Our reading list
Who we learned from
We don't agree on everything, and neither did they. These are the authors we read and quote most often, each with a line of their own.
Adam Smith
1723–1790 · Moral philosopher and economist
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”The Wealth of Nations, 1776
Alexis de Tocqueville
1805–1859 · Historian and political thinker
“Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”Speech to the Constituent Assembly, 1848
Frédéric Bastiat
1801–1850 · Economist and pamphleteer
“The State is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.”L'État, 1848
Ludwig von Mises
1881–1973 · Austrian School economist
“Government is essentially the negation of liberty.”Liberty and Property, 1958
Friedrich A. von Hayek
1899–1992 · Economist, Nobel laureate 1974
“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”The Fatal Conceit, 1988
Karl Popper
1902–1994 · Philosopher of science and politics
“Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance.”The Open Society and Its Enemies, 1945
Luigi Einaudi
1874–1961 · Economist, President of the Italian Republic
“Know in order to decide.”Prediche inutili, 1955
Milton Friedman
1912–2006 · Economist, Nobel laureate 1976
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”Tyranny of the Status Quo, 1984
Ronald Reagan
1911–2004 · 40th President of the United States
“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”Inaugural Address, 1981
Margaret Thatcher
1925–2013 · Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
“Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money.”Interview with Thames TV, 1976
Ronald Reagan presents Milton Friedman with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, 1988.Photo: The White House, public domain