Following the rise of socialism in France during the 1840s and the 1848 Revolution, one of France’s leading free market economists wrote a fictitious “dialogue” between an economist, a conservative, and a socialist, in order to expose the folly of socialism, to demonstrate how economic laws operated, and to defend the right of property. Les Soirées is also famous for the 11th conversation in which Molinari argues for the first time that many public goods, even police and defence services, might be provided voluntarily by the free market. This book has been translated and will be published by Liberty Fund in the near future. A draft is available online here.

Written nearly fifty years ago, at a time when the world was still wrestling with the concepts of Marx and Lenin, The Illusion of the Epoch is the perfect resource for understanding the roots of Marxism-Leninism and its implications for philosophy, modern political thought, economics, and history.

George was not just an advocate of the single tax on the unimproved value of land, but also a strong defender of free trade, as this work demonstrates.

Thomas Hodgskin, an officer in the British Navy who left and subsequently worked for The Economist, was one of the earliest popularizers of economics for audiences of non-economists. He gave lectures on free trade, the corn laws, and labor to “mechanics institutes” (which we might now call adult education groups) even before Jane Haldimand Marcet wrote pamphlets for similar groups. Hodgskin passionately cared about the concerns of laborers after his experience with the maltreatment of sailors. His discussions of the labor theory of value followed up on David Ricardo and pre-dated John Stuart Mill’s expositions on similar themes.

A one volume collection of Ricardo’s most important writings, edited by the great English classical economist J.R McCulloch who has a lengthy introduction on the life and work of Ricardo.

The State is a brilliant analysis of modern political arrangements that views the state as acting in its own interest contrary to the interests of individuals and even of an entire society.

In this volume Spencer elaborates his views on reasoning, perception, the nature of life, intelligence, feeling, and the will.

Jevons’s formative 1875 classic work came into print at the height of interest in gold, silver, and international monetary standards. Refreshingly written, widely quoted, and authoritatively researched, the book begins with the origins of money and works its way through to international banking and credit. Of particular interest are the clear discussions of Gresham’s Law (Ch. VIII), competitively supplied money (Ch. VII), and fractional-reserve- and Free-banking (Ch. XVII-XVIII and XXIV). Also: If you think the only reason to not use coins worth their weight in precious metal is their weight, I recommend Chapter X for an excellent reminder of additional drawbacks. Jevons is best known for his work on marginal utility, which he describes with customary succinctness in the book. His interest in the way the forces of the market evolve toward an equilibrium without (and often in opposition to) government influence runs throughout the book.

One of three seminal works published in 1871 (along with Walras and Menger) which introduced the idea of the marginal theory of utility and thus a revolution in economic thinking.

The Shih Ching (The book of poetry) predates Confucius by some three centuries, although he is often credited with arranging it into its current form sometime around 520 B.C. This work is a compilation of some three hundred verses of poetry illustrating the proper conduct of a sovereign and general rules “for inculcation of propriety and righteousness.”