StephanKinsella.com

Down with the Bill of Rights: Heller and the Central States Cheerleaders (2008)

by Stephan Kinsella on June 25, 2021

I started this draft article years ago but never finished it. Including it here for google to index for me.

Stephan Kinsella

Draft

June 2008

“[T]he rule of law is a myth and like all myths, it is designed to serve an emotive, rather than cognitive, function. The purpose of a myth is not to persuade one’s reason, but to enlist one’s emotions in support of an idea. And this is precisely the case for the myth of the rule of law; its purpose is to enlist the emotions of the public in support of society’s political power structure.”

—John Hasnas

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Constitutional Structures in Defense of Freedom (ASC 1998)

by Stephan Kinsella on June 25, 2021

Starting in 1995, just after Rothbard’s death and after meeting Hans-Hermann Hoppe, ¹ I attended several of the interdisciplinary Austrian Scholars Conferences, held by the Mises Institute in the Spring, in Auburn, AL—at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, before the Mises Institute had its own building completed. I presented various papers at the ASCs, many of which were published in the Journal of Libertarian Studies or elsewhere, many of which will be incorporated into my forthcoming Law in a Libertarian World. The ASC has since been superseded by the AERC, or Austrian Economics Research Conference, held in the Spring at Auburn, and the Libertarian Scholars Conference, held a few times in recent years in New York.

For the Austrian Scholars Conference held April 1998, I chaired the Law and Economics panel, and presented a paper, “Constitutional Structures in Defense of Freedom: Are They Possible?” I did not record my talk nor did I ever officially publish the paper, which was somewhat informal and more sketched out as notes for the talk; it is reproduced below.

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See various biographical articles here discussing this. [↩]

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“Faculty Spotlight Interview: Stephan Kinsella” (Mises.org, 2011)

by Stephan Kinsella on June 20, 2021

“Faculty Spotlight Interview: Stephan Kinsella,” Mises Economics Blog (Feb. 11, 2011) [archived comments below]

[Update: see various biographical pieces on my publications page, including Alan D. Bergman, Adopting Liberty: The Stephan Kinsella Story (2025).]

see related biographical pieces here

Faculty Spotlight Interview: Stephan Kinsella

02/12/2011 Mises.org

Stephan Kinsella is a registered patent attorney and General Counsel for Applied Optoelectronics, Inc; also Senior Fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Editor of Libertarian Papers, and Director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF). He has published numerous articles and books on IP law, international law, and the application of libertarian principles to legal topics, including International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide (Oxford University Press, 2005); Louisiana Civil Law Dictionary (Quid Pro, forthcoming 2011); and Against Intellectual Property (Mises Institute, 2008). [continue reading…]

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“Libertarians & the Religious Right: an Interview with Stephan Kinsella,” by Alberto Mingardi (1999)

by Stephan Kinsella on June 20, 2021

Libertarians & the Religious Right: an Interview with Stephan Kinsella (wayback version), by Alberto Mingardi, Laissez Faire City Times, v. 2.39 (1999)

Libertarians & the Religious Right: an Interview with Stephan Kinsella

by Alberto Mingardi

N. Stephan Kinsella is co-author of the book Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk (Oceana 1997), as well as co-editor of the legal treatise Digest of Commercial Laws of the World (Oceana 1998). He is actively involved with the Ludwig von Mises Institute, one of the best think tanks around.

“As far as libertarianism goes,” says Kinsella about himself, “I am most interested in rights theory, about which I have written in law reviews and other journals like Reason Papers and the Journal of Libertarian Studies, and law and economics. I have attempted to develop a framework justifying and grounding rights, which is based on the legal concept of ‘estoppel’.”
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KOL344 | With Adam Terrell of Theocracy: Copyrights Are Unlawful

by Stephan Kinsella on June 18, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 344.

