Walter Block On Why He Doesn't Refute Einstein On Economics

Albert Einstein

Dr. Block originally posted this exchange at LRC:

From: K
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 12:51 PM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Re: Consent, Refutation of Einstein

Dear Dr. Block,

Hi I have a question concerning coercion. So if the state takes my income every year, and I give it to them because if I don’t, I would go to jail, wouldn’t that mean I still technically “consented” in terms of Austrian economics and preference rankings? Because if I did give them my money, even though I didn’t consent in my mind, is it still theft because people don’t know what I am thinking and they can only see my preferences through my actions?

Have you refuted this article by Einstein? I read this and I thought that it would be awesome if you wrote an article refuting it or something. The article itself is hilarious though. K

Dear K:

From a libertarian point of view, you acted under duress and are thus not a criminal. From an Austrian point of view, we may indeed infer that you preferred to give money to the govt, rather than go to jail.  I’ve not written a refutation of Einstein on socialism. He was an economic illiterate. I don’t enjoy shooting fish in a barrel. I focus on more worthy opponents.

Best regards,

Walter

RW note: Einstein's cousin Norbert Einstein was a very good free market economist. SEE: Einstein Was No Genius When It Came to Economics