Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Liberty Matters! Bastiat!

I am fortunate to be included in the set of folks responding the interesting lead essay posted by Robert Leroux.

Here is the line-up:


The Debate Summary: Frédéric Bastiat’s intellectual legacy has been the subject of much debate since the mid-19th century. His thinking has given rise to the most divergent interpretations. We may say in general terms that his work has evoked two interpretations that are in constant conflict: The first treats Bastiat as a significant theorist, an instigator of new and original theories, with a well-earned place in the history of political economy; the other sees him primarily as simply a journalist or a polemicist. 

Robert Leroux argues that, in spite of resistance to his ideas and the neglect which he suffered in the late 19th and early 20th century, Bastiat was one of the most important liberal theorists of his time. He went far beyond what he was most famous for in his own day, namely campaigning for free trade in France, and made significant contributions to our understanding of the state, the law, freedom of the press and, more broadly yet, human nature. 

Lead Essay: Robert Leroux, "Bastiat and Political Economy"

Responses and Critiques
Response by Donald J. Boudreaux
Response by David M. Hart
Response by Michael C. Munger

Joe Bob says, "Check it out!"

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