Via the Atlas Foundation blog, a rather idiosyncratic list. The top 3 are Bryan Caplan’s Myth of the Rational Voter, Brian Doherty’s Radicals for Capitalism, and Hernando De Soto’s The Mystery of Capital.
Atlas also solicits suggestions for books not on the list. Much to my delight, Damon Root of Reason responds:
Obviously any such list will have its omissions, but I’d like to nominate one additional book that deserves real attention: legal historian David Bernstein’s excellent Only One Place of Redress: African Americans, Labor Regulations, & the Courts from Reconstruction to the New Deal. Bernstein meticulously documents the ways that Progressive and New Deal economic regulations, including labor laws, occupational licensing laws, and prevailing wage laws, directly harmed African Americans. In contrast, on those occasions when state and federal courts actively protected economic liberty against this state abuse, blacks were among the prime beneficiaries, a process that the New Deal takeover of the Supreme Court brought to a disastrous end.
So that’s my vote for a book that should have made the cut.
UPDATE: For those who may be interested, Amazon has used copies for <$10, which is the cheapest I’ve seen it (retail is $49.95).
jcm says:
The Mystery of Capital:
December 29, 2009, 9:52 pmTo Squatter is good. Washington was wrong for defending native american
Lawyers are to blame for poor growth . No matter that the relationship between poor growth and number of lawyers like the Olson view on growth has been proved wrong
ArthurKirkland says:
But it is both obvious and strange that the list focuses myopically on economics — not much, if any, mention of people imprisoned for using nanny-state-controlled substances; women’s reproductive rights; expanded government surveillance and secrecy; and plenty of other important subjects concerning personal liberty that should find a spot on a list compiled by libertarians.
December 30, 2009, 12:41 amTweets that mention The Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » The Ten Best Pro-Liberty Books of the Decade -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Alexandra Do Sado, Eugene Volokh. Eugene Volokh said: The Ten Best Pro-Liberty Books of the Decade: Via the Atlas Foundation blog, a rather idiosyncratic list. The .. http://bit.ly/801cfc [...]
December 30, 2009, 7:46 amDavid Bernstein says:
Not so strange if you notice that Atlas surveyed mostly economists.
December 30, 2009, 8:05 amWilliamP says:
To me the biggest problem with this list is that its comprised solely of the kind of nonfiction which has a lot to say but which is likely to have little broad cultural influence, and that I get the distinct impression that most of the books on the list are essentially contributing to a closed system. If you’re reading about these books on Volokh you’re probably already pretty pro-liberty and, illuminating as they might be, it is neither brave nor revolutionary to agree with one’s fellows.
I’m not a big fan of top-ten lists, but I’d like to make a pitch for Warren Ellis’ Crooked Little Vein. Its a quick little novel written by a British author and inexplicably published by William Morrow. On one level you have an absurdist and utterly filthy detective novel set in contemporary America. On another you have an outside observer writing about the struggle between desperate liberty and the constant urge to control one’s neighbor that has characterized at least the last century of American history. At it’s core its a love letter to the great things America can accomplish written by examining all the little freaks and fetishists who, as a group, end up the mainstream.
December 30, 2009, 10:00 amSandy MacHoots says:
I would put the Harry Potter series on the list. There’s no economics, but the themes of standing with friends and family (organized as a private militia) against a corrupt and ineffective government effectively in league with evil — is a powerful libertarian message.
Congrats on getting a mention, Prof. Bernstein. As I’ve noted before, it’s an excellent book.
December 30, 2009, 1:53 pmRobertF says:
There is now one less for sale on Amazon. :-)
December 30, 2009, 2:24 pmArthurKirkland says:
It seems strange that anyone claiming to assemble a list of top pro-liberty books would focus myopically on economists, who would focus myopically on economics. That’s at least two deviations from the claimed path. Which seems to explain why the destination differed from the stated objective.
December 30, 2009, 6:12 pmChrisTS says:
Sandy MacHoots says:
Hmm. Rowling wrote the first book while on welfare.
December 30, 2009, 8:27 pmgaeo says:
I will put Twilight-new moon on the list, haha
January 3, 2010, 12:11 amIvan says:
De Soto’s book is not “A mistery of capital”, but “Money, credit and the Business Cycle”
February 7, 2010, 1:55 pmlove novels online says:
Hi, really liked this blog! Well written. Will read your other posts.
August 17, 2010, 4:06 amSammy Roberto says:
its’s good!thx!
August 31, 2010, 4:07 pm