Speaking of Liberty

Introduction to Speaking of Liberty

Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Lew Rockwell explains why he collected his public talks rather than writing a systematic book: speeches introduce ideas and apply them to the moment in a way books can't. He concedes some material is dated but argues the principles, and the recurring follies of the State, stay perennially relevant.

From Speaking of Liberty, as narrated by the author, pp. 9-11.

1. The Marvel That Is Capitalism

Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

The Austrian case that government meddling always carries hidden long-run costs, however helpful it looks at first. From Carl Menger forward, Lew Rockwell celebrates the free market as an engine of prosperity and liberty no planner can replicate.

From the book Speaking of Liberty, as narrated by the author, pp. 13-25.

2. A Secret History of the Boom and Bust

Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Building on the Austrian insight that prices carry indispensable information, Lew Rockwell shows how central bank credit expansion corrupts those signals and drives the boom-bust cycle, tying sound economics to markets, war, and policy.

From Speaking of Liberty, as narrated by the author, pp. 25-40.

3. Why Austrian Economics Matters

Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Economics needn't be the "incoherent" discipline Schumpeter mocked. Lew Rockwell argues the Austrian School best explains how society's scarce resources get coordinated without central direction—the most profound and useful account of the market order.

From Speaking of Liberty, as narrated by the author, pp. 40-57.

4. The Viability of the Gold Standard

Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Recalling an era when monetary questions were front-page controversies, Lew Rockwell defends the gold standard as honest, workable money, contrasting a currency that rewards thrift with an elastic, politically managed one that serves debtors and the State.

From Speaking of Liberty, as narrated by the author, pp. 57-68.

What Causes the Business Cycle?

Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 16:44:02 -0500

Lew Rockwell takes on the deepest puzzle in economic theory: why booms and busts recur so regularly. He lays out the Austrian answer—credit expansion and malinvestment—against the classical economists’ very different question of how economies grow.