Austrian-school economics is value-free and is not necessarily in favor of laissez-faire. But the Austrian view of markets and market power tends to push one in the laissez-faire direction.

The shift toward empire has brought about the destruction of American liberty and privacy here at home. That’s what the surveillance, torture, and indefinite detentions of American citizens are all about — to supposedly protect us from the dangers produced by U.S. intervention abroad.