"In his academic work, Robert Higgs has dissected the government's shrewd secret excesses that lead to the Welfare State, the Warfare State, and the Administrative State. For several decades he has unstintingly chronicled the federal, state, and local governments' malfeasance in these many areas of life that all levels of government have intruded upon without Constitutional mandate. In this book, however, are essays that show a whimsical, introspective, and personal side of this world renowned scholar. From the myth that the government has derived its powers from the consent of the governed to the role of independent experts in formulating monetary and fiscal policy; from the government's duplicity in announcing the unemployment rate in a given month to how the state entraps us, if you want to see a true polymath at work, these lofty, serious, sad, and illuminating essays will educate you beyond what you had thought possible about life, liberty, and the economy"--"This book collects almost a hundred short pieces that Robert Higgs has written in recent years. The topics range widely, reflecting his varied interests and experience: Most of them may be described as analytical commentaries or observations. Most are substantive, dealing with definite actors and events, but a substantial number are more methodological, dealing with how various analysts have dealt with particular subjects or how analysts can, in my judgment, deal most effectively with certain subjects. A substantial number of them pertain to the nature and functioning of the state; many with the economy, both as a whole and in regard to sectors or specific aspects of its operation. One section pertains to commentaries on libertarianism, an ideology I have long embraced, though the precise nature of my (Higgs) embrace has changed over the years"--.