The right to earn a living and enjoy the fruits of one’s labor is a fundamental human right, guaranteed by the Constitution. But government now intrudes on this right in countless ways, imposing unnecessary training requirements on workers, forbidding businesses from lowering their prices, confiscating wealth, rewriting contracts, and fostering frivolous lawsuits against business owners. In his new book, The Right to Earn A Living, Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Timothy Sandefur details the fascinating history of the Constitution’s protections for economic freedom, and describes some of the remarkable cases in which he has helped defend entrepreneurs from intrusive government. He will be joined by David E. Bernstein, the nation’s leading scholar on Lochner v. New York, the most important of the Supreme Court’s decisions on economic liberty, and Clark Neily, who heads the Institute for Justice’s litigation in defense of entrepreneurs.
The Right to Earn a Living
How Government Stifles Initiative and Harms Economic Growth
Featuring Timothy Sandefur, Principal Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation; David E. Bernstein, Foundation Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law; and Clark Neily, Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice; moderated by Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute.