What I’m going to say about Chandran Kukathas’s latest book, Immigration and Freedom, does not constitute a book review. Think of it instead as a book alert. Even having read only the preface and a couple of chapters, I am confident it is a book that fans of liberty will be interested in. You can tell by the title.
Tag: polycentric
Randy Barnett: Polycentric Legal Orders (49m)
This episode features a talk by lawyer and legal theorist Randy Barnett from 1997. He speaks broadly on various methods of constraining state power including federalism and the separation of powers, the power of exit, and existing and theoretical polycentric legal orders. Barnett suggests that two simple rules must be present for polycentric orders to work: a “nonconfiscation principle,” and a “competition principle.”
The Voluntaryist Constitution, an Oxymoron?
Trey Goff had an interesting article published at Mises.org outlining what he is calling a “voluntaryist constitution.” Can such a thing even exist? I don’t believe it could exist as anything more than an ideological creed. I thought it’d be fun to scrutinize the so-called voluntaryist constitution from my particular voluntaryist perspective.
A Conversation Between Voluntaryists: What’s with IP?
Kilgore and I have had another discussion. This time about intellectual property (IP) laws and their role, if any, in a free society. This topic is not as much of a debate as the last, but still worth having.
The Law According to the Somalis
Many voluntaryists have looked longingly toward Somalia for evidence of our ideas in practice. But it’s a little tough when that real-world example also happens to be the quintessential image of extreme poverty and feuding warlords for most people. Nonetheless, sometimes an article appears that rightly points out that comparing Somalia to developed nations is a little intellectually dishonest. In fact, Somalia has improved by virtually every measure of standard of living without a state, or when compared to its neighbors that still have a state.
Wage and Employment without the State
Anti-capitalists and anti-socialists make the same charge against each other: “your economic system wouldn’t exist without the state.” What do they base this charge on? Historic evidence of state capitalism and state socialism. All the popular charges against either economic system is rooted in the statist varieties, not the inherent economic qualities; given, neither system…
What Is Polycentric Law?
Editor’s Pick. Written by Tom Bell. Do you like having options when you look for a new bank, dry cleaner, or veterinarian? Of course you do. You want to find the service that will best satisfy your particular demands, after all, and you know that when banks, cleaners, and vets have to compete they have…
An Empirical Inquiry into Polycentric Power Structures
Editor’s Pick. Written by Wheylous. When anarcho-capitalists argue that protection should be provided in a private manner by companies instead of coercively by governments, opponents maintain that neighboring police agencies will start fighting amongst each other. The argument goes that one company will decide that it will make more money if it physically forces another…