StephanKinsella.com

Robert Pascal Correspondence, 1993–1994

by Stephan Kinsella on February 21, 2026

As mentioned in Robert Pascal, R.I.P., after law school I became friends with retired Professor Emeritus Robert Pascal, a famous law professor at LSU that I never met until after I graduated (likewise, I also became friends and correspondent with LSU Law professor Saúl Litvinoff after graduation). ¹ We had a good deal of correspondence in the 1990s and even after, when I was an attorney in Houston and then Philadelphia, and would meet on occasion at his home in Baton Rouge when I would return home for visits. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 102.

Much of his correspondence with me was elegantly hand-written. It spanned from 1993 to 2011, and I have at least 75 pages worth. I may post it some day after reviewing it more closely, even though some of my youthful enthusiasm and desperation to find anyone intelligent to converse with is a bit embarrassing now (this was before the Internet starting making it easier to discourse with remote people in our Phyles). ²

But as I mention him in Herman, The Louisiana Civil Code: A European Legacy for the United States, I’ll post below some selected text from two of our interchanges in 1993–1994, concerning, in part, the “Tournament of Scholars” between Pascal and Batiza. As was clear in our first discussion, Pascal was a leftist and what he called a “catholic communist,” small-c catholic, he emphasized. But he was smart and courtly and decent and I really liked and admired him. [continue reading…]

Saúl Litvinoff, R.I.P. [↩]
Phyles; se my note here: Re phyles, I am reminded of the idea behind “flag theory” discussed in Emile Phaneuf III and Rahim Taghizadegan, “Jurisdiction Shopping: The Forgotten Logic Behind Flag Theory,” The Daily Economy (February 2, 2026): “Harry Schultz, who coined the term “flag theory,” framed his thinking in an explicitly Austrian register, crediting Friedrich Hayek as his main economic inspiration and frequently citing Ludwig von Mises and Mises’s American student Hans Sennholz. The same pattern appears among other popularizers of international diversification such as Jerome Tuccille and WG Hill. In other words, the “flags” idea did not arise in a vacuum. It grew naturally from a worldview that treats institutions as constraints to compare, compete, and, when necessary, exit.” [↩]

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Historical and Ideological Evolution: From Renaissance to Modern Libertarianism (Grok)

by Stephan Kinsella on February 21, 2026

Thanks, Grok!

Prompts include:

“The Renaissance emphasized a “rebirth” (from the French word renaître, meaning to be born again) of classical Greek and Roman knowledge, arts, and culture.” Why was it dormant or lost?

list the top 10 enlightenment figures, and the top 10 classical liberal figures, and show overlap.

explain the difference between classical liberalism, libertarianism, and conservatism, and whether libertarianism is right or left, and what about the influence on libertarianism of both classical liberalism as well as the Old Right thinkers and the reason who there seems to be more of an affinity between libertarians and modern conservatives and Republicans than there does to be between libertarians and democrats. Consult https://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/09/hans-hermann-hoppe/smack-down/ and https://stephankinsella.com/2022/01/the-three-fusionisms/

what is the difference between the renaissance and enlightment. explain their significance and relation to classical liberalism

now combine all your previous answers into one final unified overall report. And include in this an analysis of the question of whether libertarianism is of the left, or of the right, and trace its progenitors, influences, and origins. Consult also the attached

[continue reading…]

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Herman, The Louisiana Civil Code: A European Legacy for the United States

by Stephan Kinsella on February 21, 2026

In my libertarian and law school studies I was fascinated with law and legal history, reading books and articles touching on both topics, e.g. Bruce Benson’s The Enterprise of Law, Bruno Leoni’s Freedom and the Law, and so on. ¹ As an aspiring legal scholar and lawyer, and Louisiana-educated “civilian” lawyer, I was also interested not only in the common law but the Roman and European civil law, and in law reviews in general. Even footnotes. ² I also became interested in international law when pursuing an LL.M. in international law at King’s College London, and ended up publishing a lot in this area and melding it with my libertarian-related theorizing. [continue reading…]

