Interested in learning more about classical liberal ideas? The readings below will help you to better understand the ideas of liberty.
1. Classical Liberalism
- Classical Liberalism: A Primer by Eamonn Butler
- The Origin of ‘Liberalism’ – by Daniel Klein
2. An Introduction to the Economic Way of Thinking
- Economics as a way of thinking by Paul Heyne
- If you’re paying I’ll have the top sirloin by Russ Roberts
- The Use of Knowledge in Society by F.A. Hayek
- The Law by Frederic Bastiat
- Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
3. Public Choice Economics
- Public Choice: A Primer by Eamonn Butler
- Government Faliure: A Primer on Public Choice by Gordon Tullock
- Public Choice: The Science of Political Skepticism by Dan D’Amico
- Why Government Fails by Isaac Morehouse
- A brief explanation of The Overton Window
4. The Austrian School
- Austrian School of Economics by Peter Boettke
- Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
- Austrian Economics: A Primer by Eamonn Butler
5. Entrepreneurship
- The Meaning of Competition by F.A. Hayek
- TANSTAAFL and Saving: Not the Whole Story by Sanford Ikeda
- Consumer Sovereignty and Getting “The Things” There by Michael Munger
- The Entrepreneur as American Hero by Walter Williams
6. Spontaneous Order
- From Smith to Menger to Hayek: Liberalism in the Spontaneous Order Tradition by Steven Horwitz
- A Marvel of Cooperation: How Order Emerges without a Conscious Planner by Russell Roberts
- I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read
- Adam Smith, Sympathy, and Spontaneous Social-Moral Order by Lauren Hall
7. Some History
- Great Myths of the Great Depression by Lawrence Reed
- Bourgeois Virtue by Deidre McCloskey
- Welfare before the Welfare State by Joshua Fulton
8. Politics
- Democracy, Markets, and the Legal Order: Notes on the Nature of Politics in a Radically Liberal Society by Don Lavoie
- The Humanitarian with the Guillotine by Isabel Paterson
- Credo by Rose Wilder Lane
9. Difficult Issues
- Price Gouging Roundup from Bleeding Heart Libertarians
- On Price Gouging by Don Boudreaux
- Safe spaces, academic freedom, and the university as a complex association by Jacob T. Levy
- Openborders.info for resources arguing both for and against open borders
10. Fiction
- Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut
- Anthem by Ayn Rand
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
- The Trial by Franz Kafka
11. Videos
- Fear the Boom and the Bust: Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle
- Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle Round Two
- The Hockey Stick of Human Prosperity with Don Boudreaux
- How the Division of Knowledge Saved My Son’s Life with Don Boudreaux
- 200 Years, 200 Countries, 4 Minutes with Hans Rosling
- The Magic Washing Machine with Hans Rosling
- Basic Economics with Thomas Sowell
- I, Pencil video series
- Commanding Heights (Episode One: The Battle of Ideas)
- Free to Choose with Milton Friedman
- Is Price Gouging Immoral? Should it be Illegal? with Matt Zwolinski
12. Online Courses
- Capitalism & Political Economy – Duke University
- Principles of Microeconomics – MRUniversity
- Principles of Macroeconomics – MRUniversity
- Foundational Concepts in Economics – Libertarianism.org
Looking for more?
- The Online Library of Liberty provides over 1,500 books online for free.
- Check out 50 works of fiction that libertarians should read.
- EconTalk is a weekly podcast from economist Russ Roberts.
- LearnLiberty has videos that help to explain many of the concepts you’ll come across in your readings.