Gets there with deep ontological tools like "Deal with it."
Locke's "Second Treatise on Government".
An important source of ideas for the US Constitution, and the source of some libertarian claims as well. Also available as html.
Marxism of the Right
Robert Locke's The American Conservative article is the best, simplest, clearest indictment of libertarianism found for this site. It will appeal to liberals and progressives as well as conservatives.
Huben's FAS (Frequently Asserted Strawmen)
An ad-hominem rant by "Lazarus Long", based on the presumption that his opponents use the same attack tactics he does. His most glaring double-speak is that he claims the arguments are strawmen, but he defends them anyway instead of disclaiming them.

My normal policy is not to engage in ad-hominem pissing matches with libertarians, but Lazarus Long has been impugning me for quite a while now. So, I'd like to set the following straight, since it illustrates his debate style. Also, this can serve as an example of how argument with him can mire you endlessly, even when he is grossly wrong.

In his FAS , he writes:
Incidentally, even though this article was not written at the time of Huben's e-mail to me, he stated "I'm hardly upset by your "refutation" or any of the other rather pathetic attempts (and yours is indeed the weakest by far.)" In other words... although the refutation had not been written, Huben miraculously claims that it is the weakest by far.

In an ad-hominem web page titled Who is Mike Huben , he writes:
An example of his obsession, and lack of intellectual integrity can be seen by a visit to his "Critique of Libertarianism" site. He listed a link to my critique of his Non-Libertarian FAQ, before the critique had been written, along with a description of what was contained in the critique. A most impressive stunt, considering that the critique, not only was not on this site at the time, but hadn't been written.

Now, I'm not known for my psychic powers: how could I have known about his document to criticize it or create a link to it?

Very simple. He had posted it (or an early version) as Huben's FAS (Frequently Asserted Strawmen). in talk.politics.libertarian July 2, 1996. He wrote:
This article will appear in full form on my webpage as http://vaxxine.com/rational/huben-bs-fas.htm within the next few weeks.
I criticized his post by email, and made a link to the URL he had announced. No magic involved: I was just responding to the information he made publicly available. I'd like to know how he construes this as "obsession, and lack of intellectual integrity".

Most of his attacks and his FAS can be similarly handled. However, responding to them just gives him more material to similarly misuse. He likes to misinterpret non-response as his own triumph over the cowardly, but I trust most readers can see that he's a legend in his own mind.

[4/13/99: "Prince Lazarus", age 67, given name Howard Turney, has been hit with an SEC restraining order for his New Utopia internet scam.]

Libertarianism and Poverty
Dennis Loo makes the case that libertarians claims about poverty fail on moral, econometric, and historical grounds. From The Ethical Spectacle .
A Critical Assessment of "Lies, Damned Lies, & 400,000 Smoking-Related Deaths".
The Cato Institute, heavily funded by tobacco companies, hired Levy and Marimont to denounce statistics about smoking related deaths. This article refutes their key arguments, finding them unscientific and inflammatory.
Efficiency at What?
An overview of "economic efficiency" and why it is only a component of the real social goal, welfare.
Cocaine, Marijuana, and Heroin
We do not have to choose between the two extremes -- an all-out war on drugs or a libertarian free market -- usually presented in the American debate. More moderate and beneficial alternatives are possible.
Wrong for All the Right Reasons: Privatizing The Public Schools
Gordon MacInnes' Wrong for All the Right Reasons presents a big picture of public school privatization and shows how the example of post-secondary trade schools should deter us.
Chile, capitalism and liberty for the rich.
Iain MacSaorsa debunks libertarian claims of great benefits to Chile.
The Myth of "Natural Law".
Iain MacSaorsa trashes Rothbard and other users of "natural law".
The New Right and Anarcho-capitalism.
A survey of the varieties of anarcho-capitalist libertarianism. Chapter 36 of "Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism" by Peter Marshall.
Question 1: Eliminate the State Income Tax? The Real Facts.
Carla Howell and Michael Cloud hav gotten a proposition onto the 2002 ballot in Massachussetts. This refutes their outrageous claims.
An Austrian (Mis)Reads Adam Smith: A Critique of Rothbard as Intellectual Historian
Peter Hans Matthews and Andreas Ortmann say "Rothbard's book [Economic Thought Before Adam Smith] suffers from logical flaws, selective and incomplete textual evidence, a misunderstanding of Das Adam Smith Problem and the relevant literature..." etc.
For Would-Be Travellers On The Noncompliant Federal Income Tax Protester Path
Law Professor James Maule sympathetically warns well-meaning believers in common tax protest arguments that they'll be found wrong in court.
NEW 8/10: Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.
Jane Mayer's The New Yorker article on Charles and David Koch. They have financed libertarian propaganda with more than 100 million dollars over more than 30 years. They founded and control the major libertarian think tanks Cato, Reason, Mercatus, and others. See: Koch think tanks at SourceWatch.
The Rhetoric Of Gun Control
Andrew McClurg's American University Law Review Article that evenhandedly identifies informal fallacies on both sides of the gun control debate.
The Heirs Of Ayn Rand: Has Objectivism Gone Subjective?
Scott McLemee provides a charitable overview of the history, major factions, and controversies of Objectivism. Useful background for understanding criticisms, without fawning.
Cooperative Commonwealth
Economist Roger McCain's well-written introduction to libertarian socialism, including an excellent section "WHY NOT LIBERTARIAN CAPITALISM?" An unusual strong point is presentation of some pragmatic economic advantages of Libertarian Socialism.
Game Theory
Economist Roger McCain shows how game theory applies to economics in a non-technical manner.
The Libertopia Meme
Jamie McCarthy points out that libertarians seem to desire artificial selection criteria for economic, not humanistic purposes.
NEW 10/07: Koch Family Foundations
The foundations of the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers have funded the organizations that produce much of the libertarian and corporatist propaganda that floods the media. Notably, Cato, the Reason Foundation, the economics department at George Mason University, and many more. From Media Transparency.
