Tag: David Friedman

Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: LFS President William H. Stoddard’s speech introducing the Prometheus Hall of Fame and guest presenter David Friedman

Libertarian Futurist Society president William H. Stoddard emceed the 45th Prometheus Awards and introduced the Prometheus Hall of Fame category for Best Classic Fiction, which was presented by libertarian luminary and Prometheus-nominated fantasy novelist David Friedman.

LFS President William H. Stoddard (Photo by Carol Stoddard)

The August 30, 2025 awards ceremony, presented live via Zoom on August 30, 2025, was recorded and later posted on Youtube. Here is the text of Stoddard’s speech:

By William H. Stoddard

The Prometheus Hall of Fame award was established in 1983.

Initially we gave it to two classic works of libertarian science fiction each year. Our first two winners were virtually inevitable choices: Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the book that established libertarian science fiction as a recognized genre, and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, the fictional treatment of libertarian ideas that brought large numbers of people into what became the libertarian movement.

The next year’s award went to two classic dystopias, George Orwell’s 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Since then we’ve settled down to one winner a year, and opened the award not merely to novels but to work in any narrative or dramatic form. Such works become eligible 20 years after their original publication.

To present this year’s award, we have the honor of having David Friedman as a guest speaker.

Continue reading Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: LFS President William H. Stoddard’s speech introducing the Prometheus Hall of Fame and guest presenter David Friedman

Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: Economist and novelist David Friedman on Anderson, Heinlein, Vinge and how science fiction influenced the development of his ideas



David D. Friedman added excitement and intellectual stimulation as the guest presenter at the 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony.

David Friedman (Photo provided by Friedman)

A leading libertarian theorist (The Machinery of Freedom), economist (Price Theory: An Intermediate Text) and law-and-economics professor (Law’s Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters), David is also a Prometheus-nominated sf/fantasy novelist (Harald, Salamander, Brothers).

Friedman presented the Prometheus Hall of Fame category for Best Classic Fiction during the Aug. 30 ceremony. Here is the text of his speech, which followed an introduction by LFS President William (Bill) Stoddard.

By David D. Friedman

Bill mentioned my friend Vernor Vinge, who is in part responsible for my writing my second novel.

I described to him my idea for that and for the alternative, a sequel to my first novel (Harald, a 2007 Prometheus Best Novel nominee). He thought Salamander would more interesting, so I wrote it. He was right.

I thought I’d start by saying a little about what I’ve learned relevant to libertarianism from science fiction.

As some of you may know, Vernor’s story “The Ungoverned” (inducted in 1994 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame) is about a stateless society, modeled on my ideas, being invaded by an adjacent state.

Seeing that society through the eyes of a novelist rather than an economist showed me things about it that would not have occurred to me….

Continue reading Celebrating the 45th Prometheus Awards: Economist and novelist David Friedman on Anderson, Heinlein, Vinge and how science fiction influenced the development of his ideas




The 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony is set for Aug. 30 via Zoom, with libertarian theorist and novelist David Friedman presenting the Hall of Fame


By Michael Grossberg

Mark your calendar: The 45th Prometheus Awards has been confirmed for Saturday Aug. 30, with a leading libertarian thinker and novelist as a guest presenter.

The Zoom-led ceremony will run from 2 to 3 p.m. that Saturday (Eastern time) and will be open to all LFS members and the public. (The Zoom link is below.)

Among the speakers: leading libertarian thinker and fantasy novelist David D. Friedman, who will present the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction; Astrid Anderson Bear, daughter of the late sf/fantasy writer Poul Anderson, a frequent Prometheus Awards winner; CAEZIK SF & Fantasy publisher Shahid Mahmud; author Kevin Flynn, brother of the late sf novelist Michael Flynn, a three-time Prometheus winner; LFS President William H. Stoddard, and Libertarian Futurist Society co-founder Michael Grossberg.

Continue reading 
The 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony is set for Aug. 30 via Zoom, with libertarian theorist and novelist David Friedman presenting the Hall of Fame


David Friedman: Why isn’t one of the leading libertarian theorists better known as a fantasy novelist?


By Michael Grossberg

Most economists, legal experts, academics and libertarian theorists focus on the real world, not fantasy or science fiction.

Yet, David Friedman, the free-market economist, retired professor, physicist and legal scholar who’s written a variety of wide-ranging nonfiction books and textbooks, is also a lifelong science fiction fan and acclaimed fantasy author.

Friedman, who recently agreed to speak as a presenter in August at the 45th annual Prometheus Awards ceremony, probably should be better known – and more widely read – as a fantasy novelist within the broad and overlapping circles of SF/fantasy fans and Libertarian Futurist Society members.

Continue reading David Friedman: Why isn’t one of the leading libertarian theorists better known as a fantasy novelist?


