''The Machinery of Freedom'' is a nonfiction book by

David D. Friedman David Director Friedman (born February 12, 1945) is an American economist, physicist, legal scholar, and anarcho-capitalist theorist. Although he studied chemistry and physics and not law or economics, he is known for his textbook writings on m ...

that advocates an

anarcho-capitalist Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enfo ...

society from a consequentialist perspective. The book was published in 1973, with a second edition in 1989 and a third edition in 2014.

Overview

The book aims to show that

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and its enforcement do not require a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, but can be sustained by non-coercive private enterprise and charity. It explores the consequences of libertarian thought, describes examples of stateless societies (such as the

Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. With ...

) and offers the author's personal statement about why he became a libertarian. Topics addressed in the book include polycentric law and the provision of public goods such as military defense in a stateless society. Friedman argues that a stateless legal system would be beneficial for society as a whole, including the poor. While some books supporting similar libertarian and anarcho-capitalist views offer support in terms of morality or natural rights, Friedman (although he explicitly denies being a utilitarian)Second Edition, pg. 165 here argues largely in terms of the effects of his proposed policies. Friedman conjectures that anything done by government costs at least twice as much as a privately provided equivalent,Second edition, p. 85. which has been labeled as his eponymous law: "It costs any government at least twice as much to do something as it costs anyone else." He offers examples as evidence such as a comparison of the cost of the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

's costs for package delivery with the costs of private carriers and the cost of the Soviet government versus market based services in the West.Second edition, p. 85.

Reception

The

Institute of Public Affairs The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a conservative non-profit free market public policy think tankAbout the IPA
...

, a libertarian think tank located in Australia, included ''The Machinery of Freedom'' in a list of the "Top 20 books you must read before you die" in 2006. ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

'' magazine named the book among ''The Top Ten Best Libertarian Books'', praising Friedman for tackling the problems related to private national defense systems and attempting to solve them.

Related books

* ''

The Problem of Political Authority ''The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey'' is a book by University of Colorado philosophy professor Michael Huemer released in January 2013. The first part of the book argues in detail for Hue ...

'' by

Michael Huemer Michael Huemer (; born 27 December 1969) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has defended ethical intuitionism, direct realism, libertarianism, veganism, and philosophical anarchism. Education and career H ...

builds on Friedman's vision of an anarcho-capitalist society in considerable detail * ''Chaos Theory'' by Robert P. Murphy * ''Order Without Law'' by

Robert Ellickson Robert C. Ellickson is an American property law scholar. He is the Walter E. Meyer Professor of Property and Urban Law at Yale Law School, and was formerly on the faculty at the USC Gould School of Law and Stanford Law School. He is a fellow of t ...

* ''

For a New Liberty ''For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto'' (1973; second edition 1978; third edition 1985) is a book by American economist and historian Murray Rothbard, in which the author promotes anarcho-capitalism. The work has been credited as an infl ...

'' by

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 ...

* '' The Market for Liberty'' by Linda and Morris Tannehill * '' The Enterprise of Law'' by Bruce L. Benson

Notes

References

External links

''The Machinery of Freedom''
(full text PDF file of the second edition) *
The Machinery of Freedom
' (full text PDF file of the third edition)

at Friedman's personal website, including free chapters of the book
"Illustrated Video Summary of ''The Machinery of Freedom''"
on YouTube
"Economics of David D. Friedman's ''The Machinery of Freedom'': Some similarities and dissimilarities to the Austrian school"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machinery Of Freedom, The 1973 non-fiction books Anarcho-capitalist books