Pro-Family Activist Tells Why Libertarianism and Pro-Family Outlooks Are Different
The president of the Sutherland Institute, a Utah pro-family think tank (read: Mormon front) points out that even libertarians want to limit markets, and that libertarians should ask why and when.
Rand's work: style and quality
by Gary Merrill. Why academics disdain the slipshod work of Rand and her major followers.
Libertarianism and Libertinism?
by Frank S. Meyer. Libertarianism must come from liberty as a means, not an end, unlike "untrammelled libertarianism".
NEW 7/06: I think I despise anti-environmentalists as much as I do anti-evolutionists.
P. Z. Meyers (of Paryngula fame) presents a really good story about "deranged libertarian right-wing anti-environmentalist science deniers." Not a straw man: we've all seen their work at CATO and other locations.
NEW 9/10: Evolution Is Far Freer Than Classical Liberalism
P. Z. Meyers (of Paryngula fame) savages Larry Arnhart's ahistorical claims in CATO Unbound that evolution supports classical liberalism. Further followup here.
NEW 10/07: Floating Utopias: The degraded imagination of the libertarian seasteaders
SF author China Mieville ridicules the numerous libertarian fantasy sea-states (such as the "Freedom Ship") that envision authoritarian class-based societies, but somehow never get built.
Of the Functions of Government in General
J. S. Mill, a REAL classical liberal, explains at great length why "protection against force and fraud" is too simplistic a standard.
Of the Grounds and Limits of the Laisser-faire or Non-interference Principle
J. S. Mill, a REAL classical liberal, provides a strong defense of laissez-faire, but then starts cataloging exceptions such as education, regulating monopolies, limiting rights of contract for adults and children, regulation of working hours, public charity (welfare), higher education and research.
Bishop, Beware Part II: The Divine Right Of Capital
Fr. Miller and Mike Greaney's "Social Justice Review" attacks neo-conservatism from a Catholic viewpoint.
Democracy For $ale: Libertarian Paradise
Jack Miller points out that Somalia has all the features a libertarian wants.
NEW 1/06: Excuses for Liberty
Carl Milsted Jr. harshly criticizes natural rights, utilitarian, and a priori justifications for libertarianism. But then he just as naively proposes economic arguments, which fail for similar reasons.
Objectivist Mockery Page
How can I top that self-description? Links to 20 or so mockeries.
NEW 6/10: The Man Who Wants To Northern Rock The Planet
Matt Ridley's Rational Optimist is telling the rich what they want to hear
Matt Ridley joins the ranks of cornucopian libertarians with a similarly error-ridden and cherry-picked set of arguments.
Welfare vs. Privatization: the Truth Starts Here
Ian Montgomerie's review of The Economics of the Welfare State by Nicholas Barr. Undercuts libertarian arguments about optimality of markets.
A Utilitarian FAQ
Ian Montgomerie's FAQ deals with most libertarian objections to utilitarianism.
Rethinking the Think Tanks
Sierra Magazine's article detailing the corporate financing of anti-environmental propaganda from thinktanks like Cato.
Economics, Academia, And Corporate Money In America: The 'Law And Economics' Movement
Judicial Seminars: Economics, Academia, And Corporate Money In America
Antitrust Law & Economics Review articles that describe the promotion of "Law And Economics" by overwhelming corporate funding to universities, departments, and individual academics, not to mention extensive lobbying of the judiciary. Explains fundamental ideas and flaws of the movement.
Antitrust Overview: Laissez-Faire, Monopoly, And Global Income Inequality; Law, Economics, History, And Politics Of Antitrust
An overview of the subjects of the Antitrust Law & Economics Review. Explains fundamental ideas and issues which disagree sharply with common libertarian arguments.
Can Financial Assets Beat Social Security? Not in the Real World.
Arguments that the stock market has a better rate of return than Social Security ignore the tradeoff between risk aversity and returns. From the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
The Real Reasons for Antitrust
Tom Nadeau explains antitrust in terms of two "government interferences in the market": incorporation and intellectual property. Libertarians are faced with the dilemma of rejecting those, or accepting the validity of antitrust. One of the better Feature Articles from the Boycott Micro$oft site.
Libertarian Lies
Dave Neal's criticisms of Libertarian Party propaganda. Anarchist viewpoint, yet very sensible. Part of Anarchy For Anybody.
History of the Libertarian Movement
From New Libertarian, an ezine that attempts to bring together both left and right libertarians.
Should Public Policy Support Open-Source Software?
Nathan Newman's response at the end of a debate savages Eric Raymond for his historical errors about development of the internet and open source.
NEW 1/09: Reply to Huben's "Non-Libertarian FAQ"
Another one who won't understand social contracts. Tedious.
Skepticism and Libertarianism reading list.
A rebuttal to some libertarian propaganda slipped into Skeptical Enquirer.
Douglass North: Why Some Nations Can Sustain Growth
The necessity of government policy to generate strong growth.
Sen's Sensibility
James North clearly summarizes Amartya Sen's "Development As Freedom", and shows why it is more relevant than other notions of liberty or freedom.
Correcting anti-environmental myths.
Jim Norton's terrific catalog of rebuttals to specific anti-environmental literature and its fallacies.
Lies, Damned Lies and the Litany
Jim Norton's large collection of hostile reviews of Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World. Lomborg's book is a classic example of accusing opponents (environmentalists) of one's own sins. It's a piece of brownlash propaganda that takes a severe and well-deserved drubbing.
Atlas Shrugged 2: One Hour Later
A Bob the Angry Flower Classic Literature sequel.
NEW 9/06: Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature
Greg S. Nyquist provides perhaps the most extensive criticism of Rand. He finds that her assumptions about human nature do not match scientific knowledge of human nature. A blog based on his book.
