https://mises.org/wire/case-legalizing-blackmail
Due to Jeff Bezos’ public accusations against the National Enquirer, the topic of blackmail is in the news. Tyler Cowen wrote an article for Bloomberg in which he largely took it for granted that blackmail was a bad practice, but he at least linked to a 1985 law review article by Walter Block and David Gordon arguing that the practice should be legalized (if not necessarily praised).
Continuing the discussion, over at the website EconLog, David R. Henderson chimed in on the side of Block and Gordon, and also linked to Robin Hanson , who thinks nobody has ever offered a good argument for keeping blackmail illegal. On the other hand, at the same EconLog website, Scott Sumner rejects these defenses and argues that blackmail is a socially harmful practice that the government rightfully outlaws.
In the present article, I’ll summarize and elaborate upon Block and Gordon’s case for legalizing blackmail, and I’ll point out some of the major problems with Sumner’s arguments in favor of its current prohibition.
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