The Greatest Libertarian Books. [↩]
All footnotes!; Webnotes. [↩]

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Watson, The Importance of “Nutshells”

by Stephan Kinsella on February 21, 2026

In my libertarian and law school studies I was fascinated with law and legal history, reading books and articles touching on both topics, e.g. Bruce Benson’s The Enterprise of Law, Bruno Leoni’s Freedom and the Law, and so on. ¹ As an aspiring legal scholar and lawyer, and Louisiana-educated “civilian” lawyer, I was also interested not only in the common law but the Roman and European civil law, and in law reviews in general. Even footnotes. ² I also became interested in international law when pursuing an LL.M. in international law at King’s College London, and ended up publishing a lot in this area and melding it with my libertarian-related theorizing. [continue reading…]

The Greatest Libertarian Books. [↩]
All footnotes!; Webnotes. [↩]

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Estoppel: Illustrated

by Stephan Kinsella on February 20, 2026

Kinsella’s Social Thought, Illustrated
The Title-Transfer Contract Theory—Illustrated
“Estoppel: A New Justification for Individual Rights” (1992)
The Genesis of Estoppel: My Libertarian Rights Theory
“Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide”
“A Libertarian Theory of Punishment and Rights,” in Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston: Papinian Press, 2023), based on “Punishment and Proportionality: The Estoppel Approach,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 12, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 51–73

My estoppel theory of libertarian rights is illustrated graphically in the chart/poster below, prepared by Thiago @thiagovscoelho.

[continue reading…]

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KOL482 | A Tour Through Walter Block’s Oeuvre: Audio

by Stephan Kinsella on February 19, 2026

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 482.

Audio version of “A Tour Through Walter Block’s Oeuvre,” in Walter Block – Anarcho-Capitalist Austro-Libertarian, Elvira Nica & Gheorghe H. Popescu, eds. (Addleton Academic Publishers, 2025). Thanks to George Besada.

Made this audio version:https://t.co/dxc81hv00Z

— Jorge Besada (@hayekian) February 19, 2026

Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (39.4MB)

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Kinsella, “Economic Calculation Under Socialism,” in Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk (1997)

by Stephan Kinsella on February 16, 2026

I recently added the text of this old chapter of mine to the post below on my legal blog. It was Appendix I to a book I co-authored with a colleague, but of course I wrote that appendix.

Economic Calculation Under Socialism, Appendix I to Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk (1997)

By Stephan Kinsella, KinsellaLaw.com (Dec. 10, 2004):

Recently found this oldie but goodie: my “Economic Calculation Under Socialism,” Appendix I to Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, 1997). Text below. It was not included in the successor treatise, Noah D. Rubins, Thomas N. Papanastasiou and N. Stephan Kinsella, International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, 2d ed. (Oxford University Press, 2020), as my co-authors there were less libertarian than me… [continue reading…]

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Giovanni Birindelli, The ethics of equality before the law

by Stephan Kinsella on February 14, 2026

The problem of particularistic ethics or, why everyone really has to admit the validity of the universalizability principle
Kinsella, “Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide,” Mises Daily (May 27, 2011)
Kinsella, “Dialogical Arguments for Libertarian Rights” and “Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan,” both in Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023)
Hans-Hermann Hoppe, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (Laissez Faire Books, 2013), ch. 7
idem, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (Auburn, Ala.: Mises Institute, 2006), chs. 11, 13

I came across an interesting reference in Alessandro Fusillo, “Rothbard, Philosopher of Law,” in Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment, Stephan Kinsella and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eds. (forthcoming 2026):

According to Giovanni Birindelli, the universalization test is the only criterion to distinguish arbitrary rules from an objectively founded legal system. He argues that the only rule that passes the test is the non-aggression principle which justifies coercion (self-defense) as a means to uphold self-ownership. Giovanni Birindelli, “L’etica dell’uguaglianza davanti alla legge” (“The ethics of equality before the law“), Giovanni’s Substack (Nov. 5, 2023).

