“The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended.” ~Frederic Bastiat Frederic Bastiat wrote with urgency and passion for the free society, even until his last breath. He knew that political systems were not enough to preserve freedom. We need public consensus that comes from practical and moral conviction. He left us with the perfect model for how to obtain this. This is why AIER has put together this collection consisting of five of Bastiat’s most lucid and compelling pieces. There are many others, so please just consider this the essence of his work, a beginning and not an end. If this is your first time encountering his great work, prepare yourself for a change of mind, and a lifetime of intellectual adventure. Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French economist who wrote with urgency and passion for the free society. His writings greatly influenced the Austrian School. Bastiat is regarded by some historians as “the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived.” This collection contains an Introduction by Brad DeVos and the following 5 classic works by Bastiat: I. The Law II. That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen III. The Candlemakers’ Petition IV. A Negative Railroad V. Government The American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was founded in 1933 as the first independent voice for sound economics in the United States. Today it publishes ongoing research, hosts educational programs, publishes books, sponsors interns and scholars, and is home to the world-renowned Bastiat Society and the highly respected Sound Money Project. The American Institute for Economic Research is a 501c3 public charity.

Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a keen observer of political and economic problems and a passionate proponent of liberal economic theory. This book collects nineteen of Bastiat's articles, ranging from the theory of value and rent, public choice and collective action, government intervention and regulation, the balance of trade, education, and trade unions to price controls, capital and growth, and taxation. Throughout his articles, Bastiat demonstrates how the combination of careful logic, consistency of principle, and clarity of exposition is the instrument for solving most economic and social problems. In his famous essay "The Law" Bastiat explains that the law, far from being what it ought to be, "namely the instrument that enabled the state to protect individuals' rights and property", had become the means for what he termed "spoliation" (or plunder). From the article "The State" written at the height of the 1848 Revolution in June, comes perhaps his best-remembered quotation: "The state is the great fiction by which everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else". In this volume readers will find extensive introductory material, including notes on the translation and on the editions of the uvres completes, a chronology of Bastiat's life and works, two maps of France showing the cities associated with Bastiat, annotations to the articles, and a bibliography. A special section provides charming, little-known anecdotes about Bastiat and his contemporaries, including his editor Prosper Paillottet, who became Bastiat's firm friend and eventually his executor. This section also includes discussions of key concepts such as individualism, laissez-faire, industry, plunder, and the right to work. Three glossaries explain persons, places, and subjects and terms.

Bastiat's The Law is the classic work which defines the right and just system of laws for a free people, and demonstrates how such laws facilitate a free society.