This is my appearance with Adam Terrell of the Theocracy podcast: 022 Copyrights Are Unlawful with Stephan Kinsella (recorded May 7, 2021). From his shownotes:

Now, some of you know I have a background in media production. And I have gotten royalty checks and benefitted from a copyright “tradition” (I don’t call it law) on multiple occasions, and I have family who have had their entire livelihoods supported by it. So how can I say in the title that “Copyrights Are Unlawful?” Stephan Kinsella is my guest today. I found him through Tom Woods’s podcast years back, and I’ve run in to his talks at Mises University online several times. He’s a patent attorney who has helped me think through these issues practically relating to intellectual property and why it doesn’t exist. I believe there is a Bible verse I can point to as well in Exodus, but we’ll get to that. We get in to some less-than-settled issues as well.

Spotify:

Youtube:

Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:22 — 23.8MB)

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KOL343 | Aborted IP Debate with Nina Prevot; IP and Libertarianism Q&A

by Stephan Kinsella on June 11, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 343.

This is an IP and libertarianism Q&A. It was originally supposed to be a debate with an intellectual property attorney on IP but after challenging me, she bowed out. I went live at the appointed time anyway and discussed it briefly, and fielded questions from those that tuned in. We started off in Youtube live stream and because it sucks, I switched over to a Zoom call 34 minutes in so others could ask questions and participate (next time I’ll use Zoom only).

This started when someone on Twitter recommended my Against Intellectual Property:

How do you take down big tech and big pharma?

Repeal all IP laws.

You'll see insulin included in Happy Meals.

— Libertarian Party of Kentucky (@lpky) June 10, 2021

To which one @libertascoco responded with this snipe:

https://twitter.com/libertascoco/status/1402820244851154945

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Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (76.2MB)

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KOL342 | Bitcoin2021 Announcement: Open Crypto Alliance

by Stephan Kinsella on June 6, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 342.

The Bitcoin2021 audience

Thanks to the good offices of my friend Vijay Boyapati, author of the new book-length version of The Bullish Case for Bitcoin, the organizers of bitcoin2021 in Miami, June 4-5 2021, graciously gave me two minutes to make an announcement about the Open Crypto Alliance (@OpenCryptoX) and its work, on Saturday June 5. I was introduced by Charlie Shrem.

Transcript below.

Youtube:

Note (4/20/22): The video above was taken down by a copyright strike from Bitcoin Magazine (ironically). They have promised to restore it, but in the meantime, here is the backup:

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Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (3.1MB)

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KOL341 | ESEADE Lecture: Should We Release Patents on Vaccines? An Overview of Libertarian Property Rights and the Case Against IP

by Stephan Kinsella on June 5, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 341.

This was a webinar I did for an Argentinian audience for ESEADE May 26, 2021. The topic was formally “Should We Release Patents on Vaccines” (“¿Hay que liberar las patentes sobre las vacunas?“). In this talk, I briefly provide an overview of the nature of property rights and the principled case against IP, then apply it to vaccines, and took questions from the audience.

Grok shownotes:

In this webinar hosted by ESEADE on May 26, 2021, Stephan Kinsella, a prominent libertarian thinker and patent attorney, delivers a compelling case against intellectual property (IP) rights, focusing on the question of whether patents on vaccines should be released (0:00-6:05). Kinsella begins by outlining libertarian property rights, rooted in the Austrian School’s emphasis on scarcity and human action, arguing that property rights apply to scarce, physical resources, not intangible ideas (6:06-16:35). He critiques the utilitarian justification for patents, asserting they create artificial scarcity, hinder competition, and fail to deliver the promised innovation, using the vaccine patent debate as a case study to illustrate how patents restrict access to life-saving technologies (16:36-27:05). Kinsella’s libertarian framework emphasizes that ideas, being non-scarce, should be freely shared to maximize societal benefit, challenging the notion that patents are necessary for progress.