Google’s English translation is below. [continue reading…]

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Craig Wright: You Don’t Own Your Digital Stuff. NFTs Could Actually Fix That — Without Intellectual Property

by Stephan Kinsella on February 12, 2026

KOL234 | Vin Armani Show: Live from London: Kinsella vs. Craig Wright Debate on Intellectual Property
KOL267 | Sal the Agorist Interview: Bitcoin, Copyright, Craig Wright
IP is Not “Not Property”
Libertarian and Lockean Creationism: Creation As a Source of Wealth, not Property Rights; Hayek’s “Fund of Experience”; the Distinction Between Scarce Means and Knowledge as Guides to Action
KOL274 | Nobody Owns Bitcoin (PFS 2019)
Joshua Fairfield, “Property as the law of virtual things,” Front Res Metr Anal. (2022 Aug 26)
Fairfield, Tokenized: The law of non-fungible tokens and unique digital property, Ind. LJ 97, 1261 (2022)
- Other articles by Fairfield
“Dr” [sic] ¹ Craig S Wright, “Blockchain and Digital Assets: A New Paradigm for Copyright and Patent Distribution through Micropayments” (29 Nov 2023)
Ana Mercedes López Rodríguez, “Law Applicable to Virtual Real Estate in the Metaverse Proceedings of the International Congress Towards a Responsible Development of the Metaverse,” June 2024

A new article is out from Craig “Satoshi” Wright, “You Don’t Own Your Digital Stuff. NFTs Could Actually Fix That — Without Intellectual Property.“, Craig’s Substack (Feb 10, 2026). Subtitled: “Why the “right-click save” crowd and the IP maximalists are both wrong, and how a 150-year-old economic tradition explains what digital ownership really means.”

I mentioned this in a tweet:
Craig Wright

Oh, I just noticed this is faketoshi, haha.

It doesn’t start out auspiciously: “There’s a dirty secret lurking behind every digital purchase you’ve ever made. That Kindle book you bought? You don’t own it. That film on your iTunes library? Not yours either.”

Well there are two…

— Stephan Kinsella (@NSKinsella) February 12, 2026

[continue reading…]

KOL234 | Vin Armani Show: Live from London: Kinsella vs. Craig Wright Debate on Intellectual Property: “during the debate I referred to him as Dr. Wright, since he claims to have several PhDs, but now I am not sure he has any legitimate PhDs, other perhaps than one in “theology”, so I should not have called him “Dr.” That was too deferential. … Wright claims over 16 master’s degrees (e.g., in statistics from the University of Newcastle, LLM from Northumbria University) and numerous certifications, but these have faced similar scrutiny. His LLM dissertation was found heavily plagiarized in the 2024 court case, with the judge calling it “extensive and methodical.” Court Context: In COPA v Wright [2024] EWHC 1198 (Ch), the judge ruled Wright lied “extensively and repeatedly” about being Satoshi Nakamoto, including forging documents. While degrees weren’t the focus, the judgment notes his “wholesale forgery, fabrication, and exaggeration” could extend to qualifications, but proceeded assuming they were real.” Grok re Wright PhDs (“In the 2024 UK High Court judgment in COPA v Wright (where Wright was ruled not to be Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto), the judge noted Wright’s pattern of forgery and plagiarism in other academic work (e.g., his 2008 LLM dissertation had 45 of 58 paragraphs copied verbatim), casting indirect doubt on his degrees. However, the court assumed his qualifications were true for the case, as they weren’t directly challenged.“); Wikipedia; Craig Wright, “The quantification of information systems risk: A look at quantitative responses to information security issues,” Doctoral Thesis, “Charles Sturt University” (2017); 2024 UK High Court judgment in COPA v Wright (pdf), ¶¶ 565–568, 582–585, on pattern of dishonesty,” ¶¶ 127–128, 393–395, 400, 926. [↩]

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Things AI Will Replace (Soon)

by Stephan Kinsella on February 11, 2026

I remember seeing a poster from a few years ago showing all the things smart phones replaced—pagers, dictaphones, address book, alarms, timers, music, podcasts, audiobooks, levels, cameras, dictionary, translation, maps, computers, compasses, GPS, flashlights, and so on. I asked Grok and ChatGPT to do the same for AI. See posters and lists below. Of course AI is being gimped and hampered by IP, and some of the things it will do are only necessary because of IP—for example generating new music or book covers or illustrations with AI because using existing music or images might infringe copyright.

