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Defending the Undefendable
Posted on: March 5, 2021 at 11:44:40 CT
pickle MU
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https://cdn.mises.org/Defending_the_Undefendable_2018.pdf
https://cdn.mises.org/Defending%20the%20Undefendable_2_0.epub
Professor Block's book is in a new edition from the Mises Institute, completely reset and beautifully laid out in an edition worthy of its contents.
It is among the most famous of the great defenses of victimless crimes and controversial economic practices, from profiteering and gouging to bribery and blackmail. However, beneath the surface, this book is also an outstanding work of microeconomic theory that explains the workings of economic forces in everyday events and affairs.
Murray Rothbard explains why:
“Defending the Undefendable performs the service of highlighting, the fullest and starkest terms, the essential nature of the productive services performed by all people in the free market. By taking the most extreme examples and showing how the Smithian principles work even in these cases, the book does far more to demonstrate the workability and morality of the free market than a dozen sober tomes on more respectable industries and activities. By testing and proving the extreme cases, he all the more illustrates and vindicates the theory.”
F.A. Hayek agreed, writing the author as follows:
“Looking through Defending the Undefendable made me feel that I was once more exposed to the shock therapy by which, more than fifty years ago, the late Ludwig von Mises converted me to a consistent free market position. … Some may find it too strong a medicine, but it will still do them good even if they hate it. A real understanding of economics demands that one disabuses oneself of many dear prejudices and illusions. Popular fallacies in economics frequently express themselves in unfounded prejudices against other occupations, and showing the falsity of these stereotypes you are doing a real services, although you will not make yourself more popular with the majority.”
https://mises.org/library/defending-undefendable
Foreword by Murray N. Rothbard
Introduction
I. Sexual
1. The Prostitute
2. The Pimp
3. The Male Chauvinist Pig
II. Medical
4. The Drug Pusher
5. The Drug Addict
III. Free Speech
6. The Blackmailer
7. The Slanderer and Libeler
8. The Denier of Academic Freedom
9. The Advertiser
10. The Person Who Yells “Fire!” in a Crowded Theater
IV. Outlaw
11. The Gypsy Cab Driver
12. The Ticket Scalper
13. The Dishonest Cop
V. Financial
14. The (Nongovernment) Counterfeiter
15. The Miser
16. The Inheritor
17. The Moneylender
18. The Noncontributor to Charity
VI. Business and Trade
19. The Curmudgeon
20. The Slumlord
21. The Ghetto Merchant
22. The Speculator
23. The Importer
24. The Middleman
25. The Profiteer
VII. Ecology
26. The Stripminer
27. The Litterer
28. The Wastemakers
VIII. Labor
29. The Fat Capitalist-Pig
30. The Scab
31. The Rate Buster
32. The Employer of Child Labor
https://cdn.mises.org/Defending%20the%20Undefendable_2_0.epub
Professor Block's book is in a new edition from the Mises Institute, completely reset and beautifully laid out in an edition worthy of its contents.
It is among the most famous of the great defenses of victimless crimes and controversial economic practices, from profiteering and gouging to bribery and blackmail. However, beneath the surface, this book is also an outstanding work of microeconomic theory that explains the workings of economic forces in everyday events and affairs.
Murray Rothbard explains why:
“Defending the Undefendable performs the service of highlighting, the fullest and starkest terms, the essential nature of the productive services performed by all people in the free market. By taking the most extreme examples and showing how the Smithian principles work even in these cases, the book does far more to demonstrate the workability and morality of the free market than a dozen sober tomes on more respectable industries and activities. By testing and proving the extreme cases, he all the more illustrates and vindicates the theory.”
F.A. Hayek agreed, writing the author as follows:
“Looking through Defending the Undefendable made me feel that I was once more exposed to the shock therapy by which, more than fifty years ago, the late Ludwig von Mises converted me to a consistent free market position. … Some may find it too strong a medicine, but it will still do them good even if they hate it. A real understanding of economics demands that one disabuses oneself of many dear prejudices and illusions. Popular fallacies in economics frequently express themselves in unfounded prejudices against other occupations, and showing the falsity of these stereotypes you are doing a real services, although you will not make yourself more popular with the majority.”
https://mises.org/library/defending-undefendable
Foreword by Murray N. Rothbard
Introduction
I. Sexual
1. The Prostitute
2. The Pimp
3. The Male Chauvinist Pig
II. Medical
4. The Drug Pusher
5. The Drug Addict
III. Free Speech
6. The Blackmailer
7. The Slanderer and Libeler
8. The Denier of Academic Freedom
9. The Advertiser
10. The Person Who Yells “Fire!” in a Crowded Theater
IV. Outlaw
11. The Gypsy Cab Driver
12. The Ticket Scalper
13. The Dishonest Cop
V. Financial
14. The (Nongovernment) Counterfeiter
15. The Miser
16. The Inheritor
17. The Moneylender
18. The Noncontributor to Charity
VI. Business and Trade
19. The Curmudgeon
20. The Slumlord
21. The Ghetto Merchant
22. The Speculator
23. The Importer
24. The Middleman
25. The Profiteer
VII. Ecology
26. The Stripminer
27. The Litterer
28. The Wastemakers
VIII. Labor
29. The Fat Capitalist-Pig
30. The Scab
31. The Rate Buster
32. The Employer of Child Labor
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Defending the Undefendable - pickle MU - 3/5 11:44:40