Kinsella further dismantles the patent system by examining its historical roots in state-granted monopolies and its practical flaws, such as encouraging wasteful litigation and redundant research (27:06-37:50). He argues that vaccine patents, particularly during a global health crisis, exemplify the harm of IP by limiting production and access, proposing that abolishing patents would enhance innovation and availability (37:51-48:20). In the Q&A session, Kinsella addresses audience questions on trade secrets, the morality of IP, and the role of government in vaccine distribution, reinforcing his stance that a free market unburdened by IP would better serve humanity (48:21-1:02:42). He concludes by urging listeners to reject IP as a state-imposed distortion, advocating for a world where knowledge flows freely to drive progress (1:02:43-1:03:12). This lecture is a concise yet thorough exploration of libertarian principles applied to a pressing real-world issue.

[Update: See also FDA and Patent Reform: A Modest Proposal; “Patents, Pharma, Government: The Unholy Alliance,” Brownstone Institute (April 1, 2024), Kinsella, “Are Patents Needed to Make Up for FDA Kneecapping?” (July 2, 2011).]

Transcript and Grok DETAILED summary below.

Youtube:

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Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:15 — 51.5MB)

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KOL340 | Politified Official Stephan Kinsella Interview

by Stephan Kinsella on June 4, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 340.

“Watch as Benjamin Politics, Bleu Politics and Mencius Kuang interview well renowned economist Stephan Kinsella” (Jan. 12, 2021)

Youtube:

Original:

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KOL339 | Foreword to A Spontaneous Order (audio)

by Stephan Kinsella on June 1, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 339.

This is an audio version of my Foreword to Chase Rachels’ A Spontaneous Order, narrated by Graham Wright.

Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:37 — 13.4MB)

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KOL338 | Human Action Podcast Ep. 308 with Jeff Deist: Rothbard on Punishment, Property, and Contract

by Stephan Kinsella on May 28, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 338.

Update: See also KOL463 | Contracts, Usury, Fractional-Reserve Banking with André Simoni and this Grok analysis of various problems with smart contracts including the fact that most loans are unsecured.

From Human Action Podcast Ep. 308, “Rothbard’s The Ethics of Liberty with Stephan Kinsella” (May 27, 2021), with Jeff Deist, discussing Rothbard’s Ethics of Liberty, chapters 9, 13, 19, et pass. (PDF). [continue reading…]

Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:11 — 58.1MB)

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KOL190-2 | Part 2: On Life without Patents and Copyright: Or, But Who Would Pick the Cotton? — Panel Discussion, Hoppe, Dürr, Kinsella, van Dun, Daniels (PFS 2015)

by Stephan Kinsella on May 24, 2021

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 190-2. Also podcast as PFP145.

In 2015 I delivered this talk: “On Life without Patents and Copyright: Or, Who Would Pick The Cotton?” at the Property and Freedom Society, 10th Annual Meeting, Bodrum, Turkey (Sep. 13, 2015), which is here: KOL190 | On Life without Patents and Copyright: Or, But Who Would Pick the Cotton? (PFS 2015).

This is the subsequent panel discussion with Q&A from the speakers for that day, to-wit: Hans-Hermann Hoppe, David Dürr, Stephan Kinsella, Frank van Dun, Anthony Daniels (Theodore Dalrymple).

Transcript below.

Panel discussion video:

TRANSCRIPT

Panel Discussion, Q&A: Hoppe, Dürr, Kinsella, van Dun, Daniels (PFS 2015)

by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, David Dürr, Stephan Kinsella, Frank van Dun, Anthony Daniels

Property and Freedom Society, 10th Annual Meeting

Bodrum, Turkey (Sep. 13, 2015)

00:00:23

HANS-HERMANN HOPPE: Somebody approached me with a wish – it was a question, if email addresses would like to be shared. I did not want to do anything without the people’s permission, so there will be a list at the front desk where you can maybe – the name list of all the participants where you can either write your email address in there or not if you prefer not to make your email address known to others. So whoever is interested, please take advantage of the opportunity, and David Durr wanted to make a brief announcement too. Give the microphone. [continue reading…]

Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:29 — 51.7MB)

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