Murray Rothbard

Table of contents

1 Murray Rothbard (1926 - 1995) 1.1 Austrian school of economics 1.2 Economics and the public 1.3 Natural Rights 1.4 On individuals 1.4.1 Adam Smith 1.4.2 John Stuart Mill 1.4.3 Karl Marx

Murray Rothbard (1926 - 1995)

American economist and political author

Austrian school of economics

• "The more consistently Austrian an economist is, the better a writer he will be."

Economics and the public

• "It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance."
  • Making Economic Sense (1995)

Natural Rights

• "Rights may be universal, but their enforcement must be local."
  • Two Just Wars: 1776 and 1861 (1994)

• "All government wars are unjust."

On individuals

Adam Smith

• "The problem is that he originated nothing that was true, and that whatever he originated was wrong ..."
  • An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (1995)

John Stuart Mill

• "John Stuart was the quintessence of soft rather than hardcore, a woolly minded man of mush in striking contrast to his steel-edged father."
  • An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (1995)

Karl Marx

• "... shameless sponging on friends and relatives ... Marx affected a hatred and contempt for the very material resource he was to anxious to cadge and use so recklessly. Marx created an entire philosophy around his own corrupt attitudes toward money."
  • An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (1995)