Discussion on Libertarianism with Steve Pinker

From: Walter Block <[email protected]>

Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2021 6:58 AM

To: Steven

Subject: friends

Dear Steve:

I hope and trust, despite this, that we are still friends. In fact, I’m sure of it:

Block, Walter E. 2021. “Did a Harvard professor just refute libertarianism?” September 29; https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/09/did_a_harvard_professor_just_refute_libertarianism.html

Any chance I can convert you to the one true faith, libertarianism?

Best regards,

Walter

From: Pinker, Steven

Sent: Friday, October 15, 2021 1:19 PM

To: Walter Block <[email protected]>

Subject: RE: friends

Still friends, Walter! Still, taxes and social spending are ubiquitous for a reason. As I argue in Enlightenent Now,

Social spending inoculates citizens against the appeal of communism and fascism. Some of the benefits, like universal education and public health, are public goods that accrue to everyone, not just the direct beneficiaries. Many of the programs indemnify citizens against misfortunes for which they can’t or won’t insure themselves (hence the euphemism “social safety net”). And assistance to the needy assuages the modern conscience, which cannot bear the thought of the Little Match Girl freezing to death, Jean Valjean imprisoned for stealing bread to save his starving sister, or the Joads burying Grampa by the side of Route 66.

Best,

Steve

From: Walter Block <[email protected]>

Sent: Friday, October 15, 2021 1:36 PM

To: ‘Pinker, Steven’

Subject: RE: friends

Dear Steve:

Good to hear from you. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.

Assistance to the needy, both to inoculate them against bad things, and to help them, is virtuous. But why should govt do that. Charles Murray in his Losing Ground demonstrates that this breaks up the family, especially the black one, which is not a good thing.

As for public goods, in my view this is an economic fallacy (the quote from Rothbard I think is definitive):

Barnett and Block, 2007, 2009; Block, 1983, 2000, 2003; Cowen, 1988; De Jasay, 1989; Fegley, et al, 2021; Holcombe, 1997; Hoppe, 1989; Hummel, 1990; Osterfeld, 1989; Pasour, 1981; Radnitzky, 1989; Rothbard, 1997; Schmidtz, 1991; Sechrest, 2003, 2004A, 2004B, 2007; Tinsley, 1999.

Barnett, William II and Walter E. Block. 2007. “Coase and Van Zandt on Lighthouses,” Public Finance Review, Vol. 35, No. 6, November, pp. 710-733

Barnett, William and Walter E. Block. 2009. “Coase and Bertrand on Lighthouses,” Public Choice; 140(1–2):1–13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-008-9375-x

Block, Walter E. 1983. “Public Goods and Externalities: The Case of Roads,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies: An Interdisciplinary Review, Vol. VII, No. 1, Spring, pp. 1-34; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/7_1/7_1_1.pdf

Block, Walter E. 2000. “Word Watch,” April 20; http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=414&FS=Word+Watch

Block, Walter E. 2003. “National Defense and the Theory of Externalities, Public Goods and Clubs.” The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, Hoppe, Hans-Hermann, ed., Auburn: Mises Institute, pp. 301-334; http://www.mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf

Bibliography. Undated. http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/Mises?hl=en&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&q=public%20goods

Cowen, Tyler, ed. 1988. The Theory of Market Failure: A Critical Examination, Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press; http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Market-Failure-Critical-Examination/dp/0913969133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200191409&sr=1-1

De Jasay, Anthony. 1989.  Social Contract, Free Ride: A Study of the Public Goods Problem. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; http://www.amazon.com/Social-Contract-Free-Ride-Paperbacks/dp/0198239122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200191531&sr=1-1

Fegley, Tate, Kristoffer Mousten Hansen and Karl-Friedrich Israel. 2021. “Rothbard’s Underappreciated Contributions to Public Goods Analysis.” March 2;

https://mises.org/wire/rothbards-underappreciated-contributions-public-goods-analysis

Holcombe, Randall. 1997. “A Theory of the Theory of Public Goods,” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 10, No. 1: 1-10; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE10_1_1.pdf

Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1989. “Fallacies of the Public Goods Theory and the Production of Security,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 27-46; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_2.pdf

Hummel, Jeffrey. 1990. “National Goods vs. Public Goods: Defense, Disarmament and Free Riders,” The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. IV, pp. 88-122; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae4_1_4.pdf

Osterfeld, David. 1989. “Anarchism and the Public Goods Issue: Law, Courts and the Police,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1, Winter, pp. 47-68; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_3.pdf

Pasour, Jr., E.C., 1981, “The Free Rider as a Basis for Government Intervention,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. V, No. 4, Fall, pp. 453-464; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/5_4/5_4_6.pdf

Radnitzky, Gerard. 1989. Review of De Jasay, Anthony. 1989.  Social Contract, Free Ride: A Study of the Public Goods Problem. Cato Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 263-270 (Spring/Summer).