NEW 11/08: Greenspan's breaking away from Objectivism
Why the most famous former Objectivist chose to leave Objectivism.
Light On Liberty: The Anti Libertarian Party webpage.
Kevin O'Connell's site dedicated to exposing the goals and deceptive activities of the Libertarian Party.
Libertarians wish to reopen the door closed on slavery
Kevin O'Connell points out how the Libertarian Party Platform would permit reinstitution of a form of slavery.
Libertarian Party Financial Collapse
Kevin O'Connell describes the 2002 LP financial mismanagement that threatens dissolution of the national party.
The Party Without Principle?
Mike O'Mara points out that the Libertarian Party presumes "just acquisition" has occurred, in defiance of history and philosophy. Georgism is proposed as a solution.
A Landlord is Really a Type of Tax Collector
Mike O'Mara's short, simple illustration of similarities.
NEW 12/07: Ron Paul: Quackery enabler
Orac's heavily linked post at Respectful Insolence is a good starting place for why Ron Paul is a loon. No other candidate sets off the alarms of skeptics for science, medicine, economics, racism, and religion the way Ron Paul does.
NEW 10/07: Routes of Infection: Exports and HIV Incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Free trade has externalities, including some of our most important diseases. (Also invasive species.)
Efficiency, Sustainability, and Access Under Alternative Property-Rights Regimes
Elinor Ostrom provides a broad introduction to and overview of the factors that make some managed commons successful and more practical than private property. Essential reading.
A Libertarian Tricked.
Libertarians may react hysterically to criticisms of capitalism, and the revelation of their errors. This one is truly funny.
The Case Against Secession
Mackubin Thomas Owens (at the Claremont Institute) takes libertarians to task for their support of secessionism, which is largely based on the bad constitutional interpretation of Stephens and Calhoun.
Voucher Veneer: The Deeper Agenda to Privatize Public Education
People For The American Way details how vouchers are a program for the elimination of public schooling, and who would be affected.
NEW 5/06: The Case Against Legalization
M.A. Paarlberg explains why libertarian-style drug legalization is the wrong approach for ending the drug war.
NEW 9/07: The Dickensian Dystopia
David Packman's criticisms of libertarian fantasies, based on history of company towns, propertarianism, enclosure of commons, slavery, and feudal tendencies.
Tinker Bell, Pinochet and The Fairy Tale Miracle of Chile
Greg Palast points out that Chile's success was due to Keynesian policy and socialist measures such as the nationalized copper industry and agrarian reform, not neoliberalism.
Power outage traced to dim bulb in White House
Greg Palast, a specialist in corporate corruption turned columnist, details the history of power industry corruption. From WorkingForChange.
For Mises' Sake
Tom G. Palmer savages Llewellyn Rockwell, the Ludwig von Mises Institute and Hans-Hermann Hoppe for Austrianism above and beyond the call of sanity.
A Basic Income For All
Phillipe Van Parijs' proposal for "real freedom", followed by essays by 15 very varied commentators and critics. From Boston Review and republished as "What's Wrong With a Free Lunch?"
Synthetic A Priori: An Argument With M.R.M. Parrott
The chapter "Against Objectivism" details several reasons for considering Objectivism a pseudophilosophy. It points out at length how foolishly naive "existence exists" is. An e-book in PDF by M.R.M. Parrott.
NEW 1/09: Google Future - The Ron Paul Presidency
Front page news from Ron Paul's future presidency.
Environmental Justice and "Shared Fate"
by Ernest Partridge. A refutation of libertarian dismissals of fair compensation for environmental injustice.
With Liberty and Justice for Some
by Ernest Partridge. An excellent, short, big-picture criticism of libertarianism. It first criticizes libertarianism in general, and then with respect to environmental problems.
Perilous Optimism
by Ernest Partridge. Exposure of Julian Simon's Corunucopian follies as invalid due to basic ignorance of ecological principles, atmospheric science, and thermodynamics.
Twentieth Century Alchemy
by Ernest Partridge. How neoconservatism is founded on overemphasis of severely limited models such as "economic man".
The State Religion
Ernest Partridge explains how surprisingly accurate the "market fundamentalist" metaphor really is.
Why Christmas Should Be More Commercial
An unconscious objectivist self-parody by the big cheese himself, Leonard Peikoff. "It is time to take the Christ out of Christmas, and turn the holiday into a guiltlessly egoistic, pro-reason, this-worldly, commercial celebration."
End States That Sponsor Terrorism
Leonard Peikoff, the big cheese himself, says 10/2001: "The choice today is mass death in the United States or mass death in the terrorist nations." Never heard of police work, I guess. From ARI's Capitalism Magazine.
NEW 7/06: History in the Making
A short, big-picture history of the Libertarian Party. Omits trends in membership and finances, the most embarassing points.
The Internet as a Threat to Sovereignty? Thoughts on the Internet's Role in Strengthening National and Global Governance
by Henry H. Perritt, Jr. See also the other related articles in Indiana Journal of Global Studies Volume 5 Issue 2 Spring 1998.
Funding Liberty
George Phillies book-length recounting of unprincipled behavior at the "party off principle". Part of a reforms movement within the LPUSA. Lots of dirty laundry.
I alone and individually am THE TRUE Libertarian!
Dennis W. Phillips' parody of typical libertarian rants. Or perhaps it is more accurate than parody.
Why and How to Conquer the Savages
Ron Pisaturo, an unabashed Objectivist, writes that we should nuke "foreign savages" (ie. non-objectivists.) From ARI's Capitalism Magazine.
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Libertarian
Kim Plofker's hysterical adaptation of the Major General's song from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates Of Penzance".
The New Politics: speech on property rights.
A speech by Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, explaining why "takings" laws and other aspects of the property rights movement are ahistorical, unworkable, and undesirable.
Propaganda Analysis.
Simple, clear descriptions of the techniques underlying the vast majority of libertarian argument. See especially "Unwarranted Extrapolations".
