About the Book
Renowned economist and historian Robert Higgs has pioneered a whole new understanding of the causes, means, and effects of government power and the need to deconstruct statism and re-establish institutions that protect and advance liberty, prosperity, and peace.
In the course of his work, he has completed seminal work on such issues as health care, the environment, law and economics, urban development, race discrimination, agriculture, immigration, war and peace, economic development, government spending and debt, welfare, money and banking, presidential power, civil liberties, the Great Depression, science, unemployment, and far more.
Now Taking a Stand offers the grand opportunity to make his vast insights available to general readers by combining his keen analysis with his engaging wit, humility and compassion in order to charm, educate and inspire people on the moral and practical imperative of individual liberty, entrepreneurship and innovation, peace, economic growth, personal responsibility, civic virtue, and the rule of law. Taking a Stand is organized into 99 short, accessible chapters to present a powerful and uplifting vision for the future.
About the Author :
Robert Higgs is Retired Senior Fellow in Political Economy, Founding Editor and former Editor at Large of the Independent Institute’s quarterly journal The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Johns Hopkins University, and he has taught at the University of Washington, Lafayette College, Seattle University, the University of Economics, Prague, and George Mason University. He has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and Stanford University, and a fellow for the Hoover Institution and the National Science Foundation. His many books include Crisis and Leviathan; Depression, War, and Cold War; After Leviathan; Delusions of Power; Neither Liberty Nor Safety; Resurgence of the Warfare State; Taking a Stand; and multiple edited collections.
Judge Andrew P. Napolitano is Senior Judicial Analyst on the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, and he is Distinguished Professor at Brooklyn Law School. A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Notre Dame Law School, he is the youngest life-tenured Superior Court judge in the history of the State of New Jersey. He sat on the bench from 1987 to 1995, when he presided over more than 150 jury trials and thousands of motions, sentencings, and hearings. From 2009 to 2012, he also hosted “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network.
Review :
“Robert Higgs begins Taking a Stand by thanking his students. But his list is much too short, for we are all his students. Often funny, and usually subversive of the conventional wisdom, this book spans a short period (2009-14) in Bob’s marvelously productive life. Chapters range from serious engagements with economic affairs to heartfelt eulogies—Bob’s ‘goodbye’ to Manuel Ayau cannot be read without tearing up—to parodies of the rock song ‘American Pie’ and the poem ‘The Raven.’ It is hard to convey the depth and value of this timely yet timeless book. But if Francis Bacon could be crossed with P.J. O’Rourke, that would come close.”
“More than anyone in our time, Robert Higgs wrestles with ‘James Madison’s Dilemma,’ that is, if we have created a government powerful enough to protect our rights and liberties, what is to prevent it from taking away those very rights and liberties? One may not agree with all of his recent musings in Taking a Stand, but they are invariably thought-provoking and admirable.”
“In his latest book Taking a Stand, Robert Higgs laments that his mother should not have let him become an economic historian. That’s the only error he makes in 99 pithy chapters that debug a virtual database of statist fallacies for government controls. For example, World War II is not proof that astronomical government spending fixed the economy after decades of New Deal spending failed—but it is proof that when one-fifth of the population is forced to fight in a war or to work to support the war effort, the statistical unemployment rate goes down. Everyone interested in freedom should read this book to understand clearly how economic reasoning and political realism apply to ongoing debates over the ever-increasing control that government exerts on our lives.”
“No voice today for peace and liberty is as clear, as consistent, as learned, as insightful, and—this is important—as passionate and resonant as that of Robert Higgs. The pages of Taking a Stand prove me correct.”
“Robert Higgs has been pounding Leviathan since before most of today’s libertarians were born. He has awakened new generations of students to the perils of unleashed politicians and lawless bureaucrats. In Taking a Stand, his passion and principles continue to fire folks up to stand up for their rights and liberties.”
