Spontaneous Order and Its Value to Society

Sheldon Richman

Sheldon Richman is former vice president and editor at the Future of Freedom Foundation and former senior editor at the Cato Institute and the Institute for Humane Studies. For 15 years he was editor of The Freeman, published by the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York. He is the author of Separating School & State: How to Liberate America’s Families; Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax; and Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State. He runs the Free Association blog at his website, shel​don​rich​man​.com.

Sheldon Richman is currently the vice president at the Future of Freedom Foundation and a research fellow at the Independent Institute.

In this video from 1981 Richman introduces the idea of a spontaneous, self-​generated order to his audience. He also talks about how cooperation and competition go hand in hand in a market environment.