Violence Prevention
The Physicians for Social Responsibility page containing overviews of their agenda, bibliography, links to organizations, educational resources, and a large number of fact sheets on firearms issues.
FAQ For Prospective Libertarians.
By Rich Puchalsky. Ridicule of some often stated absurd positions of libertarian ideology.
The God Of The Digerati
Jedediah Purdy's The American Prospect essay that dissects the adolescent fantasies of Wired Magazine.
The Chicago Acid Bath: The Impoverished Logic of "Law and Economics"
Jedediah S.Purdy's article in The American Prospect that takes Richard Epstein and Richard Posner to task for tautological and blinkered aspects of their field.
The Libertarian Conceit
Jedediah S. Purdy's The American Prospect article that reads Boaz and Murray in light of a Isaiah Berlin's views of such pseudoscientific analyses of politics. He excoriates their typically slippery libertarian arguments.
The faulty reasoning of Ayn Rand types.
Starts off with a very clever "Rape: The Unknown Ideal" example to demonstrate the "logic" in Ayn Rand's work.
Human Capital Theory And Education Policy In Australia
John Quiggan's academic paper that explains why high public spending on education is economically sensible. Technical.
Privatisation and nationalisation in the 21st century (PDF)
John Quiggan's published article on slowing and reversal of the trend to privatization.
Globalization and economic sovereignty
John Quiggan rejects neoliberal claims of "inevitability", and presents historical and policy arguments limiting globalization.
Free market reform in New Zealand: an Australian perspective (PDF)
The foremost market liberalization experiment has failed badly. John Quiggin surveys the excuses and possible reasons.
The Future of Government: Mixed Economy or Minimal State?
John Quiggin points out that historical experience shows when states perform better than private industry, and thus economies should be mixed.
NEW 5/09: Austrian Business Cycle Theory
John Quiggin provides an excellent overview of ABCT and how it went badly wrong after its initial promise.
Debunking The Conservative Attack On Social Security
Despite vast sums spent on thinktank propaganda, the facts about why Social Security works are plain, and the errors in conservative arguments against it are blatant.
Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future
Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber of the Center for Media and Democracy detail how what many of us consider "facts" are actually the result of large-scale corporate public relations and disinformation.
Glen Raphael's critique of the Non-Libertarian FAQ.
A typical kind of libertarian apologetics, heavy on misreading what is plainly stated to make it fit cut-and-paste libertarian arguments.
NEW 1/06: Why We Fight: An Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto (2.0)
Eric Raymond, Open Source self-promoter and self-appointed libertarian savior, seeks new levels of pomposity and foolishness. He declares that people who don't worship his views are his poopeyhead enemies.
Who likes unwritten Constitutional rights? You'd be surprised!
A vast number of unenumerated, implied Constitutional rights which we all rely upon in daily life have been found by the courts. Those who cry for constitutional literalism can easily have their own ox gored. From The Liberal Constitutionalist via The Internet Archive.
NEW 5/09: Seasteading: Libertarians Set to Launch a (Wet) Dream of 'Freedom' in International Waters
Brad Reed takes an amused look at Patri Friedman's seasteading plans, yet another repeat of utopian libertarian daydreams for the wealthy.
NEW 7/06: Bait and Switch
The Libertarian Reform PAC points out that the Nolan Chart has been used all along as part of a bait and switch scheme by the libertarian party.
The Frazier Institute
A parody of the Canadian neoliberal (libertarian) Fraser Institute. Privatize everything!
Zogby Polling For Cato Institute, Other Clients, Manipulates Findings To Misrepresent Public Opinion About Social Security
A poll based on spin, rather than real alternatives, yields more spin. From Campaign For America's Future.
Environmentalism Refuted
Modern Austrianism at it's finest: sainthood for von Mises, socialism versus reason, conspiracy of "intellectuals", and strawman "essential claims of the environmentalists".
NEW 7/07: To Lose Trust, Every Day
Arnold Relman review's Richard Epstein's "Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation". It turns out to be an aggressive rehash of the unsual industry claims. Money line: "Is all this really the expression of a great legal mind? Instead of reasoned arguments based on the facts about the development, the marketing, and the medical use of pharmaceuticals, we get only readings from Epstein's client's playbook, which relies heavily on deception, secrecy, and the tired tactics of name-calling."
Liberals and Libertarians #1
How libertarians misrepresent themselves as classical liberals by focusing on means, not ends. Part of a new site about Classical Liberals. (Archived version here.)
Libertarian Belle
The Village Voice's critique of Interior Secretary Gale Norton, with predictions of how she will abuse her power for libertarian purposes.
Property Theory, Property Rights, and Market Socialism
Michael Robertson describes market socialism, a so-called third way between capitalism and communism.
NEW 9/10: The Economic Lessons of Bethlehem
Lew Rockwell takes the nativity story and pretends that it is an anti-government screed. He doesn't notice that the whole god-as-monarch thing is violently anti-libertarian, including tithes to god.
NEW 2/06: Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion?
Dani Rodrik, of Harvard University, points out that the neoliberal prescription of free markets, privatization, and non-interference has been a great failure for developing nations. India and China have done vastly better with their own prescriptions.
NEW 10/07: What would a progressive trade agenda look like?
Dani Rodrik favors globalization, but with benefits more widely distributed, leveraging democracy, and respect for different cultural norms.
NEW 2/08: Shleifer the (Counter-)Revolutionary
Dani Rodrik ridicules Andrei Shleifer's "Age of Milton Friedman" triumphalism, pointing out how the evidence is misused.
The New Nationalism
Teddy Roosevelt's 1910 speech, remarkable for expressions such as "property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth".
Debunking Libertarianism
An anti-legalization site cites a retired DEA officer's quotation of Theodore Dalrymple's article about problems of legalizing drugs.
Did Gore invent the Internet?