See 24 things that the mobile phone has replaced; 30 Things Your Smartphone Has Replaced; 24 things made obsolete by smartphones.

[continue reading…]

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The Systemic Function of General Principles (International Law)

by Stephan Kinsella on February 9, 2026

Interesting recent lecture by Prof Mads Andenæs and Prof Johann Ruben Leiss, University of Oslo, ‘The Systemic Function of General Principles’ – Prof Mads Andenas & Prof Johann Ruben Leiss, University of Oslo (Feb. 6, 2026). See their paper Article 38(1)(d) ICJ Statute and the Principle of Systemic Institutional Integration; also General Principles and the Coherence of International Law – Principes Généraux Et Cohérence Du Droit International; The Law and Politics of the General Principles of Law in the Twenty-First Century. [continue reading…]

“To cite but a few examples, in the Corfu Channel case, the International Court of Justice found that the use of indirect evidence, in addition to being admitted in “all systems of law”, was “recognized by international decisions”. 44 In Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, the Court similarly noted that “[i]t is a general principle of law, confirmed by the jurisprudence of this Court, that a party which advances a point of fact in support of its claims must establish that fact”. 45 In the Chagos Marine Protected Area arbitration, the tribunal noted that the “frequent invocation [of the principle of estoppel] in international proceedings has added definition to the scope of the principle”. 4… The European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have likewise relied on prior decisions to justify the existence of the principle iura novit curia. 47 In international criminal law, prior decisions by international courts and tribunals have also played a significant role in the identification of general principles of law.48″ … “27 A general principle of law that is often referred to in practice and in the literature, and which may be considered to be of a general and abstract character, is the principle of good faith. …
28 Examples of general principles of law that have been invoked or applied in practice, and which may be considered to be of a more specific character (because they present, for instance, precise conditions for their application), include the principles of res judicata and lis pendens, and the right to lawyer-client confidentiality. See, respectively, International Court of Justice, Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia), Preliminary Objections, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2016, p. 100, at pp. 125–126, paras. 58–61; Permanent Court of International Justice, Certain German Interests in Polish Upper Silesia, Judgment, 25 August 1925, P.C.I.J. Series A, No. 6, pp. 5 et seq., at p. 20; International Court of Justice, Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data (Timor‐Leste v. Australia), Provisional” .. “Examples of such general principles of law may include pacta sunt servanda, good faith, the principles of lex specialis and lex posterior, respect for human dignity and elementary considerations of humanity.” [↩]

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Unlike Milei, and per Rothbard, Repudiate the Debt!

by Stephan Kinsella on February 8, 2026

Adapted from an forthcoming article by Hans-Hermann Hoppe:

… concerning [Javier] Milei and the (non-)closure of Argentina’s central bank” … He has also introduced some economic “free market” reforms in Argentina that have been inspired by “Austrians.” But he has done nothing truly radical, deserving the praise of any anarcho-capitalist. He has not closed the central bank, as originally promised, and there are no signs that this will happen any time soon. He has brought consumer price inflation down from 300% to some 30% (wow!), but the money supply (of all monetary aggregates) has continued to grow rapidly (even more so than under several of his predecessors). He has centralized rather than decentralized government power and is on record as being fundamentally opposed to secession. In addition to assuming (rather than repudiating, as Rothbard would have recommended; see below) the existing government debt owed to the IMF of some 40 billion USD, he burdened the Argentinian people with another 42 billion USD of debt, solicited from the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, and in order to avoid insolvency right before the Argentinian mid-term election, in October 2025, he further required a rescue package of some 20 billion USD from “his dear friend” Donald Trump. [continue reading…]

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