Introduction

A common response to a good article is to say to the author: you should write a book! I’ve heard this for years, but from what I’ve seen of such efforts, most articles should remain articles. Looking at the corpus of writings in the Austrian tradition, from more than a century ago through the latest books brought out by the Mises Institute, there are more than enough books available, containing systematic expositions of theory and history, that need to be read and studied. There is nothing I could say systematically in a book-length treatment that would add to the articles I write weekly. Articles and books constitute separate literary genres, taking a different pace and designed for different purposes.

The same is true of nonacademic public speeches. They are not designed to give a systematic exposition of ideas but rather to introduce ideas and apply them to the current moment in a way that holds people’s attention. The prose takes a different form from the article or the book. It is more immediate and more rhetorical in the classical sense of that term. I have had the pleasure of delivering many of these over the years, to students, supporters of the Mises Institute, financial professionals, and others. Now I’ve collected them, with little change, into a single volume.

I’ve made no attempt to disguise the dated material, and thus some do refer to events of the Clinton years without reference to later events. The material on the current state of the economy is subject to withering with time. Some of the material on war predates the change in public sentiment after September 11, 2001—a date which has become something of a hinge of history in American foreign policy.

But there are two senses in which the material itself will always remain relevant. First, the principles are always the same. Second, events tend to repeat themselves. For example, I recently watched a video about the Federal Reserve that the Mises Institute made in the early nineties. It described the recessionary environment of the time. Watching it again in 2003, it seems up to the minute!

I’ve organized the speeches by topic, though there is plenty of overlap between sections. Economics is tied to politics which leads to issues of war and peace, and back again. I’ve added neither footnotes nor bibliographies, knowing that Mises.org and Google searches can instantly yield more references for further study than I could possibly add.

Reading through all these, I find common themes: the corruptions of politics, the universality and immutability of the ideas of freedom, the centrality of sound money and free enterprise, the moral imperative of peace and trade, the importance of hope and tenacity in the struggle for liberty, and the need for everyone to join the intellectual fight. These are the themes I hoped to convey in my speeches over the years.

Reading them is no substitute for keeping up with the news through short commentaries, and they are certainly no substitute for extensive reading in the scholarly literature. If someone asked me whether he should read this book or something by Ludwig von Mises or Murray Rothbard, I wouldn’t have to consider the question long. It is always better to do deep study.

And yet, I do find value in this genre. I hope you do too. Mostly, I hope you consider supporting the ideas that led me to write them and deliver them. Also, I’ve included two longer interviews that are a bit more personal.

Many thanks to all those who contributed editorial advice, criticism, and guidance, not all of whom could possibly be named here because so many people have corresponded with me concerning points in this book. But let me mention in particular: Patricia Barnett, Burton S. Blumert, Karen De Coster, Gary North, Chad Parish, David Schatz, James Sheehan, Joseph Stromberg, Judy Thommesen, Jeffrey Tucker, and Kathy White.

A special thank you to all those who have listened over the years, and, in particular, to the patrons of this book and all supporters of the Mises Institute.

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Auburn, Alabama