Congrats to these honorees. A few months ago, a good friend of mine and LSU Law classmate, Tony Tramontana (I went backpacking in Europe with him and our friend Paul Comeaux the summer of 1991 during law school—see pix below), 1 an LSU Law Dean’s Council member, and who knows of my work, asked if I minded if he submitted my name for the “Legal Innovator” award. He thought my career might fit the bill according to 2026 LSU Law Distinguished Alumni Awardscriteria. I figured it was a long shot, but said go ahead and helped him gather some materials. I was not selected. Congrats to Mr. Pinkerton. [continue reading…]
David Friedman’s recent Made in Ancapia interview has this clip:
Me encanta
David Friedman sobre Javier Milei:
✒️| “Sería bueno para el libertarismo si resulta que tener un presidente libertario que empuja las ideas de la libertad hace a un país rico. (…) Le deseo suerte.” pic.twitter.com/h0CrzLmdlP
My close, personal association with the Mises Institute goes back more than 40 years, to 1985, only three years after the Institute’s founding. In the course of the years I have given dozens upon dozens of lectures. I have been awarded its Schlarbaum Prize and the Rothbard Medal. For a decade, I served as editor of its Journal of Libertarian Studies. I am the MI’s only long standing Distinguished Senior Fellow. Only two years ago, in 2024, I was a featured speaker at the Institute’s Human Action Conference, and my 75th birthday was celebrated at the occasion. In the same year I sent this congratulatory note to Lew Rockwell at the occasion of the festivities organized in honor of his own 80th birthday:
Dear Lew, to your 80th birthday I send you my best wishes and want to say thanks for by now almost 40 years of friendship and intellectual camaraderie.
I know you are too humble to say this, but I can certainly do it: You rank among the most brilliant commentators and analysts of the present age and you are the world’s greatest living promoter of sound economics in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard and, more generally, of liberty, peace, common sense, and reason.
Looks like the chapter “How Movements Turn Into Rackets” in Douglas E. French, When Movements Become Rackets and Other Swindles: The PFS Trilogy, Stephan Kinsella, ed. (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press and Property and Freedom Society, 2025) might need an update or supplement at some point….
A European Portuguese translation of Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023), Fundamentos Legais de uma Sociedade Livre, is being prepared now by Manuel Ogando. It is expected to be completed in time for presentation at the following event:
“100 Years of Rothbard,” Porto, Portugal, June 2026. Sponsored by several Portuguese libertarian groups: Mises Portugal, Catalaxia, Don’t Trust Verify (bitcoin podcast), ZugaTV (libertarian podcast), and Golpe de Estado Podcasto (ancap podcasters); also featuring Hans-Hermann Hoppe.
There is a Brazilian Portuguese translation already, but apparently the languages are different enough that different versions are necessary. That other one is Fundamentos Legais de uma Sociedade Livre.
As PFS followers know by now, this month marks Murray Rothbard’s 100th birthday, which is precisely why we released Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment two weeks ago, on his birthday. Hans Hoppe realized only a couple months ago that this must be done, so we worked hard with our network of supporters and friends to make it happen in time for this occasion.
This month, and this year, is thus a special time of celebration for admirers of Rothbard and lovers of liberty around the world. A deluxe clothbound version of the book will be released soon, and the PFS will feature a panel on Murray and the book at the upcoming 2026 (and Twentieth Anniversary) Annual Meeting of the Property and Freedom Society in Turkey in September.
No doubt other groups and institutions are also celebrating and commemorating in their own way. For example, “100 Years of Rothbard” will be held in Porto, Portugal, on June 27, 2026, sponsored by several Portuguese libertarian groups: Mises Portugal, Catalaxia, Don’t Trust Verify (bitcoin podcast), Zugatv (libertarian podcast), and Golpe de Sstado Podcasto (ancap podcasters). Hans Hoppe and I plan to attend and speak about Rothbard. [continue reading…]
I was invited to this Federalist Society event in Houston, which is to be held at South Texas College of Law Houston (the private law school in Houston had statist squabbles with U.Houston law school years ago when it tried to merge with Texas A&M to become its law school; University of Houston, higher reputation and state-funded so it’s cheaper, didn’t want the competition so finally got the merger blocked; STCL in a fit of pique tacked on “Houston” to its name a few years back): [continue reading…]
A friend asked whether “interest makes sense only so long as the economy is expanding due to a handful of economic expanders: technological advances, more efficient trade, a low cost of dispute resolution, and an increasing population, but whether a shrinking population will end…
interest makes sense only so long as the economy is expanding due to a handful of economic expanders: technological advances, more efficient trade, a low cost of dispute resolution, and an increasing population, but whether a shrinking population will end up causing so many defaults that lending just is no longer a profitable business, even with state money being nearly free.
My somewhat tangential reply:
I don’t think this is right. Something about it seems wrong
Some have a said that with a fixed money supply lending is also impossible, which I also think wrong. [continue reading…]
I asked ChatGPT to compare the views of Stephen Smith, compared to mine/Rothbard/Evers, and that of Randy Barnett. (not reviewed closely yet) [continue reading…]
As you know, earlier this month we published, on Murray Rothbard’s 100th Birthday, March 2, 2026, Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment online in digital format, and we are working on kindle, paperback, and deluxe hardcover/cloth editions which will be released well before our upcoming 20th Anniversary PFS meeting in September.
Appreciative of our efforts at the PFS to prepare and publish this book, and aware that such books are usually produced at a loss, some PFS members and friends have expressed an interest in helping to defray PFS costs associated with this and other projects. Accordingly, we will list Patrons in the published version of the book and provide a signed copy of the hardback to each Patron (after the 2026 PFS Annual Meeting, when many of the contributors will be available for signing). [continue reading…]
I ended up offering him some comments to improve his chapter. I repeat them below. Afterwards, he asked me how I became so interested in libertarianism. I gave a long answer, so repost some of that here. [continue reading…]
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