The inspiration for this post comes from a December 9, 2006 “Evenings with FEE” speech,  by author George Gilder. FEE, the Foundation for Economic Education, posts “classics” in the sidebars of its daily “In Brief” commentaries on current events.

As prologue to his speech, Gilder made reference to the writing that most influenced him to embrace libertarianism and Austrian economics. It was I, Pencil, written by Leonard Read.

Gilder called this short work of fiction about the making of a pencil “the single most important essay of liberty ever written,” and “an inoculation against Socialism.” He added that once you read I, Pencil “you just can’t believe in massive government planning…it becomes evident that people who imagine that whole economies can be planned are just imbeciles.”

Gilder is right. I, Pencil is a brilliant piece of writing. The logic is tight, and so are the conclusions.

For a short, yet effective dose of free-market clarity to counter the fog of government-think, click to here to retrieve I, Pencil from our reading room.