May 20 2006
The Law
Book Review
I recently finished The Law by Frederic Bastiat. It was first published in French in 1850. Bastiat, nearing the end of his life, wrote several polemics against the socialist revolutions that were going on in France.
The copy I had was translated and reprinted in the U.S. by the Foundation for Economic Education, and was given to me a few years ago by my father-in-law. It’s a fairly heavy read, though it’s short so it doesn’t take that long.
Bastiat is arguing against social engineering, or as he puts it, using the law for plunder. Whether it be plunder for this cause or that cause was no matter to himâ€â€he believed that man should not be deposed of his property without just cause and the cause of engineering a socialist (or any other) economy was not just.
He uses the United States of that day as an example of how liberty can triumph and a free economy produce better justice over the long term and a greater level of equality. The same economic battles that raged in France in the mid 19th century have been going on here since FDR.
Who should control resources? Why?
Bastiat makes a great argument for a free economy rather than one that is fascist or socialist and it’s only 75 pages long.
I just found out that you can read it on line for free at:
http://www.fee.org/pdf/books/The_Law.pdf
(note that this is a PDF and will take some time to load)