About the Author

David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute. He is the author of Libertarianism: A Primer (an updated edition to be released in 2015 called The Libertarian Mind), and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He lives in the Washington, DC, area.

Reviews

P.J. O'Rourke America is a country full of people who feel personal liberty and individual responsibility in their guts. This book puts those guts into words. America is also a country full of politicians, academics, and self-possessed elites who mistrust liberty and responsibility ot the bottom of their souls. This book plants a kick in that fundament. William F. Weld Libertarianism: A Primer is a bracing shot of 100-proof libertarianism guaranteed to render mute the last defenders of big, paternalistic government. With plain-spoken eloquence, David Boaz unveils a vision of America that has at its core an abiding respect for personal liberty and freedom writ large. Dave Barry I hope everybody reads this book. My only concern is that, if we ever do wise up and dump the federal government, I'll lose my biggest source of comic material.

P.J. O'Rourke America is a country full of people who feel personal liberty and individual responsibility in their guts. This book puts those guts into words. America is also a country full of politicians, academics, and self-possessed elites who mistrust liberty and responsibility ot the bottom of their souls. This book plants a kick in that fundament. William F. Weld Libertarianism: A Primer is a bracing shot of 100-proof libertarianism guaranteed to render mute the last defenders of big, paternalistic government. With plain-spoken eloquence, David Boaz unveils a vision of America that has at its core an abiding respect for personal liberty and freedom writ large. Dave Barry I hope everybody reads this book. My only concern is that, if we ever do wise up and dump the federal government, I'll lose my biggest source of comic material.

Boaz, executive vice-president of the Cato Institute, advocates libertarianism as the underlying philosophy for 21st-century U.S. politics. He finds that this philosophy allows each person "the right to live his life in any way he chooses as long as he respects the equal rights of others." Boaz claims that libertarian principles will minimize government intervention in people's economic and political choices and enlarge ideas of individual freedom. Indicating that libertarian political and economic approaches can diminish problems that stem from "big government," Boaz also argues that libertarian views can resolve contemporary policy dilemmas, such as drug use or discriminatory employment practices, better than pluralism or capitalism. General readers and individuals concerned with future directions of American politics will find this book an interesting and informative initial analysis. [See also Charles Murray's What It Means to Be a Libertarian, reviewed below.‘Ed.]‘Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ., Mo.