The Ethics Of Liberty - The Theory Of Contracts
The Ethics Of Liberty by Murray Rothbard The fundamental principle for this subject is that only theft or inherent theft should be punished by contract law. If no one violates the property rights of another, i.e. no theft, then no court should prosecute a dispute between individuals. For there to be theft there must be a prior transfer of a title to property. That property can be money, capital goods, consumer goods, or even labor. A promise to transfer title or property in the future does not constitute a title transfer. The distinction sounds small but it makes a huge difference in how we should think about the situation. Rothbard calls his approach the title-transfer model. The example of a simple loan illustrates the basics of the title-transfer model. In such a case, Party A lends $100 to Party B with an agreement that Party B will pay Party A $105 in a month. Both Parties sign a contract committing to these actions. Or they could simply "shake on it". Aft