KOL197 | Tom Woods Show: The Central Rothbard Contribution I Overlooked, and Why It Matters: The Rothbard-Evers Title-Transfer Theory of Contract

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 197. I discussed Rothbardian/libertarian contract theory with Tom Woods on his show today. Update: See also Łukasz Dominiak & Tate Fegley, "Contract Theory, Title Transfer, and Libertarianism," Diametros (10 Sep. 2022; doi: 10.33392/diam.180) Transcript below. Ep. 547 The Central Rothbard Contribution I Overlooked, and Why It Matters Youtube: 3rd December 2015 Stephan Kinsella explains the importance of Rothbard’s theory of contract — a point I myself did not appreciate until this episode — and contrasts it with mainstream theories, which most libertarians think are the same as their own. We need to get these fundamentals right, so listen in and learn with me! Articles Discussed “Toward a Reformulation of the Law of Contracts,” by Williamson M. Evers “A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, Inalienability,” by Stephan Kinsella Book Discussed The Ethics of Liberty, by Murray N. Rothbard For some more related posts/resources: A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability, Journal of Libertarian Studies 17, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 11-37 [based on paper presented at Law and Economics panel, Austrian Scholars Conference, Auburn, Alabama (April 17, 1999)] Justice and Property Rights: Rothbard on Scarcity, Property, Contracts… KOL020 | “Libertarian Legal Theory: Property, Conflict, and Society: Lecture 3: Applications I: Legal Systems, Contract, Fraud” (Mises Academy, 2011)  around Slide 16: slides here The Libertarian View on Fine Print, Shrinkwrap, Clickwrap KOL146 | Interview of Williamson Evers on the Title-Transfer Theory of Contract KOL004 | Interview with Walter Block on Voluntary Slavery Transcript The Central Rothbard Contribution I Overlooked, and Why It Matters: The Rothbard-Evers Title-Transfer Theory of Contract Stephan Kinsella, interviewed by Tom Woods The Tom Woods Show, Ep. 547, Dec. 3, 2015 Transcript 00:00:00 TOM WOODS: The Tom Woods Show, episode 547. 00:00:03 INTRO: Prepare to set fire to the index card of allowable opinion.  Your daily dose of liberty education starts here, the Tom Woods Show. 00:00:14 TOM WOODS: Hey everybody.  Christmas is coming, and chances are you’re going to be doing a lot of online shopping.  Well, why not get cash back at virtually all the retailers you’re going to be using anyway?  Sign up for Ebates and you’ll get just that.  Check it out through tomwoods.com/ebates. 00:00:30 Hey everybody.  Welcome to another episode of the Tom Woods Show.  We’re joined once again by Stephan Kinsella because today we’re talking about foundational issues related to libertarianism, and I can think of no one better to help us clarify our thinking on questions like this than Stephan.  And ordinarily, as I would do in these episodes and as I’ve done in the past with Stephan, I would launch into a biographical discussion of the guest.  But instead, I’m going to turn things over to Stephan and say, Stephan, what do you think people should know about you? 00:01:02 STEPHAN KINSELLA: Well, I was born in a little town in Louisiana. 00:01:06 TOM WOODS: I knew I shouldn’t have done this. 00:01:07 STEPHAN KINSELLA: I’m a libertarian patent attorney in Houston.  How about that? 00:01:12 TOM WOODS: Oh, but you’ve done so much more.  I want to know about your writings. 00:01:16 STEPHAN KINSELLA: Okay, so I am a practicing attorney,