ZadekpediaWalter Block is an economist described in the sources as a professor of economics at Loyola University New Orleans. Bob Zadek introduced him as the author of some 300 articles in professional and lay journals, two dozen books, and hundreds of op-ed articles, and as a frequent lecturer and television and radio guest. Zadek singled out Block’s book Defending the Undefendable, which he recommended as a quick read. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
On the show
1 appearance, 2014.
- 2014-01-11 · How the Free Market Will Save the Planet · 82:35 — Libertarian principles and the non-aggression principle.
Their books discussed on the show
- Defending the Undefendable (1991) — discussed 2014
Libertarianism as a theory of just law
Asked to summarize what it means to be a libertarian, Block said libertarianism is not about morality but is a narrow philosophical perspective focused only on what just law should be. He offered his own conservative personal morality as an illustration—he said he does not use marijuana, heroin, prostitution or pornography and would not want his daughter to be a prostitute or his son to do drugs—and contrasted that with the libertarian question of what the law should be. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
Block described the non-aggression principle as one half of libertarianism: keep your hands off other people and their property unless you have their permission, and nothing but things between consenting adults is legitimate. Zadek pressed that the “you” includes government acting collectively, which Block characterized as anarcho-capitalism or very radical libertarianism, distinguishing it from minarchists who would exempt government. Block placed himself and Zadek among the radical libertarians who allow no exceptions, saying no one—individuals, robber gangs, or governments operating under color of government—should invade anyone else. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
The other half, Block said, is property rights, which are needed to determine whether taking a hat is aggression or repossession. He followed John Locke and Murray Rothbard, whom he called heroes: you own yourself, you own what you homestead or mix your labor with, and you own what you acquire through voluntary means such as buying, selling, gifts and gambling. He gave the example of clearing land and growing corn while another domesticates cows, then trading, so that ownership can be traced back to voluntary action and homesteading. Zadek called homesteading mainly a theoretical construct for past justifications, and Block replied that Zadek was 99 percent correct, citing virgin land on mountains in Wyoming or Alaska, and the moon, Mars and the oceans. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
Minimum wage as a test case
Block used the minimum wage to show the gap between assent to the non-aggression principle and its application. He said that if he wants to hire someone at five dollars an hour and the person agrees, the law makes them criminals, calling it a victimless crime, and noted that libertarians get only 1 percent of the vote. Zadek argued that supporters of the minimum wage justify it by saying people cannot live on it, which he said is not a principle, and asked what business government has making someone a criminal for selling their services at what they are worth. Block added that it also makes the employer a criminal. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
Pollution and common law nuisance
On environmentalism, Block said pollution was a good place to start, with species extinction to follow. He described a spate of nuisance cases in the 1830s and 1840s: a woman whose clean laundry hung out to dry came back dirty from a factory smokestack two miles away, and a farmer whose haystacks were burned by sparks from a passing railroad. Both sought damages and an injunction, and Block said the courts were very amenable to such suits, though he did not claim every environmental plaintiff won. Zadek said this was consistent with the common law of nuisance going back to England, judge-made law protecting adjacent landowners. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
Block framed the soot and sparks as trespasses onto property, so that protecting property rights meant polluters had to account for external costs, install spark-catchers on locomotives or equipment in smokestacks, and gave entrepreneurs an incentive to use cleaner-burning anthracite coal. He also described early environmental forensics—determining which factory a soot particle came from so as not to sue innocent parties. Zadek summarized the result as humans resolving their own disputes without government interjecting itself. How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014)
Across episodes
Two episodes touch on Block. In the 2014 episode he is the guest, presenting libertarianism, property rights and common law nuisance. In the 2017 episode he is not a guest but is named by Dr. Michael Edelstein, who said he befriended Block and that Block converted him to libertarianism over many months of political conversation, and by Zadek, who said Block had been a guest on his show about two or three times and was one of the few libertarians who warmly embraced Donald Trump’s run for presidency, one of the first. The episodes show no development of Block’s own arguments between the episodes; the later episode adds only testimony about his influence and his politics. How to Stay Sane in a Statist World (2017)