The Right to Earn a Living: Economic Freedom and the Law

by Timothy Sandefur

America's founders thought the right to earn a living was so basic and obvious that it didn't need to be mentioned in the Bill of Rights. Yet today that right is burdened by a wide array of government rules and regulations that play favorites, rewrite contracts, encourage frivolous lawsuits, seize private property, and manipulate economic choices to achieve outcomes that bureaucrats favor. The Right to Earn a Living charts the history of this fundamental human right, from the constitutional system that was designed to protect it by limiting government's powers, to the Civil War Amendments that expanded protection to all Americans, regardless of race. It then focuses on the Progressive-era judges who began to erode those protections, and concludes with today's controversies over abusive occupational licensing laws, freedom of speech in advertising, regulatory takings, and much more.

Genres: Economics, Law, Philosophy, Nonfiction

359 pages, Hardcover

First published August 16, 2010

Reviews

[Purple Wimple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandefur- a veteran in the libertarian argument against rational basis review and leftist jurisprudence in economic matters generally- hits a homerun here. He takes many of his law review articles from the last decade, augmenting them, and crafts a sustained wallop against the idiocy that has overcome American law surrounding economic regulation in the 20th century.

There are several books that take on many of these same issues-- David's Hammer, Terms of Engagement, etc., but I think Sandefur's is the best.

I don't buy Sandefur's treatment of anti-trust law, but this is a minor squibble. As much as I recommended Clark Neily's "Terms of Engagement," I double it for "The Right to Earn A Living."

[Warren Norred · Rating 5 out of 5]

The right to earn a living is the most forgotten natural right. While we in the Liberty Movement tend to focus on Gun Rights or other red-meat issues, big government has regulated everything that we do to the point that a person can't work for another person based on their mutual interests without the federal and state government interfering with every aspect of it. This book is a wake-up call for political activists to push back against the leviathan government that otherwise will continue this march toward the end of any real liberty in the United States.

[Liberté · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for anyone serious about understanding how economic freedom and property rights have been undermined in the United States, going back to the 18th century. Sandefur meticulously breaks down the history of monopoly law in America, and its precedent in English law, before tackling the methods through which the right to earn a living has been eroded. While there have been some gains for economic liberty, the Progressive Era in the early twentieth century ushered in an series of protections for big businesses against small entrepreneurs, a legacy which reaches in to the present with licensing schemes, regulations on maximum hours and minimum wages, and laws which end up hurting those they were intended to protect. From the erosion of substantive due process to the rational basis test to the commerce clause, Sandefur has put enormous effort in to documenting the Supreme Court cases, and others, which tell the story of lost economic freedom. While it is not a light read by any means, this book is both educational and accessible to the legal layman.

[Thomas Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. I was unaware of how far off we have gone from the freedom of making our own living. The book is very informative with specific court cases and laws, but the author is very good at explaining legal jargon for the layperson like myself. He also provides easy to understand examples and metaphors. I highly enjoyed this book even though it frustrated me to no end (due to the actions of the government and so on). I highly recommend this book. You really do not know what you are missing.

[Kevin Cullis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shocking that various (federal, state, and local) governments are used by businesses and governments themselves to lock out competition and create "monopolies" and restrict opportunities and our natural right to earn a living. Giving historical background, you'll be amazed at how long this has been going on.

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly technical but quite informative. Property rights and the right to earn a living under assault. The hatred of big business or actually of business of any size. The Progressive battle for democracy against liberty.