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The introduction to this stunning work is by Murray Rothbard, who calls French radical Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) the great innovator in the market provision of security. Indeed, he might be regarded as the first proponent of what is called anarcho-capitalism. Molinari was steeped in the old liberal worldview of Bastiat and hence was a dedicated champion of private property and free markets. But Molinari took matters further to argue that markets were also better at providing the service that the state claimed was its monopoly...

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In this vision of a future society, the Belgian laissez-faire economist Molinari suggests how many, if not most, public goods could be provided by the free market or by radically decentralized local governments.

Der vorliegende Essay von Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) ist fur die radikalsten - und konsequentesten - Vertreter des Libertarismus, die Anarchokapitalisten, von besonderer Bedeutung, lasst sich doch mit seinem Erscheinen im Jahre 1849 die Geburtsstunde dessen, was heute als Anarchokapitalismus bezeichnet wird, datieren. Als gluhender Verfechter des freien Marktes stellte sich der konsistent denkende Molinari eine grundlegende Frage, der die meisten Liberalen in den Jahrhunderten zuvor aus dem Wege gegangen sind: Wenn der Markt nach Moglichkeit sonst schon alle gewunschten Guter...