Editing Murray Rothbard (section)

=== Libertarianism and Cato Institute ===
From 1969 to 1984, Rothbard edited ''[[The Libertarian Forum]]'', also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971).<ref>{{cite news |last=Riggenbach |first=Jeff |date=May 13, 2010 |title=Karl Hess and the Death of Politics |newspaper=Mises Institute |url=https://mises.org/daily/4330 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021020555/http://mises.org/daily/4330 |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |access-date=August 13, 2013 |publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute}}</ref> Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the ''[[National Review]]'' in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that [[Ronald Reagan]]'s 1980 presidential election was a victory for libertarian principles, and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of ''Libertarian Forum'' articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give a false impression that their policies successfully reduced inflation and unemployment.<ref>Ronald Lora, William Henry Longton, editors, ''The Conservative Press in Twentieth-Century America'', Chapter "The Libertarian Forum", Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ioakmq8yxA4C&dq=Murray+Rothbard+nonintervention+foreign+policy&pg=PA372 p. 372] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510233147/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ioakmq8yxA4C&pg=PA372&dq=Murray+Rothbard+nonintervention+foreign+policy&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0HT4UbrPAsKCyAHn44HIAg&ved=0CGQQ6AEwCQ |date=May 10, 2016 }}, {{ISBN|0313213909}},</ref> He further criticized the "myths of [[Reaganomics]]" in 1987.<ref name="mises3">{{cite web |date=June 9, 2004 |title=The Myths of Reaganomics &#124; Mises Institute |url=https://mises.org/library/myths-reaganomics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020062853/https://mises.org/library/myths-reaganomics |archive-date=October 20, 2017 |access-date=August 28, 2017 |website=mises.org}}</ref>

Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of [[left-wing libertarians]] but also criticized [[right-wing libertarians]] who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.<ref>{{cite book |last=Perry |first=Marvin |title=The Conservative Press in Twentieth-Century America |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-313-21390-8 |editor1-last=Lora |editor1-first=Ronald |location=Westport, Connecticut |page=369 |chapter=Libertarian Forum 1969–1986 |oclc=40481045 |editor2-last=Henry |editor2-first=William Longton}}</ref> Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=David |author-link=David Gordon (philosopher) |title=Biography of Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) |date=February 26, 2007 |url=https://mises.org/about/3249 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202054227/http://mises.org/about/3249 |archive-date=February 2, 2012 |access-date=August 13, 2013 |publisher=[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]}}</ref>

During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]]. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. Rothbard founded the [[Center for Libertarian Studies]] in 1976 and the ''[[Journal of Libertarian Studies]]'' in 1977. He was one of the founders of the [[Cato Institute]] in 1977 (whose funding by [[Charles Koch]] was a major infusion of money for libertarianism){{Sfn|Hawley|2016|p=129, 164}} and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after ''[[Cato's Letters]]'', a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution".<ref name="Burris">{{cite web |last=Burris |first=Charles |date=February 4, 2011 |title=Kochs v. Soros: A Partial Backstory |url=http://archive.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/kochs-v-soros-a-partial-backstory/ |access-date=August 14, 2013 |publisher=[[LewRockwell.com]] |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314082157/http://archive.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/kochs-v-soros-a-partial-backstory/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=25 years at the Cato Institute: The 2001 Annual Report |url=http://www.cato.org/pubs/papers/25th_annual_report.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070508204943/http://www.cato.org/pubs/papers/25th_annual_report.pdf |archive-date=May 8, 2007 |access-date=August 18, 2013 |pages=11–12}}</ref>

From 1978 to 1983, Rothbard was associated with the [[LPRadicals|Libertarian Party Radical Caucus]], allying himself with [[Justin Raimondo]], [[Eric Garris]] and [[Williamson Evers]]. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate [[Ed Clark]] and Cato Institute president [[Ed Crane (Libertarian)|Edward H Crane III]]. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".<ref name="Burris" />

Janek Wasserman wrote, "The tempestuous tale of the Rothbard-Koch-Cato relationship has been told and retold because of its floridness."<ref name=":18" /> Rothbard sought to cultivate radical anarcho-capitalists, while Crane and Koch wanted a more reformist approach to influence government and gain political power.<ref name=":18" /> Rothbard was removed from Cato's board in 1981.<ref name=":18" /> Wasserman described the split as "the first of many examples of Austrian and libertarian schisms in the United States".<ref name=":18" />