Crisis and Leviathan - by Robert Higgs (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Crisis and Leviathan is Higgs' masterwork on how government grows in size, scope, and power in response to real or imagined "crises." From war to economic upheavals, government overreach endures long after each crisis has passed, impinging on civil liberties and fostering extensive corporate welfare.

Few topics are as timely as the growth of government. To understand why government has grown, Robert Higgs asserts, one must understand how it has grown. This book offers a coherent, multi-causal explanation, guided by a novel analytical framework firmly grounded in historical evidence.

More than a study of trends in governmental spending, taxation, and employment, Crisis and Leviathan is a thorough analysis of the actual occasions when and the specific means by which Big Government developed in the United States. More than an abstract account, it names names and highlights the actions of significant individuals.

The author examines how 20th-century national emergencies--mainly wars, depressions, and labor disturbances--have prompted federal officials to take over previously private rights and activities. When the crises passed, a residue of new governmental powers remained. Even more significantly, each great crisis and the subsequent governmental measures went hand in hand with reinforcing shifts in public beliefs and attitudes toward the government's proper role in American life.

Integrating the contributions of scholars in diverse disciplines, including history, law, political philosophy, and the social sciences, Crisis and Leviathan makes compelling reading for all those who seek to understand the transformation of America's political economy over the past century.

Review Quotes

"A book of major importance, thoroughly researched, closely argued, and meticulously documented. It should be high on the reading list of every serious student of the American political system."-- "Political Science Quarterly"

"A thoughtful and challenging work."-- "Harper's"

"An important, powerful, and profoundly disturbing book."--James M. Buchanan, Nobel Laureate in Economic Science "Journal of Economic History"

"Insightful, compelling, and clear, Higgs breaks new ground in explicating the most important socio-political trend of our time--the growth of American government."-- "Freeman"

"When was the last time you heard the president tell the country it was time to relax emergency powers? His actions validate the argument made in Robert Higgs's classic work, Crisis and Leviathan."--Senator Rand Paul

About the Author

Robert Higgs is Retired Senior Fellow in Political Economy, Founding Editor and former Editor at Large of the Independent Institute's quarterly journal The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Johns Hopkins University, and he has taught at the University of Washington, Lafayette College, Seattle University, the University of Economics, Prague, and George Mason University. He has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and Stanford University, and a fellow for the Hoover Institution and the National Science Foundation. His many books include Crisis and Leviathan; Depression, War, and Cold War; After Leviathan; Delusions of Power; Neither Liberty Nor Safety; Resurgence of the Warfare State; Taking a Stand; and multiple edited collections.