Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice

Tom Palmer discusses his bookRealizing Freedom.

David Boaz

David Boaz was a distinguished senior fellow of the Cato Institute and played a key role in the development of the Cato Institute and the libertarian movement. He was the author of The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom and the editor of The Libertarian Reader.

Boaz was a provocative commentator and a leading authority on domestic issues such as education choice, drug legalization, the growth of government, and the rise of libertarianism. Boaz was the former editor of New Guard magazine and was executive director of the Council for a Competitive Economy prior to joining Cato in 1981. The earlier edition of The Libertarian Mind, titled Libertarianism: A Primer, was described by the Los Angeles Times as “a well-​researched manifesto of libertarian ideas.” His other books include The Politics of Freedom and the Cato Handbook for Policymakers.

His articles have been published in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, National Review, and Slate, and he wrote the entry on libertarianism for Encyclopedia Britannica. He was a frequent guest on national television and radio shows and has appeared on ABC’s Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, CNN’s Crossfire, NPR’s Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered, The McLaughlin Group, Stossel, The Independents, Fox News, BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other media.

Tom G. Palmer

Tom G. Palmer is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, director of the Institute’s educational division, Cato University, Executive Vice President for International Programs at Atlas Network, and author of Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice, among other works.

Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen is general director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, co-​author of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution, author of the New York Times’ “Economic Scene” column, contributor to The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Newsweek, and The Wilson Quarterly, and the Holbert C. Harris Chair professor of economics at George Mason University.

Featuring the author, Tom G. Palmer, General Director, Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity, and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; with comments by Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University, and General Director, Mercatus Center. Moderated by David Boaz, Vice President, Cato Institute. For more than 25 years, Tom Palmer has studied the history and theory of liberty and has worked tirelessly to bring liberty to countries around the world. This book ranges from the theory of justice to foreign policy, from the economics of public goods to gay rights in Russia. Palmer addresses the nature of freedom, law, rights, and justice; the morality of markets; and the institutional frameworks of free societies. He considers and criticizes the arguments of political theorists such as John Rawls and Cass Sunstein, as well as popular “myths of individualism,” which he concisely refutes. But theory doesn’t stand alone. Palmer studies and explains ordered liberty and connects abstract liberal rights to their historical roots. Drawing on his activism in countries ranging from eastern Europe in the late 1980s to Russia, China, and the Arab world today, he also takes on current events and concerns, from multiculturalism to struggles for free speech to the war in Iraq. It is hard to find a contemporary scholar with more knowledge of the theory and history of liberty, and at last his major writings are collected in one place. Author, blogger, and New York Times columnist Tyler Cowen will comment.