Scott Rosenberg, of Salon, details the smear on Gore, and shows yet another example of how Gore and government do work, contrary to libertarian ideas that technology develops in a vacuum.
Is government eeevil? We Have Met the Gummint And He Is Us.
Mark Rosenfelder points out the paradox that only people with really good government could think they didn't need it. Good commonsense.
NEW 6/06: What's Wrong With Libertarianism
Mark Rosenfelder gives a wonderful overview of libertarianism and how many ways it fails to be realistic, honest, or helpful. He points out several sniff tests for whether libertarianism makes sense.
Academic Nazism
by Steven J. Rosenthal. A well-referenced short summation of the extensive flaws of The Bell Curve. Part of the Stalking The Wild Taboo site.
Ayn Rand (1905-1982)
Kelley L. Ross' Friesian School biography of Rand, which is strongly critical of some of Rand's philosophical errors.
NEW 12/07: Overdose: How excessive government regulation stifles pharmaceutical innovation
In this Journal Of Clinical Investigation review, David B. Ross politely points out that Epstein has written the worst sort of blatant industry advocacy, blythely ignoring the realities of the market for drugs.
The 25 Most Inappropriate Things An Objectivist Can Say During Sex
Perhaps this is why there are so few children of Objectivists. From Save The Humans.
Robert Nozick And The Immaculate Conception Of The State
Murray Rothbard criticizes "Anarchy, State, And Utopia" from a natural rights perspective. He swallowed the cow to catch the goat... he's dead, of course.
Mozart was a Red
Murray Rothbard's thinly veiled satirical play about Ayn Rand and her Objectivist merrymakers. It takes one to know one.
NEW 2/07: The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult
Murray Rothbard makes a very convincing case for Objectivism as a cult. It's delightful to see it compared to the communist party.
The Myth Of Public School Failure
Richard Rothstein's Spring 1993 article from The American Prospect. Skillfully rebuts the anti public school propaganda which libertarians are so fond of parroting in their general attack on the validity of government.
The Way We Were? Debunking the Myth of America's Declining Schools
A Brookings Institute book by Richard Rothstein that corrects statistical and anecdotal misperceptions of public school performance.
The World's Smallest Political Hook
Mark Rupright delivers some well-deserved body blows to the slimy "World's Smallest Political Quiz".
Libertarians & Corporations
Libertarian ideology is so radical that it would sweep away corporations. They very seldom mention this, lest they offend their right-wing and corporate donors.
Objectivism and the Corruption of Rationality: A Critique of Ayn Rand's Epistemology
by Scott Ryan. A technical philosophical criticism of Rand, now a book, based largely on the ideas of Brand Blanshard.
Parodies of Objectivism
by Scott Ryan. Some good parodies of Objectivist language, behavior, and rationalization.
Sixteen Myths About Population: Part 2 - The Belief That Population Growth Poses No Threat
Refutes two common libertarian claims: "population growth stimulates economic growth" and "technology will solve all problems".
The Case Against Vouchers
Some excellent answers from the Separation Of Church And State Home Page.
Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy.
by Peter Sabatini.
NEW 2/08: Libertarian Troll Bingo
See which libertarian commenter scores bingo first in your favorite blog!
NEW 10/06: The Social Welfare State, beyond Ideology
Jeffry Sachs' Scientific American article on how social welfare states do as well as or better than low-tax, high-income countries. The punch line is that Friedrich Von Hayek was wrong.
"Ayn Rand, More Popular than God!" Objectivists Allege!
Jessica Amanda Salmonson presents the facts about this "objective" urban myth. It takes a fantasy novelist to know one....
Charles Murray Gets Trapped In The Ghetto.
A Salon Magazine article that describes Murray's inconsistencies in "Losing Ground" and "The Bell Curve".
Reason and Rationality
An overview of the modern understanding of these terms, written for the "Handbook of Epistemology". They're not what objectivists think.
Julian Sanchez' Response to the Non-Libertarian FAQ
One of the few criticisms that doesn't display hostility.
NEW 3/08: Shermer's The Mind of The Market
Libertarian Tim Sandefur finds both Shermer's libertarianism and skepticism disappointing and unconvincing.
NEW 7/07: Maxspeak Does Milton Friedman Day
"Today we discuss Milton Friedman's leading contributions to economic thought, under the general theme, How Somebody So Well-Regarded Was Oh So Wrong."
Fuzzy Logic
Lynn Scarlett reviews Richard Epstein's criticisms of "libertarian absolutists" in his Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good.
NEW 1/08: Review Of Michael Shermer's The Mind Of The Market
Skeptics who love Shermer for his skepticism have difficulty with Shermer's libertarianism. Dan Schneider epitomizes this love/hate relationship.
The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey
Indoctrinate your children! If they're not readers yet, you can use the crude animation to hammer home the ideology!
On Moral Sanctions.
By Peter Schwartz. A ludicrous rhetorical assault branding libertarianism as "evil" because libertarians don't see how Objectivism is the path to rationality and truth, and recommending shunning them.
The God That Fails
George Scialabba's The American Prospect review of Charles E. Lindblom's "The Market System: What It Is, How It Works, and What To Make of It". He finds it a very even-handed presentation, that does not minimize the benefits or harms that the market system creates.
NEW 10/07: Strange Bedfellows
The libertarian Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has a wacky set of positions against the FDA, public health, evidence-based medicine, Medicare, the new world order, abortion, evolution, handgun safety, homosexuality, illegal aliens, fluoridation, environmentalism, vaccination, etc. From Kathleen Seidel's neurodiversity weblog.
Just Deserts
Amartya Sen's review of Peter Bauer's Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion. Sen provides a careful rebuttal of Bauer's conservative arguments about economic equality (which libertarians also use frequently.)
Population: Delusion and Reality
Amartya Sen's sensible consideration of government solutions to overpopulation problems. Refutes notions of "laissez-faire" being the best policy. This is treated at much greater length in his Development As Freedom.