Rothbard, Murray N. 1997. The Logic of Action: Applications and Criticism from the Austrian School, Vol. II, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar

Rothbard’s (1997, 178) reductio absurdum of public goods is as follows: “A and B often benefit, it is held, if they can force C into doing something. . . . [A]ny argument proclaiming the right and goodness of, say, three neighbors, who yearn to form a string quartet, forcing a fourth neighbor at bayonet point to learn and play the viola, is hardly deserving of sober comment.”

Schmidtz, David. 1991. The Limits of Government: An Essay on the Public Goods Argument, Boulder Co: Westview Press

Sechrest, Larry.  2003. “Privateering and National Defense: Naval Warfare for Private Profit”, pages 239-74, The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, edited by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama.

Sechrest, Larry.  2004A. “Public Goods and Private Solutions in Maritime History.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Vol. 7, No. 2. Summer, 3-27.

http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_2_1.pdfhttps://dev.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_2_1.pdf

Sechrest, Larry.  2004B. “Private Provision of Public Goods: Theoretical Issues and Some Examples from Maritime History,” ICFAI Journal of Public Finance, August, Vol. II, No. 3, 45- 73; http://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/Sechrest7.pdf

Sechrest, Larry. 2007. “Privately Funded and Built U.S. Warships in the Quasi-War of 1797-1801,” The Independent Review, Summer, Vol. 12, No. 1: 101-113.

Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. “With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf

National defense::

Block, 2003; Cowen, 1988; De Jasay, 1989; Hoppe, 1989; Hummel, 1990; Pasour, 1981; Rothbard, 1997; Schmidtz, 1991; Sechrest, 2003, 2004A, 2004B, 2007

Block, Walter E. 2003. “National Defense and the Theory of Externalities, Public Goods and Clubs.” The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, Hoppe, Hans-Hermann, ed., Auburn: Mises Institute, pp. 301-334; http://www.mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf

Cowen, Tyler, ed. 1988. The Theory of Market Failure: A Critical Examination, Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press; http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Market-Failure-Critical-Examination/dp/0913969133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200191409&sr=1-1

De Jasay, Anthony. 1989.  Social Contract, Free Ride: A Study of the Public Goods Problem. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; http://www.amazon.com/Social-Contract-Free-Ride-Paperbacks/dp/0198239122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200191531&sr=1-1

Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1989. “Fallacies of the Public Goods Theory and the Production of Security,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 27-46; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_2.pdf

Hummel, Jeffrey. 1990. “National Goods vs. Public Goods: Defense, Disarmament and Free Riders,” The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. IV, pp. 88-122; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae4_1_4.pdf

Pasour, Jr., E.C., 1981, “The Free Rider as a Basis for Government Intervention,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. V, No. 4, Fall, pp. 453-464; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/5_4/5_4_6.pdf

Rothbard, Murray N. 1997. The Logic of Action: Applications and Criticism from the Austrian School, Vol. II, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar

Schmidtz, David. 1991. The Limits of Government: An Essay on the Public Goods Argument, Boulder Co: Westview Press

Sechrest, Larry.  2003. “Privateering and National Defense: Naval Warfare for Private Profit”, pages 239-74, The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, edited by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama.

Sechrest, Larry.  2004A. “Public Goods and Private Solutions in Maritime History.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Vol. 7, No. 2. Summer, 3-27.

http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_2_1.pdfhttps://dev.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_2_1.pdf

Sechrest, Larry.  2004B. “Private Provision of Public Goods: Theoretical Issues and Some Examples from Maritime History,” ICFAI Journal of Public Finance, August, Vol. II, No. 3, 45- 73; http://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/Sechrest7.pdf

Sechrest, Larry. 2007. “Privately Funded and Built U.S. Warships in the Quasi-War of 1797-1801,” The Independent Review, Summer, Vol. 12, No. 1: 101-113.

I’m gonna blog this, unless I hear from you to the contrary.

Best regards,

Walter

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3:20 am on October 28, 2021