Speaking of Liberty Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. Patrons The Mises Institute dedicates this volume to all of its generous donors, and in particular wishes to thank these Patrons: Anthony Deden, Christopher P. Condon, Hugh E. Ledbetter, Mr. and Mrs. William W. Massey, Jr., Roger Milliken, Mr. and Mrs. R. Nelson Nash, Stephenson Family Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Willard Fischer / Fisher Printing, Inc., Douglas E. French, Don Printz, M.D., Frederick L. Maier, James Bailey / James Bailey Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Bost, James W. Frevert, Jule R. Herbert, Jr., Julie Lauer-Leonardi, Mr. and Mrs. William Lowndes, III, William S. Morris, III / Morris Communications Corp., Donald Mosby Rembert, top dog™, James M. Rodney, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Schirrick in memory of Jeannette Zummo, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Shaw, Joe Vierra, Robert H. Walker / Walker Die Casting Company ^ Andreas Acavalos, Robert B. Allan, Anonymous, Richard Bleiberg, Dr. V.S. Boddicker, John Hamilton Bolstad, Ronald Bridges, Paul H. Casey, Mr. and Mrs. John C. Cooke, Kerry E. Cutter, Carl A. Davis / Davis-Lynch, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. de Ganahl, Eric Englund, Dr. Larry J. Eshelman, Charles Groff, Charley Hardman, Horace H. Harned, Frank W. Heemstra, Jeremy Horpedahl, Dr. and Mrs. Robert D. Hurt, Martin Jungbluth, W. Thomas Kelly, Lucille Lane, Joe R. Lee, John M. Leger, Dr. Floy Lilley, Arnold Lisio, M.D., Arthur L. Loeb, Björn Lundahl, Samuel Medrano, M.D., in honor of Lupe C. Medrano, Joseph Edward Paul Melville, Robert Mish, Brantley I. Newsom, James O’Neill, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald L. Peterson, Robert M. Richards, Catherine Dixon Roland, Conrad Schneiker, Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Sebrell, Tibor Silber, William V. Stephens, Robert Stewart, George Taylor, James E. Tempesta, M.D., Lawrence Van Someren, Sr., Mr. and Mrs. Quinten E. Ward, Dr. Thomas Wenck, David Westrate / T and O Foundation, Arthur Yakubovsky, Dr. Steven Lee Yamshon To Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995), Scholar, Teacher, Gentleman Copyright © 2003 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute Cover art courtesy of The Saint Louis Art Museum (George Caleb Bingham, Stump Speaking, 1853–54) All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. For information write the Ludwig von Mises Institute, 518 West Magnolia Avenue, Auburn, Alabama 36832. ISBN: 0-945466-38-2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . .9 ECONOMICS The Marvel That Is Capitalism . .13 A Secret History of the Boom and Bust . .25 Why Austrian Economics Matters . .40 The Viability of the Gold Standard . .57 What Causes the Business Cycle? . .69 Is Inflation Dead? . .81 The Economics of Discrimination . .92 Medicine and the State . .113 WAR War and Freedom . .129 Free Trade versus War . .142 Time to End Perpetual War . .156 Down with the Presidency . .174 War and the Capitalist Press . .192 LUDWIG VON MISES Mises and Liberty . .209 Are We All Historians of Decline? . .232 The Promise of Human Action . .255 Human Action and the Politics of Freedom . .263 Against Destructionism . .284 7 8 Speaking of Liberty IDEAS An American Classical Liberalism . .299 In Defense of Public Intellectuals . .316 The Sinful State . .327 The Real State of the Union . .338 The Transformation of American Opinion . .348 Dawn Will Follow This Darkness . .370 The Path to Victory . .380 INTERVIEWS AND TRIBUTES Rockwell-Doherty Interview . .389 Rockwell-Kantor Interview . .418 The Wisdom of LeFevre . .426 Hans Sennholz: Misesian for Life . .431 The Hayek Moment . .435 Murray N. Rothbard: In Memoriam . .440 The Joy of JoAnn . .456 A Tribute to Trade . .460 BIBLIOGRAPHY . .465 INTRODUCTION common response to a good article is to say to the author: you should write a book! I’ve heard this for Ayears, but from what I’ve seen of such efforts, most articles should remain articles. Looking at the corpus of writ- ings in the Austrian tradition, from more than a century ago through the latest books brought out by the Mises Institute, there are more than enough books available, containing sys- tematic expositions of theory and history, that need to be read and studied. There is nothing I could say systematically in a book-length treatment that would add to the articles I write weekly. Articles and books constitute separate literary genres, taking a different pace and designed for different purposes. The same is true of nonacademic public speeches. They are not designed to give a systematic exposition of ideas but rather to introduce ideas and apply them to the current moment in a way that holds people’s attention. The prose takes a different form from the article or the book. It is more immediate and more rhetorical in the classical sense of that term. I