Is Politics Insoluble?

Biographical Preface
Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993) was an economic journalist.
He had a profound understanding of economics and a talent
for clear expression. He was a serious scholar, an economist
of the "Austrian" persuasion, which means that he favored
free markets and limited government. He understood espe-
cially well how government intervention can disrupt the
economy. In his classic best-selling Economics in One Lesson
(1st edition, 1946) he explained that one should consider not
only the direct, immediate, and "seen" consequences of any
government action but also its indirect and "unseen" conse-
quences. In his The Foundations of Morality (1964) he dealt
with ethical issues, voluntarism, and the role of government
force. And Hazlitt's many years as a working journalist, writ-
ing for such publications as the New York Times and
Newsweek, taught him to write lucidly and simply about dif-
ficult issues. Thus he was eminently qualified, through both
study and experience, to write on political theory.
Henry Hazlitt was a founding trustee of The Foundation for
Economic Education and served on its Board until his death.
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—The Publisher