Liberty! What Fallacies Are Committed in Thy Name!
Cosma Shalizi points out that libertarian-style arguments about eliminating antitrust have severe empirical difficulties: ie. price fixing is rampant in the global marketplace.
Militia - History And Law Faq
An excellent and comprehensive FAQ rebutting much of the misinformation about militias and the 2nd Amendment spread by the modern militia movement, libertarians, the NRA, and others. Part of the Militia Watchdog site.
The Unlikeliest Cult In History.
Michael Shermer's history and critique of some basic flaws of Objectivism.
NEW 2/07: Querying Economic Orthodoxy
Angus Sibley's collection of monthly articles and other publications opposing libertarian market-worshipping economics.
Christians are flirting with libertarianism, but it is not a biblical option.
Ronald J. Sider & Fred Clark write in Christianity Today that evangelicals should avoid association with libertarian pornographers and the like. Socially conservative.
The Real Titles of Nobility Amendment FAQ
Jol Silversmith's summary of the foolishness of "The Missing Thirteenth Amendment."
Charles Atlas Shrugged
Why "Atlas Shrugged" appeals to adolescent males.
The Libertarian Candidates: Harry Browne, Rick Tompkins, and Irwin Schiff.
Part of Skeleton Closet: All of the Scandals on All of the Presidential Election Candidates. Not much dirt yet, because libertarians are obscure. Worth watching.
Review of "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
Rob Slade's Internet Review Project review casts a quizzical eye on the absurdities of Atlas Shrugged. Many amusing comments on this bizarre ideological heroic fantasy.
Libertarians for an Open Party
Lloyd Sloan's criticisms of the Libertarian Party Oath as a hypocritical tool for enforcing party purity and dominance by the anarchist faction. A good view to in-party struggles between minarchists and anarchists.
"Why Did it Have to be ... Guns?" by L. Neil Smith
This popular libertarian author thinks that libertarianism can be boiled down to guns. Period. That's his litmus test. Page down to the middle, where this rant starts.
Propaganda
Collin Smith's descriptions of a number of propaganda tricks that are used to manipulate audiences.
The pomposity of George O. Smith. Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
A typical evasive discussion with a libertarian/objectivist, with the author of "Why Atheism?"
NEW 3/07: Review of "The Militia And The Right To Bear Arms"
Daniel Smith lauds Uviller and Merkel's historical legal analysis of the 2nd Amendment, which thoroughly refutes Sanford Levinson and other individual rights claimants.
NEW 3/09: Milton Friedman - Economist/Intellectual Prostitute
Shaun Snapp's condemnation of Milton Friedman for shilling for corporate interests in maximizing their profits at the expense of the rest of us.
The Swedish Social Democratic Party.
This site has a section, "Other Languages", with a number of .pdf publications. What is Social Democracy does a fabulous job of explaining one of the successful real-world alternatives to utopian libertarianism. Why we'd want more socialism than a minimal state involves.
Twelve Reasons Why Privatizing Social Security is a Bad Idea
A large-scale introduction to the issues. See also 11 Myths About Social Security and Chile's Experience With Social Security Privatization.
Millionaires One and All
(PDF) Details the fallacies underlying the CATO Social Security Calculator. Under realistic assumptions, you'd accumulate 1/10th to 1/30th of what CATO estimates. Part of The Social Security Network.
Cato Institute: "Libertarian" in a Corporate Way
Norman Solomon of the Institute for Public Accuracy details how the CATO Institute represents its anti-regulation corporate funders, not libertarian individuals. The goal is to give corporate propaganda an air of objectivity by concealing its source.
Welfare: The Cheapest Country
This review of The Real Worlds Of Welfare Capitalism by Nobel economist Robert Solow gives the lie to libertarian claims of economic harms by welfare.
Ordered Anarchy, State, And Rent-Seeking: The Icelandic Commonwealth, 930-1262
Birgir T. Runolfsson Solvason's PhD thesis. "I will not discuss my dissatisfaction with some political interpretations that I do not think are justified; such as claiming that the Commonwealth is an example of libertarianism or anarcho-capitalism in practice (see Friedman 1989a;1989b). This interpretation of the Commonwealth is not warranted, and the reasons for why it is not, will become apparent in this thesis."
The Capitalist Threat.
George Soros' February 1997 article from The Atlantic Monthly. 'The main threat to social justice and economic stability now comes from the uninhibited pursuit of laissez-faire economics, argues one of the world's most prominent capitalists, who warns that the very ideal of an "open society" is at stake.'
No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority
A famous rant by 19th century lawyer Lysander Spooner, highly regarded by many anarchist libertarians. He calls government a collection of thieves and murderers at least 75 times. No wonder they like him!
Spunk Press: Critiques Of Other Political Views.
A number of left-libertarians have contributed critiques of right-libertarianism and its dogmas such as "natural rights". Some of the documents are:
Ayn Rand and the perversion of libertarianism.
The Myth of "Natural Law".
Iain MacSaorsa trashes Rothbard and other users of "natural law".
Ecology or "anarcho" capitalism.
Chile, capitalism and liberty for the rich.
Iain MacSaorsa debunks libertarian claims of great benefits to Chile.
Capitalism, Right Libertarianism and the problem of "externalities?"
The Myths of "Libertarian" economics.
Is "anarcho" capitalism against the state?
Ayn Rand and the perversion of libertarianism.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Libertarianism
A well-balanced, non-propaganda overview of right and left libertarianism, presenting some of the major issues.
Why I'm Not a Libertarian
Travis Stansel takes libertarians to task for excessive market orientation. From Conscious Chocie magazine.
Cyberpower And Freedom
Paul Starr's The American Prospect article that mildly rebukes high-tech libertarianism for its myopia about the limitations, problems, and origins of high tech "solutions" to government.
The Meaning of Privatization
Paul Starr's 1988 Yale Law and Policy Review article that clarifies the meaning of privatization as an idea, as theory and rhetoric, and as a political practice. Truly an eye-opener, yet very balanced. Readable, and very highly recommended.
