Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed

Northwestern University law professor Koppelman (Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty?) argues in this pointed and persuasive critique that libertarianism has mutated into “an infantile fantasy of godlike self-sufficiency.” Tracing the core principles of “modern American libertarianism” to Austrian political philosopher Friedrich Hayek, Koppelman details how Hayek’s belief that “opportunities created by the free markets” are the best way to alleviate poverty has been corrupted by thinkers including Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick, and Murray Rothbard, who share an extreme commitment to property rights, hostility to government regulation, and a willful blindness to market externalities such as pollution and the emergence of noncompetitive monopolies. This extreme form of libertarianism, Koppelman shows, has inspired Republican Party policy from the 1994 Contract with America to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and is behind the party’s steadfast opposition to Obamacare and environmental regulation. Though Koppelman’s contention that Hayek’s “middle way” aligns with modern-day Democratic principles has some blind spots—including Hayek’s ambivalence toward antitrust laws—he makes a strong case that “unregulated markets cannot deliver a livable world.” This treatise has the power to reach readers on both the right and the left. (Oct.)