Leading libertarian thinker and fantasy author David Friedman to speak at the 45th annual Prometheus Awards ceremony


By Michael Grossberg

David Friedman (Creative Commons license)

David Friedman, the influential economist, legal scholar, libertarian theorist and novelist, has graciously agreed to speak and present a category at this year’s 45th Prometheus Awards ceremony.

Friedman is best known for his academic scholarship and for The Machinery of Freedom, his pioneering libertarian classic. With an empirical focus on the practical solutions to many social problems that private markets can address optimally, and far better than governments, Friedman’s nonfiction book had a major impact on the early libertarian movement in the 1970s and 1980s.

Yet, Friedman is also a science fiction fan and a novelist who has written three fantasy novels, apt and additional reasons the Libertarian Futurist Society board of directors invited him to speak and present the Prometheus Hall of Fame category for Best Classic Fiction at our 2025 Prometheus Awards ceremony.

Continue reading Leading libertarian thinker and fantasy author David Friedman to speak at the 45th annual Prometheus Awards ceremony


TANSTAAFL: Libertarian economist David Friedman examines an acronym popularized by Heinlein


By Michael Grossberg

TANSTAAFL!

Many libertarians and other freedom-loving SF fans know that term well. For those who don’t recall, it’s an acronym for “There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch.”

The Grand Master SF writer Robert Heinlein did his share to popularize the acronym in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. His bestselling, Hugo-winning novel, about a libertarian revolution on the Moon, was one of the first works inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

So did free-market economist and classical liberal Milton Friedman, who often quoted it over the years.

Both libertarians used the acronym to communicate the idea that nothing is truly free, and there’s always a cost to any decision.

But did the popular catchphrase inadvertently also spread a misunderstanding about economics?

Continue reading TANSTAAFL: Libertarian economist David Friedman examines an acronym popularized by Heinlein


Review: The pros and cons of “libertarian” seasteading communities in Naomi Kritzer’s Liberty’s Daughter

By Michael Grossberg

It’s nice to see more sf writers exploring various visions of a fully free future – even writers who aren’t avowed libertarians.

Case in point: Naomi Kritzer, whose Liberty’s Daughter (published by Fairwood Press) is one of 17 diverse 2023 works nominated for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

Well-written and well-paced, with believable characters, an interesting plot and setting and a controversial theme, Liberty’s Daughter explores the drawbacks and benefits of a constellation of linked seasteading communities, most set up with libertarian rationales.

Continue reading Review: The pros and cons of “libertarian” seasteading communities in Naomi Kritzer’s Liberty’s Daughter

War, centralization, good intentions gone wrong: Poul Anderson’s “No Truce with Kings,” the 2010 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Here is the Prometheus Blog Appreciation for Poul Anderson’s story, “No Truce with Kings,” the 2010 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner for Best Classic Fiction.

By William H. Stoddard

In David Friedman’s first book, the libertarian classic The Machinery of Freedom, the first entry in the bibliography describes Poul Anderson’s “No Truce with Kings”: “A libertarian novelette that plays fair. The bad guys are good guys too. But wrong.”

Continue reading War, centralization, good intentions gone wrong: Poul Anderson’s “No Truce with Kings,” the 2010 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Smart self-defense in anarcho-capitalist society: Vernor Vinge’s “The Ungoverned,” the 2004 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Here’s the Prometheus Blog appreciation of Vernor Vinge’s story “The Ungoverned,” the 2004 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner for Best Classic Fiction.

By Michael Grossberg

“The Ungoverned” is one of the rare sf stories to portray a plausible and fully libertarian society. Moreover, Vernor Vinge does so with intelligence, subtlety, vision and enjoyable narrative twists.

Set in the ungoverned lands of a recovering future Kansas after a social collapse, Vernor Vinge’s 1985 novella focuses on what happens when New Mexico’s statist government tries to invade anarchist-libertarian Kansas with unexpected results.

Continue reading Smart self-defense in anarcho-capitalist society: Vernor Vinge’s “The Ungoverned,” the 2004 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Pioneering anthology about the promise of liberty, perils of tyranny: The Survival of Freedom, the 2001 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner

Here’s the Prometheus Blog Appreciation for The Survival of Freedom, edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr, the 2001 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner:

By Michael Grossberg

The Survival of Freedom was one of the first sf anthologies to explore the future of liberty.

It also has the distinction of being the first (and so far, only) anthology to be inducted (in 2001) into the Prometheus Hall of Fame. This broad awards category for classic fiction is open to any works first published, broadcast or staged more than 20 years ago and encompasses many types of fiction – including but not limited to novels, novellas, stories, plays, poems, songs, musicals, films, TV episodes, series, trilogies and anthologies.

Edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr, the 1981 anthology of stories and essays is notable for its wide-ranging and sometimes surprising collection of material.

Continue reading Pioneering anthology about the promise of liberty, perils of tyranny: The Survival of Freedom, the 2001 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner