Rothbard at 100: Five Economic Insights That Still Matter

This collection of essays by Friedrich Hayek, "Hayek for the 21st Century," offers a selection of his most insightful and relevant works. The essays cover a range of topics, including the role of markets, the limitations of government intervention, and the importance of individual liberty. Hayek's writings provide a powerful critique of central planning and a compelling defense of free markets. The essays are known for their clarity, their intellectual rigor, and their enduring relevance to contemporary economic and political issues. This collection is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding Hayek's contributions to economic thought.

Toward a Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics is Murray Rothbard's influential 1956 essay that analyzes and critiques mid-century developments in utility and welfare theory. Rothbard engages with neoclassical and mathematical treatments—such as ordinal utility, indifference curves, and expected-utility theory—arguing for an alternative grounded in demonstrated (revealed) preference and praxeological reasoning. He challenges attempts at interpersonal utility comparisons and the scientific pretensions of welfare criteria like Pareto improvements and Kaldor-Hicks compensation. The essay proposes a welfare approach based on the voluntary nature of exchanges and observed choices, aligning with libertarian principles. It remains a substantive intervention in methodological debates within economics and philosophy of social science.

Making Economic Sense is an accessible anthology of Murray Rothbard's essays that distill key Austrian economic ideas into clear, concise pieces suitable for non-specialists. The collection covers topics such as money, taxation, government intervention, and market processes, showcasing Rothbard's clarity and polemical style. It serves as a friendly introduction to Rothbard's thought for readers daunted by his larger treatise, Man, Economy, and State. The essays help readers build intuition about praxeological reasoning and the Austrian approach to monetary and capital theory.

Man, Economy, and State is a seminal work in Austrian economics, written by Murray N. Rothbard. The book develops the entire body of economic theory step-by-step, starting from incontestable axioms and addressing complex issues such as business cycle theory and monopoly theory. It also includes a critique of government intervention in markets, which is further elaborated in the companion text, Power and Market. Rothbard's work is known for its clear and rigorous presentation of economic principles, emphasizing the importance of individual action and the free market. The book is considered a modern classic and ranks alongside Ludwig von Mises's Human Action as a cornerstone of the Austrian School of economics.