Labor Markets, Rationality, and Workers with Disabilities
Professor Michael Ashley Stein identifies major errors in law and economics arguments (exemplified by Richard Epstein's) criticizing Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act. From the Berkeley Journal Of Employment And Labor Law.
Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies.
The most comprehensive and best organized web guide I've found yet. Highly recommended. Excellent references and further links.
NEW 7/10: Regulation and the Theory of Market and Government Failure
Nobel Prize winner (economics) Joseph Stiglitz explains that government can improve economic efficiency because real markets don't have the properties of ideal markets. Technical, but not mathematical.
Objectivism
Barry Stoller presents a plain-speaking analysis of Objectivism as a supremacy doctrine for people too busy, lazy, or stupid to actually be intellectuals.
How to Run a Successful "Operation Politically Homeless" Booth
A detailed statement of manipulative strategy used at libertarian propaganda booths.
Ayn Shrugged: A Look At The Work Of Ayn Rand
A harsh review of "Atlas Shrugged" that points out the "weird, pathological agendas and bad writing."
Legal Reasoning After Post-Modern Critiques of Reason
Philosopher Peter Suber provides an easily readable overview of 9 post-enlightenment critiques of reason in this academic article. Should be required reading for Objectivists.
Are you a Real Libertarian, or a ROYAL Libertarian?
Geolibertarians (a splinter group) have adopted Georgist single tax philosophy, and roundly lambaste other libertarians and Objectivists, ridiculing their ideas of land as private property.
Harry Browne: The Libertarian Party's Colin Powell?
Vin Suprynowicz criticizing autocratic behavior by the Libertarian National Comittee. Entertaining infighting.
The Asian About-Face
James Surowiecki's Slate article where he notes that free-market advocates praised the "Asian Tigers", finding them free of government interference, until their currencies and economies collapsed.
Idiot Legal Arguments: A Casebook for Dealing with Extremist Legal Arguments
Bernard Sussman has compiled a huge collection of legal citations concerning the lunatic legal claims of militia-mythology that tax scofflaws, neo-anarchists (and sometimes libertarians) often repeat. You can get an idea of the claims, but this is fairly impenetrable for laymen. From the fabulous Militia Watchog site. While now at the ADL site, Bernard Sussman states that he is independent.
Another experience with Objectivism and Libertarian ideas.
Michael Swierczek relates his discovery and escape from Objectivism.
Opposing Mike Huben's "A Non-Libertarian FAQ"
Sampo Syreeni's demonstration that making a response doesn't mean it's a good response. A reasonable tone dresses up really poor arguments.
NEW 5/10: Cato Scholar Scolds Rand Paul, Gives OK to Soup Nazi
Several libertarian scholars criticize Rand Paul severely. Not just because he's wrong, but because the old libertarian position that racism is a private right is embarassing to them.
Capitalism's Crises and Critics.
Chapter 11 of Human Society and the Global Economy. An evenhanded review of Marxian economics, identifying what has stood the test of time, what has not, and why. Very easy reading.
The Arthritic Hand of Oligopoly
Chapter 12 of Human Society and the Global Economy. An overview of the economics of oligopoly, the problems, and solutions. Good, unprejudiced background.
NEW 2/07: Markets Are Not Magic
Mark Thoma, at Economist's View, explains when markets can perform very badly, and how the belief that "privatization and deregulation are always best" is wrong.
How Education Drove Taiwan's Economic Development
Flora Tien outlines how Taiwan's government set ambitious educational goals as an integral part of its economic strategy, paving the way for an economic miracle.
The Tradable Permits Approach to Protecting the Commons: What Have We Learned?
Tom Tietenberg provides an overview which shows how despite their market gloss, tradable permits are a sophisticated government program, and privatization in a very limited sense.
Libertarian Think Tanks
Tom Tomorrow's "This Modern World" gives credit where it is due.
Why is libertarianism wrong?
Paul Treanor's very European-style analysis.
The Ethics Of The Free Market: Why Market Liberalism Is Wrong.
Moral, political and social objections to market liberalism and the market itself.
Charlie Reese: Why I am not a libertarian
"Not only is no man an island, but no man is self-made... capitalism, unless moderated by Christian virtue or government, is just as brutal and cruel as communism."
NEW 2/08: Ron Paul's record in Congress
Ron Paul's bizarre track record as a congressman, particularly those bills he sponsored or co-sponsored.
L. Neil Smith's Ahistorical Comparison Of Lincoln To Lenin
Brian Tubbs rebuts absurd libertarian assertions about the founders, constitutionality, and Lincoln's prosecution of the Civil War.
Marriage and Morals
William Tucker's American Spectator article points out one of the practical reasons to prohibit polygamy.
NEW 11/08: Atlas Shrugged Updated for the Current Financial Crisis.
It's hard to believe anybody could equal the bad writing of Ayn Rand, but here it is. From McSweeney's.
Are Markets Wise?
Markets are wise the way gravity is wise. There are times when they do and don't serve public interests.
What Is Man?
Mark Twain's cynical rebuttal of egoism. Predating Objectivism, it none the less stands Objectivism on its head.
Archimedes
Mark Twain's sarcastic examination of private land ownership.
Twilight of the crypto-geeks.
Ellen Ullman's Salon sees a pattern of lone-wolf digital libertarians beginning to abandon their faith in technology uber alles and espouse suspiciously socialist-sounding ideas.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Human rights do not start or end with property.
Declaration Of Independence.
Constitution Of The United States of America.
Bill Of Rights.
The above three documents are frequently the subjects of tenuous claims by libertarians. It's useful to see ALL of what they really say.
The Federalist Papers.
A pre-ratification defense and explication of the purposes of the Constitution by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.
Shot Full of Holes: Deconstructing John Ashcroft's Second Amendment
A Violence Policy Center legal and historical analysis of the systematic errors in AG John Ashcroft's policy statement.
How NOT to Talk! Conversational Terrorism.
A large list of easily recognized tactics of argument. Compare these to the posts of the noisiest libertarians.
Logic And Argument. University of Victoria Writer's Guide.
NEW 2/08: Some Capital-Theoretic Fallacies of Austrian Economics
Robert Vienneau attacks assumptions of Austrian Business Cycle Theory. Highly technical.
George Walford: On The Capitalist Anarchists
Justly ridicules a major myopia of anarcho-capitalists. Brief.
Friedman Or Free Men?
George Walford describes how libertarian schemes still restrict freedom, and how important it is for government to restrict market freedoms such as slavery.
Children's Rights versus Murray Rothbard's The Ethics of Liberty
John Walker credibly dissects some ludicrous Rothbard drivel about self-ownership to back a less tenable pro-life position.
Standing Without a Platform
Tim Walker points out how useless the Libertarian Party Platform is for building an effective party.
Why I Am Not a Libertarian
Jonathan Wallace's personal understanding of why libertarianism is insufficient and wrong. An article from The Ethical Spectacle.
Natural Rights Don't Exist
Jonathan Wallace examines the basic errors of classical liberal notions of natural rights. An article from The Ethical Spectacle.
A Review of The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice by Liam Murphy and Thomas Nagel
A terse summary of the argument that property rights are a government creation, and taxation is a part of property rights.
Nozick Reconsidered
Liz Wang analyzes Susan Moller Okin's demonstration that Nozick's origin of rights and rule of acquisition results in children being non-persons owned by their mother.
NEW 4/08: Ron Paul Is Crazy
A YouTube video from WebPundit points out why Ron Paul is an unrealistic candidate: because he offends almost everybody in one way or another.
The Other L-Word, by Jacob Weisberg.
A casual set of comments on the inherent contradictions in these libertarian views. A Slate book review.
The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000: Twenty Years of Diminished Progress
The Center For Economic And Policy Research found that globalization seems to reduce progress in growth, life expectancy, child mortality, and education in defiance of neoliberal propaganda.
NEW 5/06: Can Developing Countries Afford to Ban or Regulate Child Labor?
Libertarians weep crocodile tears for the poorest at the prospect of regulating child labor. It's even in the party platform. They claim it is a luxury of the rich. Weisbrot et al. point out that developing nations are historically rich enough to afford it.
Web Guide to The Constitution of the United States
Part of The Constitution Notebook Program Home Page. Links by section and amendment to relevant pages on the web, which are heavily skewed towards the fringe.
NEW 8/07: The Myth of Bryan Caplan's Seriousness
Steven White eviscerates "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies" with the strategy from the emperor's new clothes.
NEW 4/10: A Dilemma for Libertarianism
Professor Karl Widerquist argues that libertarian principles of acquisition and transfer without regard for the pattern of inequality do not support a minimal state, but can lead just as well to a monarchy with full the full power of taxation without violation of self-ownership.
NEW 4/10: Libertarianism
Karl Widerquist's encyclopedia entry from "The International Encyclopedia of Public Policy". Discusses the basis and policies of left, right, and socialist libertarianism.
Debunking "The Story Of The Buck Act"
Roger M. Wilcox dismembers this paranoid conspiracy theory about how your Sovereign Citizenry has been secretly usurped. Yellow fringe on flags, 2 letter postal abbreviations, ZIP codes, Social Security numbers: they're all part of the conspiracy!
Their Libertarianism -- and Ours, by Ellen Willis.
A scathingly sarcastic review of the hidden assumptions underlying the arguments of these libertarians. A DISSENT book review.
How a Libertarian Capitalist Became a Libertarian Socialist.
Observation of real-world corporate behavior helped.
NEW 5/10: The lesson of Rand Paul: libertarianism is juvenile.
Gabriel Winant's Salon article declaring: "Libertarianism itself is what's stupid here, not just Paul. We should stop tip-toeing around this belief system [....]"
Cyberlibertarian Myths And The Prospects For Community
Langdon Winner punctures some of the electronic community promises, and describes some forthcoming effects on our physical communities.
FAQ - What's REALLY Wrong With Objectivism?
by Chris Wolf. An explanation of why there is so much cult-like hostility and schism in a philosophy that claims perception of objective truth.
Robert Nozick, Libertarianism, And Utopia
A distillation of a few of Jonathan Wolff's arguments showing a few invalid criticisms of Nozick, and concluding with how Nozick would reinvent the past.
The Problem with Libertarians
Tony Woodlief's five post collection from his blog Sand In The Gears. One of the best conservative critiques of the failures of libertarianism; polite and generous to a fault, yet still damning. Posts are in reverse chronological order.
Libertarians in Space
by Martin Morse Wooster. A scathing review of the poor showings of libertarianism in Science Fiction, from Liberty Unbound , a sympathetic source.
Anti-Standard Model brief to the US Court of Appeals, Fifth Ciruit, as amicus curiae with 52 amici co-signing, September 3, 1999, in US v. Emerson.
Brooklyn Law School professor David Yassky, mobilized a group of fifty-two scholars, including Bellesiles, Bogus, and Cornell, to sign his anti-Standard Model brief. Thoroughly debunks "standard model" pretensions.
NEW 11/08: Politics Compromises the Libertarian Project
Matthew Yglesias takes the Cato Institute to task for corporate shilling in it's own "jornal", Cato Unbound .
Neo-Tech ZonPower for Romantic Love, Power, Money.
Ayn Rand meets L. Ron Hubbard for multi-level marketing complete with cosmology, physics, eternal life, abundant sex, tax avoidance, universal civilization, true psychology, "integrated honesty", and more! This is not a parody.

Copyright 2007 by Mike Huben ( mhuben@world.std.com ).
This document may be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes if it is reproduced in its textual entirety, with this notice intact.