I wouldn’t look for Grand Arguments about why every sphere of the economy should adopt libertarian policies. Most of these are based on bad philosophy. Look instead at individual policy issues and see what libertarians say.
For example:
Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom is split into individual chapters on policy issues. Few parts of the book take a big picture view of things. This is probably what you’re looking for, but you also have to remember that it’s a popular rather than a technical book, so if you find yourself wary of any individual empirical assertion you’ll have to go hunting for the relevant literature on your own. The best arguments are buried in economics journals, along with the best arguments for significant government intervention, etc.
You’ll also have to go digging from many different angles. That X policy works doesn’t mean that X policy’s benefits outweigh its costs, so you’ll also have to dig through the empirical literature in Law and Econ and Public Choice to measure the cost of carrying out any individual policy.
Capitalism and Freedom is also outdated in many of its empirical assertions, though many have held up. Again, you’ll have to go digging one-by-one.
I can help more if you narrow your question down to individual policy summaries. Asking for all the best arguments on antitrust regulation, free trade, the optimal level of taxation, the optimal type of tax, the optimal level of spending on education, anti-discrimination laws, the optimal level of spending on public goods, the optimal level of taxation on negative externalities, the optimal level of fiscal stimulus in a recession, the relative merits of monetary vs. fiscal stimulus, the net effects of redistribution, the net effects of occupational licensing, the net effects of each individual government regulation—to name just a few policy issues!--is way too tall an order.
I wouldn’t look for Grand Arguments about why every sphere of the economy should adopt libertarian policies. Most of these are based on bad philosophy. Look instead at individual policy issues and see what libertarians say.
For example: Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom is split into individual chapters on policy issues. Few parts of the book take a big picture view of things. This is probably what you’re looking for, but you also have to remember that it’s a popular rather than a technical book, so if you find yourself wary of any individual empirical assertion you’ll have to go hunting for the relevant literature on your own. The best arguments are buried in economics journals, along with the best arguments for significant government intervention, etc.
You’ll also have to go digging from many different angles. That X policy works doesn’t mean that X policy’s benefits outweigh its costs, so you’ll also have to dig through the empirical literature in Law and Econ and Public Choice to measure the cost of carrying out any individual policy.
Capitalism and Freedom is also outdated in many of its empirical assertions, though many have held up. Again, you’ll have to go digging one-by-one.
I can help more if you narrow your question down to individual policy summaries. Asking for all the best arguments on antitrust regulation, free trade, the optimal level of taxation, the optimal type of tax, the optimal level of spending on education, anti-discrimination laws, the optimal level of spending on public goods, the optimal level of taxation on negative externalities, the optimal level of fiscal stimulus in a recession, the relative merits of monetary vs. fiscal stimulus, the net effects of redistribution, the net effects of occupational licensing, the net effects of each individual government regulation—to name just a few policy issues!--is way too tall an order.
Related: avoiding affective death spirals by cutting up a potential Great Idea into component parts.