The Voluntary City

Author: Joshua Thompson

Following up on Timothy Sandefur's latest post, regarding government solutions, I wanted to recommend a book for our readers in our continuing PLF summer reading list series (Post 1, 2, 3, and 4). The Voluntary City is an excellent book, often cited in PLF briefs, that provides the reader with a well-researched account of market-based solutions to government created problems.  As Mr. Sandefur concluded in his post: "No matter how much you may distrust corporations and other private actors, you have vastly greater reason to distrust the decisions of government."

With much empirical data to rely on, The Voluntary City explains why government solutions should be distrusted.  It also provides great detail into the ingenuity of Americans to find market-based solutions to government created problems.  From health care to arbitration to welfare, the authors lay bare much of the "conventional wisdom" regarding the need for coercive government policies.