have had the pleasure of delivering many of these over the years, to students, supporters of the Mises Institute, finan- cial professionals, and others. Now I’ve collected them, with little change, into a single volume. I’ve made no attempt to disguise the dated material, and thus some do refer to events of the Clinton years without ref- erence to later events. The material on the current state of the 9 10 Speaking of Liberty economy is subject to withering with time. Some of the mate- rial on war predates the change in public sentiment after September 11, 2001—a date which has become something of a hinge of history in American foreign policy. But there are two senses in which the material itself will always remain relevant. First, the principles are always the same. Second, events tend to repeat themselves. For example, I recently watched a video about the Federal Reserve that the Mises Institute made in the early nineties. It described the recessionary environment of the time. Watching it again in 2003, it seems up to the minute! I’ve organized the speeches by topic, though there is plenty of overlap between sections. Economics is tied to poli- tics which leads to issues of war and peace, and back again. I’ve added neither footnotes nor bibliographies, knowing that Mises.org and Google searches can instantly yield more refer- ences for further study than I could possibly add. Reading through all these, I find common themes: the corruptions of politics, the universality and immutability of the ideas of freedom, the centrality of sound money and free enterprise, the moral imperative of peace and trade, the importance of hope and tenacity in the struggle for liberty, and the need for everyone to join the intellectual fight. These are the themes I hoped to convey in my speeches over the years. Reading them is no substitute for keeping up with the news through short commentaries, and they are certainly no substitute for extensive reading in the scholarly literature. If someone asked me whether he should read this book or some- thing by Ludwig von Mises or Murray Rothbard, I wouldn’t have to consider the question long. It is always better to do deep study. And yet, I do find value in this genre. I hope you do too. Mostly, I hope you consider supporting the ideas that led me Introduction 11 to write them and deliver them. Also, I’ve included two longer interviews that are a bit more personal. Many thanks to all those who contributed editorial advice, criticism, and guidance, not all of whom could possi- bly be named here because so many people have corre- sponded with me concerning points in this book. But let me mention in particular: Patricia Barnett, Burton S. Blumert, Karen De Coster, Gary North, Chad Parish, David Schatz, James Sheehan, Joseph Stromberg, Judy Thommesen, Jeffrey Tucker, and Kathy White. A special thank you to all those who have listened over the years, and, in particular, to the patrons of this book and all supporters of the Mises Institute. Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. Auburn, Alabama 1. Economics THE MARVEL THAT IS CAPITALISM [This speech was given before the Adam Smith Club, Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina, April 4, 2002.] ree-market economics, of which the Austrian School is the preeminent exponent, asserts that every govern- Fment intervention in the market generates conse- quences that are deleterious for prosperity and human liberty. However much such interventions may assist one group in the short run, everyone is made worse off in the long run. Government intervention destabilizes economic life in artifi- cial ways, and ultimately does not work to bring about the results that its proponents claim to desire. Carl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School of eco- nomics, was a firm believer in the law of cause and effect. He believed that economic affairs could be analyzed in these terms as well. Menger’s followers in this tradition of thought, including Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard, spelled out the implications of this idea for a huge range of issues that con- front us on a daily basis in the world of economics and poli- tics. They focused on universal principles that can be derived from the teachings of economics. The law of supply and 13 14 Speaking of Liberty demand, for example, cannot be repealed by any legislature or court. Government regulators can impose price ceilings, price floors, or limits to the size of firms like Microsoft, but eco- nomic law bites back by yielding shortages, surpluses, and reduced profitability. It is important that we think of economic life as an intri- cate global system of exchange, one that works without any central direction, and which generates prosperity and its own form of order within the framework of liberty. This is what is sometimes termed the magic of the marketplace, and we should never underestimate its power.