Selling Ideas by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. is president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, editor of LewRockwell.com and author of Speaking of Liberty. He writes:

So long as there is government, it will be corrupt, and for one reason: the business of government involves activities that, if you and I attempted them in the private sector, would land us in prison. If someone wants to root it out and expose it, we can only cheer...

I prefer the old 19th-century style journalism in which party hacks made their attachments explicit. But of course the political parties would much prefer it if the same case for their looting could be made without the motives being disclosed.

The innovation of the think tank was the first step toward helping the parties put a veneer of science and public spiritedness on their looting. Beyond their pretensions, however, it is the dreadful reality that government-centered think tanks are nothing more than intellectual covers for special interests, and this is true of the right and the left. Today their main function is to launder money so that intellectuals and others within their walls can appear to avoid overt conflicts of interest.

How can you know the difference between the fake and the real institutions of research? Their proximity to power is the best clue.

Selling Ideas by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.