Part of a series on Libertarianism For other uses, see Libertarianism (disambiguation). ...
Schools of thought
Agorism Anarcho-capitalism Geolibertarianism Green libertarianism Right-libertarianism Left-libertarianism Minarchism Neolibertarianism Paleolibertarianism Progressive libertarianism Agorism is an anarchist political philosophy founded by Samuel Edward Konkin III and characterized by proponents as left-libertarian. ... Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ... Geolibertarianism (also geoanarchism) is a liberal political philosophy that holds along with other forms of libertarian individualism that each individual has an exclusive right to the fruits of his or her labor, as opposed to this product being owned collectively by society or the community. ... Green-Libertarian describes a political philosophy that was established in the United States. ... Libertarianism is a political philosophy that holds that individuals should be allowed complete freedom of action as long as they do not infringe on the freedom of others. ... Left-libertarianism is a term that has been adopted by several different movements and theorists. ... In civics, minarchism, sometimes called minimal statism or small government, is the view that the size, role and influence of government in a free society should be minimal — only large enough to protect the liberty and property of each individual. ... Neolibertarianism is a political philosophy combining elements of libertarian and conservative thought that embraces incrementalism and pragmatism domestically, and a generally interventionist foreign policy based on self-interest, national defense and the expansion of freedom. ... Paleolibertarianism is a school of thought within American libertarianism founded by Lew Rockwell and Murray Rothbard, and closely associated with the Ludwig von Mises Institute. ... Progressive Libertarianism is a political or philosophy whose adherents promote social change through voluntarism rather than government laws and regulation. ...
Origins
Austrian School Chicago School Classical liberalism Individualist anarchism The Austrian School, also known as the Vienna School or the Psychological School, is a school of economic thought that advocates adherence to strict methodological individualism. ... The Chicago School of Economics is a school of thought in economics; it refers to the style of economics practiced at and disseminated from the University of Chicago after 1946. ... Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism[1] and laissez-faire liberalism[2]) is a doctrine stressing the importance of human rationality, individual property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil liberties, constitutional limitations of government, free markets, and individual freedom from restraint as exemplified in the writings of Adam... Theory and practice Issues History Culture By region Lists Related Anarchism Portal Politics Portal ·        Individualist anarchism (also anarchist individualism, anarcho-individualism, individualistic anarchism) refers to any of several traditions that hold that individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective body or public...
Ideas
Civil liberties Tax cuts Free markets Free trade Humanism Laissez-faire Liberty Individualism Non-aggression Private property Self-ownership Civil liberties is the name given to freedoms that protect the individual from government. ... A tax cut is a reduction in the rate of tax charged by a government, for example on personal or corporate income. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... See also the specific life stance known as Humanism For the Renaissance liberal arts movement, see Renaissance humanism Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ... For other uses, see Liberty (disambiguation). ... Methodological individualism is a philosophical orientation toward explaining broad society-wide developments as the accumulation of decisions by individuals. ... The non-aggression principle (also called the non-aggression axiom, anticoercion principle, or zero aggression principle) is a deontological ethical stance associated with the libertarian movement. ... This page deals with property as ownership rights. ... Self-ownership or sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty is the condition where an individual has the exclusive moral right to control his or her own body and life. ...
Topics
Economic views History Movement Parties Theories of law Views of rights Criticism of libertarianism Libertarian Republican Libertarian Democrat Economic libertarianism is the doctrine that government should not engage in economic interventionism, but only prohibit force and fraud. ... The history of libertarianism is closely related to the history of classical liberalism. ... The libertarian movement consists of the various individuals and institutions who have historically advanced the ideas and causes of libertarianism. ... Many countries and subnational political entities have libertarian political parties. ... Libertarian theories of law build on libertarianism or classical liberalism. ... Libertarians and Objectivists limit what they define as rights to variations on the right to be left alone, and argue that other rights such as the right to a good education or the right to have free access to water are not legitimate rights and do not deserve the same... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Libertarianism. ... A libertarian Republican is a person who subscribes to libertarian philosophy while typically voting for and being involved with the United States Republican Party. ... A libertarian Democrat is a person who subscribes to libertarian philosophy while typically voting for and being involved with the United States Democratic Party. ...
Politics Portal
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Bryan Caplan (b. 1971) is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He received his B.S. in economics from University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. A great deal of his professional work has been devoted to the philosophies of libertarianism and free-market capitalism. He has published in notable journals such as American Economic Review, Public Choice, and the Journal of Law and Economics, among others. He is a blogger at EconLog along with Arnold Kling, and occasionally has been a guest blogger at Marginal Revolution with two of his colleagues at George Mason, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. Image File history File links Portal. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... George Mason University, also known as GMU or simply Mason, is a public university in the United States. ... Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Independent City Founded 1805 Government  - Mayor Robert Lederer Area  - City  6. ... Sather tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... For other uses, see Libertarianism (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Marginal Revolution is a blog focused on economics run by economists Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, both of whom teach at George Mason University. ... Tyler Cowen (COW-en) (b. ... Alex Tabarrok is a Canadian economist and co_owner, with Tyler Cowen, of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution. ...

