The Law

This classic commentary on European Law, especially in France, after the French Revolution had destroyed an oppressive monarchy and the country was faced with another oppressive regime. This little book is an acid commentary on law disguised as social and economic oppression, which in a few years produced another critic of law under royal and aristocratic rule: the founding handbook of Austrian Economics: Carl Mengers Principles of Economics. The mistaken impression is given by the advocates of Austrian Economics that Bastiets The Law is a protest against the State in any form, including the government of the United States and other forms of democratic government. But it is well known that Bastiet admired the government of the United States and praised it for its just laws (except for slavery) and its concern for human rights, including economic rights. The book offers nothing significant in economics, even though advocates of Austrian Economics claim that Bastiets critique of Law would apply to certain laws of the United States. His work is directed to laws under a monarchy, in which laws favor the aristocracy. There is every evidence that he would be quite comfortable in a government of the people, by the prople and for the people. The Foreward to the book by Thomas DiLorenzo is not only deceptive, but positively erroneous. The Foreward is really a diatribe against what the Dilorenzo calls statism, and it is clear that his words are directed at the Congress of the United States, which makes the laws of this country. He hints that the government of the United States is a collectivity, which is another name for Socialism. That certainly was not the view of Frederic Bastiet. Bastiets most virulent accusations are not directed at Thomas Jefferson, the Congress of the United States or the Attorney-General,but against Saint-Just, Robespierre, Lapellitier, all associated with the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution. These set up a system of legal plunder and an autocracy that sent ordinary citizens to the guillotine. DiLorenzo gives the impression that Bastiets The Law is directed at the government and laws of the United States. No one could really object to the book as it stands, but its publication by the Ludwig von Mises Institute makes clear the intent of its publication: it is part of a campaign on the part of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, the Acton Institute and the devotees of Austrian Economics to place the economy of the United States solely in the hands of entrepreneurs, unmindful of the fact that it was Entrepreneurs who created slavery, child labor, and other social injustices in this country and were put out of business by Supreme Court decisions in Muller v. Oregon(workers rights), United States v. the Darby Lumber Company(child labor), and Brown v. Board of Education(segregation), and laws that followed upon those Supreme Court decisions - - like the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bastiets descripion of Law in the last pages of the book is the finest part of the book and it captures in his virile prose what a free government should be. But the Ludwig von Mises Institute does not want the economy of any country regulated by just laws, - - - only by the action and interests of Entrepreneurs. It was to free the economy of the country from an economics decided by Entrpreneurs that this country was founded, and it has taken 200 years to undo the social, economic and political claims forged by several generations of Entrepreneurs, who either created economic monopolies or built their economic advantage on the economic disadvantages of others. The Enron scandal and the Bernie Madoff fiasco are two current examples of a certain kind of Entrepreneurship, but there are others less known that have not hit the headlines. The recent movie The Wolf of Wall Street highlights the methods and intent of entrepreneurship run wild, and how the just laws of a nation safeguard a just economy. The Law is a good book to read, if you ignore the Foreward, which gives the book a twist never intended by its author. One must consult Bastiets Economic Sophisms and his Economic Harmonies to capture his witty and insightful grasp upon the issue of a national economy. His admiration for a government of the people, by the people, and for the people indicates the direction in which his economic genius was going - and certainly not as one of the fathers and founders of a free market economy. Most of his blasts on economic matters came from his exile in England, far from the terror of the Republic of Louis Napolean. Father Clifford Stevens Archdiocese of Omaha

I think that other reviews have done a fine job of praising the importance and genius of Bastiats work. And I thoroughly enjoyed his reasoning and clarity as well. But I was pretty disappointed by the quality of this edition. The book has misplaced punctuation and typos in it -- the kind that would be caught by a simple spell checker. Maybe Im picky, but I find such errors to be rather distracting when reading. When I buy a book, I expect that someone has carefully proofread it, but somehow that seems to have been overlooked here. So, 5+ stars for Bastiat, and a generous 2 stars for the publisher.

I listened to the Audible version x 3 and couldnt get over how 170 year old essay felt totally contemporary. It talks about failing public schools, banksters extracting dividends from governmental connections, protective taxes for the connected manufacturers, regulation as barrier to entry etc. Law can pervert to violent means of plunder and we witness this progression on nearly daily basis in present day USA. On top of that - great foreword by Thomas di Lorenzo, a treat in its own right.

Prescient book for what happened to the U.S. At the time this book was written, the author considered the U.S. one of the most just nations, but he described perfectly what happens, and did happen, when you have an increase in the size of government, and the power of the legislators to legally plunder the citizens through the laws they enact.

Bastiat saw the world with clarity while the rest of us still take the world for granted and either accept or not accept the world because of our own confirmation of biases. Like his other works What Is Seen and What is not Seen (e.g. The Broken Window Effect) and The Law (or perversion of it), he merely speaks of what should be obvious. Bastiat influenced later economists such as von Mises, Rothbard, Hazlitt, Sowell, and Hayek. The fact that he is not taught in our schools reveals a failure of our educational system. Teach Marx if you want but teach Bastiat too!

Bastiat, a classical liberal shows just how evil a big government is, and how once you give government the power to get their hands on the economy, they quickly get involved in legal plunder, and it is not to the aid of the poor. He then talks about the absurdity of socialism, and how unnatural and ineffective it is. He talks about the absurdity of government violating property instead of protecting it, because after all, the only reason government comes into existence in the first place, is to only protect property. He also talks about the types of plunder and also makes the distinction that law is supposed to enhance freedom, not restrict it, although in our world, it is definitely the other way around. There is also a bit of history to be found in the book as well, and it goes back as far as ancient Greece. A must read for all people. Bastiat, the great economist, is also a great political philosopher.

This book is an interesting read. It can be little difficult to follow sometimes because of the authors reference to other historical people and economists of the period (1850). The author was French and this book has been translated (quite well, I think). The book is only 88 pages and I got through it in a few hours. Im sure if I were interested, I could have gone more slowly and taken notes or researched the people the author referenced. If you are interested in Libertarian ideas or believe that the government has become too big, powerful and intrusive, you will probably like this book. While Im not a Libertarian, Im a fan of economics and probably lean a little Austrian School and I enjoyed reading this book. Keynesians will probably like this book, Marxists...not so much. I hope this review was useful to you!

This is probably the best book out there when it come to the philosophy of individualism and individual liberty. All principles are as true today as when it was written.

A great reminder of what is Law and how it works and how it can and is abused. Perfect for the times we are living. I recommend this to anyone who wonders why, the more laws are passed, the more we slip into lawlessness.

Although written in 1850, the principles of freedom from government intrusion into our lives, could not be more appropriate in todays world. Mr. Bastiat elucidates, in 75 pages, his concept of the over-reach of the Socialist style of government, by creating laws which actually limit our rights to free expression. This short treatise should be read and reread by every citizen, and taught in history classes throughout the world. It tells in simple terms, how the government systematically erodes freedoms, and makes the populace dependent upon it for its power over its citizenry. The concept of ominous parallels in our world today, could not be more appropriate and critical to understand. The principles are great ammunition for those who wish to preserve the freedoms our forefathers fought for to bring us.