Intro into economics
Henry Hazlitt's Economic's in One LessonEconomics is a study of opportunity costs. This simple fact is seemingly missed by all political advocates. Henry Hazlitt brings economics back to basic's with Bastiat's story of the broken window
Tom Woods's Meltdown
Why were the most highly educated economists of our time blindsided by the housing crash of 2008? Tom Woods explains how the Federal Reserve induces businesses cycles - booms and busts. The intricacies of Fed manipulations are broken down in this introduction Austrian Business Cycle Theory
Murray Rothbard's The Case Against the Fed
A more historical context for the Fed than Meltdown. For anyone who believe the Fed exists for the sake of the people, this book will obliterate that image in the first few pages. It's a powerful institution that exists to harness the power of Cantillon effects (for evil) and to the detriment of the poor world wide.
Murray Rothbard's Power and Market
How can we be so sure that government intervention is not ultimately beneficial? Murray uses praxeology and cue's from Franz Oppenheimer's "The State" to show that what we need is more freedom. When the power to violate natural rights is granted, social utility is ultimately diminished.
Murray Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State
Murray's magnum opus, this is a great book to go from "Crusoe Economics" to complex trade and discounting. The effects of government intervention are restricted to chapter 12 but are expounded upon in Power and Market
Ludwig von Mises Human Action
(not read) The foundation of modern Austrian economics. The culmination of Menger's and Böhm Bawerk's work; the unadulterated Austrian theory.
Intro into Natural Right's Philosophy
Ron Paul's The Revolution: A ManifestoA great place to start for anyone uneasy about libertarianism and believe there is something important about the constitution.
Tom Woods's Rollback
(partially read) It might be hard to believe, but what comes out of the government and the media does not cover the full spectrum of ideas. Tom Woods covers many of the myths that pervade the common political theory. For those seeking an alternative, those who are worried that the mainstream solutions just aren't going to do it, this book can - if nothing else - amplify doubt in the state.
Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty
For a life changing, mind altering experience, look no further than "For a New Liberty". Starting off by defining the goal of liberty in the context of the American revolution, Murray goes on to define liberty and apply it to every aspect of life. Anyone who finds the state necessary to protect the environment or provide for defense will finish this book realizing that the state is everywhere detrimental to the ends they hope to achieve.
Albert J. Nock's Our Enemy the State
Some of the most power objections of the state come from ex-supporters of it. Nock wanted to help the less fortunate, and he believed in educating everyone. He backed the state before he understood it's modus operandi and the necessary consequences of it on society. He abandoned Georgism and wrote this book acknowledging the State as the enemy of mankind.
Murray Rothbard's The Ethics of Liberty
(partially read) Rational ethics is the morality that all of mankind should follow. This isn't an imposition of personal values, it is an argument derived from the human ability of reason. In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard lays out the difference between a system of rational ethics and the contradictory systems that we see in government.
Hans Hermann Hoppe
Along similar lines as the Ethics of Liberty, Hans Hermann Hoppe introduces the world to Argumentation Ethics. It's hard to prove that natural rights is universal, what Hoppe does is show that all other philosophies of ethics have contradictions. By asserting that ethics must be internally consistent, Hoppe shows that one must choose libertarianism: a rational ethics.
Agorism
(not read) Before searching for alternatives, it's a good idea to understand why the other option is inadequate. The calculation problem that Mises developed shows that complete vertical integration - the control over all means of production - introduces calculational chaos. As Jeffrey Tucker says, "No one can read Mises's 'Socialism' and continue being a socialist"
Murray Rothbard's Anatomy of the State
Murray Rothbard's Anatomy of the State
Rothbard and Mises complement each other so well. Whereas Mises, in socialism, gives the positive (scientific) reasons why the state must be rejected, Rothbard gives the normative (rights-based) reasons why it must be. Anatomy of the State is a short overview of what the state is, how it is maintained, and - perhaps most importantly - what it is not.
This book is a mental stretch preparing the libertarian leaning individual before diving into the strenuous mental exercises he will encounter down the road. Block asks you to analyze the most despised people in society, he then asks you to celebrate them. After a few initial balks, you might find yourself praising the drug pusher, the slumlord, and the gypsy cab driver; I know I do.
Internalize the Externalities. Wouldn't fire departments watch your house burn until they extorted vast sums of money? Such a question is patently absurd after one reads Murphy's two long articles that compose "Chaos Theory". Mathematically, Chaos Theory explains the patterns, not the predictions of how systems will behave. So it is with this book, Murphy outlines how voluntary actions can cause intricate systems to emerge without prescribing exactly how they will emerge.
(not read) Yes, there are crazies out there who think roads would be safer if they weren't owned by the government. They would also align resource allocation with consumer wants.
Rothbard's For a New Liberty: It deserves a second mentioning here. The later chapters on defense, courts, the environment, and police are extremely revealing. But even this treatment doesn't go far enough in my opinion. What this book does provide is a base from which to spring. The Ethics of Liberty also is invaluable for it's discussion on just punishment.
Ettiene de la Boetie's The Politics of Obedience
It might be 500 years old but it's far more progressive and relevant that most of what gets spit out by Political Science professors today. The lesson here is that the people are more powerful than those that rule over them. Rothbard, in Anatomy of the State, shows that the state must convince the people that they ought to be ruled, Ettiene is like a frustrated mother who has had enough telling us to "Stop it! Stop it right now! Stop obeying dictators and be free! What the fuck is wrong with you? Just stop it!"
Ettiene de la Boetie's The Politics of Obedience
It might be 500 years old but it's far more progressive and relevant that most of what gets spit out by Political Science professors today. The lesson here is that the people are more powerful than those that rule over them. Rothbard, in Anatomy of the State, shows that the state must convince the people that they ought to be ruled, Ettiene is like a frustrated mother who has had enough telling us to "Stop it! Stop it right now! Stop obeying dictators and be free! What the fuck is wrong with you? Just stop it!"
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