Rothbard’s Welfare Theory: A Critique

Abstract

This paper analyzes Rothbard’s welfare theory. It differs from other critiques of the theory in that it does not analyze the context of the theory but only its coherency and consistency with the rest of Rothbard’s analysis. It shows that the theory is invalid and should be rejected because it is incoherent (its two welfare theorems cannot be defended at the same time), and inconsistent with Rothbard’s own claims made elsewhere.