I was raised to respect the Austrian School of economics. From the hardliners at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and Reason to the more moderate libertarians like Milton Friedman and President Reagan, the conservatives of my generation (I’m 62) knew several things with absolute certainty:

·      Taxation is Theft.

·      The most important goal of our Founding Fathers was limiting the size and scope of government.

·      The Invisible Hand of the Free Market delivers the best results for the consumer.

At the same time, however, we recognized certain other fundamental truths of government:

·      Government is instituted to protect society from external enemies and internal criminals.

·      Government needs to build roads and bridges.

·      Government needs to provide a framework of stable currency, the rule of law, corporate structure, intellectual property protection, and an investment system in which people can work, and earn, and accumulate wealth.

How did we square these two sets of rules – the opposition to government and a clear need for government?