This essay shows that Murray Rothbard’s recognition of the potential for private individuals and the marketplace to deal with environmental issues is emblematic of his approach both to economics generally and the implications of policy specifically. It examines his arguments and extends them by exploring the development of environmentalism and environmental policy in the fifty years since the publication of For a New Liberty.
Peter C. Earle is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
Ryan M. Yonk is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Senior Research Faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research.
EconomistsEconomyFree Market EconomicsPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by Peter C. Earle
Fall 2024 The Profit Motive: Defending Shareholder Value Maximization
Spring 2021 The Origins and Political Persistence of COVID-19 Lockdowns
Other Independent Review articles by Ryan M. Yonk
Spring 2025 Extensions and Expansions of the Ratchet Effect: An Introduction to the Symposium
Spring 2025 The China Ratchet: Extending Higgs’s Model to Explore Foreign Policy
Summer 2017 From Equality and the Rule of Law to the Collapse of Egalitarianism
[View All (4)]