John Allen Pugsley (January 5, 1934 – April 8, 2011) was an American

voluntaryist Voluntaryism (,"Voluntaryism"
''

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

political, economics commentator, lecturer, and best-selling author.

Early life

Pugsley was born in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He attended

El Camino Junior College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. After serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, he spent a year cruising on a 38-foot sailboat, and another year living in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

with his wife and children. He then returned to the U.S. and spent the next two decades as a businessman.

Career

In the late 1950s to mid 1960s Pugsley worked at General Dynamics – Astronautics Sycamore Canyon Rocket Test facility as a technical writer. Among other projects, he wrote countdown procedures for Atlas and Centaur Rocket tests. In the late 1960s Pugsley entered the investment business, founded a publishing company, the Common Sense Press, and wrote his first book, ''Common Sense Economics''. It sold over 150,000 hardcover copies. His second book, ''The Alpha Strategy'' (1980), was on the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

bestseller list for nine weeks in 1981. Pugsley distributed a PDF edition of the book free of charge (as of 2012, the author's domain has expired. A reposting of the PDF has been provided by fans). Even after 31 years in circulation as of 2012, ''The Alpha Strategy'' is considered a standard reference on stocking up on food and household goods as a hedge against

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. This has made it popular with survivalists. In ''Common Sense Economics'' Pugsley cites as influences

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian m ...

Henry Hazlitt Henry Stuart Hazlitt (; November 28, 1894 – July 9, 1993) was an American journalist who wrote about business and economics for such publications as ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Nation'', ''The American Mercury'', ''Newsweek'', and '' ...

, and

Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and Sociology, sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberali ...

, and subsequent works also cite Andrew J. Galambos. In 1995 he authored an open letter to

Harry Browne Harry Edson Browne (June 17, 1933 – March 1, 2006) was an American writer, politician, and investment advisor. He was the Libertarian Party's Presidential nominee in the U.S. elections of 1996 and 2000. He authored 12 books that in total have ...

advising him against running for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

; Pugsley's argument was based on the principles of

voluntaryism Voluntaryism (,"Voluntaryism"
''

non-voting Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...

. In 1975 he began a newsletter on economic and political events, ''Common Sense Viewpoint'' (1974), which had 30,000 subscribers at its peak. In 1988 he began publishing ''John Pugsley's Journal'', an investment-economic newsletter covering political, economic, and investment topics.A brief biography of John A. Pugsley
In the mid-1970s, after reading E.O. Wilson's book '' Sociobiology: The New Synthesis'', Pugsley began to study evolutionary biology. As his study continued over the next 25 years, he founded The Bio-Rational Institute. Pugsley was one of the founding members of The Eris Society. In 1997, he helped found The Sovereign Society, an international organization dedicated to maintaining and protecting its members' privacy, wealth and liberty. The society is primarily geared toward

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

relocation,

offshore banking An offshore bank is a bank regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment. Due to less regulation and ...

and

trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...

. Pugsley was the society's chairman at the time of his death and wrote a monthly column for its e-newsletter, ''The Sovereign Individual.'' In 2006, he founded "The Stealth Investor", a weekly e-letter stock advisory letter.

Later years and death

Near the end of his life, Pugsley lived in

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...

, and just before moving there he lived aboard a 50-foot sloop named ''Eris Island'' in the Abacos, Bahamas, with Kiana Delamare. Delamare has written for ''EscapeArtist.com''Life on Eris Island, part 3, Setting sail at long last: glorious days in the Bahamas
and the ''International Living'' e-newsletter. Pugsley died at age 77 on April 8, 2011.
LewRockwell.com (blog), April 8, 2011

Books authored

* ''Common Sense Economics'' (1974) * ''The Metals Investors Handbook'' (1983) * ''The Alpha Strategy: The Ultimate Plan of Financial Self-Defense for the Small Investor'' (1980) * ''The Bank Book'' (1981) * ''The Copper Play'' (1980) * ''The Interest Rate Strategy'' (1982)

Early life

Career

Later years and death

Books authored

See also