Currently, his primary research interest is public economics. He has criticized the assumptions of rational voters that form the basis of public choice theory, but generally agrees with their conclusions based on his own model of "rational irrationality." Caplan's book on this theme, The Myth of the Rational Voter (Princeton University Press 2007), was inspired by and is a response to the arguments put forward by economist Donald Wittman in his The Myth of Democratic Failure. Public economics is the study of the public sector and its influence on the economy and society. ... Rational may be: the adjective for the state of rationality acting according to the philosophical principles of rationalism a mathematical term for certain numbers; the rational numbers the software company Rational Software; now owned by IBM, and formerly Rational Software Corporation This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid... Public choice theory is a branch of economics that studies the decision-making behavior of voters, politicians and government officials from the perspective of economic theory. ... The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies is a 2007 book written by Bryan Caplan challenging the notion that voters are reasonable people that society can trust to make laws. ...

While an economist by trade, Caplan has cultivated a life-long interest in philosophy and once considered becoming an academic philosopher. He has been heavily influenced by Ayn Rand, Thomas Szasz, and Thomas Reid. He is an atheist. For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: ), was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher,[1] known for creating a philosophy she named Objectivism and for writing the novels We the Living, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and the... Szasz redirects here. ... Thomas Reid Thomas Reid (April 26, 1710 – October 7, 1796), Scottish philosopher, and a contemporary of David Hume, was the founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense, and played an integral role in the Scottish Enlightenment. ... For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ...

Caplan is also well known for his criticisms of the Austrian school of economics. While he once considered himself an economist in the Austrian tradition, he has since rejected Austrian "praxeological" methods in favor of neoclassical methods. According to Caplan, "While the substantive contributions of Austrian economists to economics are significant, their sum from Human Action on is small compared to the progress that neoclassical economics has made over the same time period."[1] While some Austrian economists have disagreed with his criticisms, many have praised him as one of their more knowledgeable and interesting critics, and he has published in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, published by the Mises Institute. The Austrian School, also known as the Vienna School or the Psychological School, is a school of economic thought that advocates adherence to strict methodological individualism. ... Praxeology is the science of human action. ... Neoclassical economics refers to a general approach (a metatheory) to economics based on supply and demand which depends on individuals (or any economic agent) operating rationally, each seeking to maximize their individual utility or profit by making choices based on available information. ... Human Action: A Treatise on Economics is the magnum opus of the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. ... The Ludwig von Mises Institute is a foundation, based in Auburn, Alabama, dedicated to research on economics and political economy. ...

Caplan has also been a critic of the economics profession in general, on the grounds that a large portion of economic research is devoted to issues which are minute or uninteresting, concentrating more on mathematical methods than genuine academic inquiry. He considers behavioral economics to be one of the more important fields in the profession. He contributes to and administrates an "Armchair Economics" e-mail list for discussion of economic phenomena in everyday life, named after a book by Steven Landsburg. Economics Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, was an important figure in the development of behavioral finance and economics and continues to write extensively in the field. ... Steven Landsburg Steven E. Landsburg (born 1954) is an American professor of economics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. ...

He maintains an extensive website where viewers can access his academic work, an assortment of unpublished essays, and a variety of exhibits. Of note, the site includes a "Museum of Communism" section, in which he analyzes Marxist ideology and gives overviews of Communist atrocities in the 20th century. Also of note on his website is an "Anarchist Theory FAQ" which has met with criticism amongst many social and individualist anarchists, provoking responses including Appendix 1.1 of "An Anarchist FAQ". He was recently featured in a warning to college students issued by the Center for American Progress and has been the subject of some disapproving discussion in the blogosphere. Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... An Anarchist FAQ is an online FAQ written by an international work group of anarchists connected through the internet. ...

Resources

• Bryan Caplan's Website
• The Myth of the Rational Voter (book)
• "The Myth of the Rational Voter" (essay)
• Why I Am Not An Austrian Economist
• Anarchist Theory FAQ
• Intellectual Autobiography of Bryan Caplan by Bryan Caplan
• Caplan on voting Caplan discusses his book on EconTalk
• Caplan on labor markets Caplan discusses labor markets on EconTalk