Suggested Readings: Libertarianism

Libertarianism: A Primer
By David Boaz
ISBN: 0-684-83198-8

"These days, you can't understand politics—and why so many Americans are so unhappy with it—without knowing what libertarianism is all about. . . . For anyone who wants to explore the ideas that are energizing the Right and exasperating the Left, David Boaz's clear and often passionate book is the place to begin."
—Jonathan Rauch, author of Demosclerosis

Anything That's Peaceful
By Leonard E. Read
ISBN: 1-57246-079-2

"Leonard Read said so much, so well, long before any of us began to think clearly about it. How much better life would be if laws were simple—if people were allowed to do Anything That's Peaceful."
—John Stossel, ABC News

What It Means to Be a Libertarian: A Personal Interpretation
By Charles Murray
ISBN: 0-553-06928-4

"A book guaranteed to delight fans and infuriate foes of the coauthor of the controversial The Bell Curve. Murray's version of libertarianism embraces familiar themes. The ideal (i.e., limited) government created by the Founders has become a bloated bureaucracy that threatens individual freedom. Leftists have foisted welfare programs, environmental regulations, and affirmative action on American society. Not only are these policies pernicious, according to Murray, but their goals would be achieved more efficiently by a free market unimpeded by government."
—Kirkus Reviews

Toward Liberty: The Idea That Is Changing the World
Edited by David Boaz
ISBN: 1-930865-27-9

"Essays collected here, published between 1977 and 2001 by the Cato Institute, a public policy research foundation, explain major world events of the past twenty-five years that have led to the expansion of open markets, open societies, free trade, and individual liberty around the world. Researchers and academics in economics, foreign policy studies, and law analyze aspects of economic growth, the welfare state, the transition from communism, trade and international finance, and democracy and culture."
—Book News