In “Classical Liberalism versus Anarchocapitalism” (originally published in Property, Freedom and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe (2009)), Jesus Huerta de Soto provides an excellent chart (above) that I think is superior to the Nolan Chart (below).
See also Tom Knapp’s political spectrum bell curve: “On the far Left (market anarchism) and the far Right (anarcho-capitalism), appetite for political government trails off to zero (which is why “Left” and “Right” libertarians have so much in common).”
Tom Knapp’s Political Spectrum Bell Curve
Update: See also the Political Triangle (from Twitter):
Certainly makes a lot more sense. See also, this: http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/7175/newpoliticalcompass.png
Interesting charts. A few questions. Maybe you can help me understand. How can a statist be in favor of private property as in de Soto’s chart?
Knapp’s chart also raises the question how can classical liberalism and libertarianism be on opposite sides of the spectrum? And why does Knapp claim Murphy is more anarchist than Rothbard and Hoppe?
I believe this chart is simply over emphasizing that US Libertarians are somewhat right (pro free market) leaning in the US, whereas historically and throughout the world, core Libertarians are nearly indistinguishable from classic liberals. Therefore, this chart could definitely be improved by placing the left wing Libertarians in the same space as the classic liberals and be more accurate.
Anyone that doesnt believe Libertarians have a left wing has never met Noam Chomsky.
David Friedman is more statist than Ron Paul?
I think that’s supposed to be Milton Friedman.
I do not believe that Ayn Rand is in the proper place on the Knapp chart. She advocated for a Capitalist society, one that was 100% voluntary based interaction. She disagreed with Rothbard’s anarcho-capitalists only in the name that each of them gave to the entity that would settle disputes among people. Rothbard referred to it as private mediation, Rand referred to it as ‘government’. Both believed that participation in the process required consent and must be paid for voluntarily.