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Revision as of 22:05, 25 July 2021 by Limitthrow (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other people named Tom Woods, see Tom Woods (disambiguation).| Tom Woods | |
|---|---|
 Woods in February 2011 | |
| Born | Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. (1972-08-01) August 1, 1972 (age 52) Melrose, Massachusetts, United States |
| Academic career | |
| School or tradition | Austrian School |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (A.B., 1994) Columbia University (M.Phil., Ph.D.) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alan Brinkley |
| Website | tomwoods |
Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. (born August 1, 1972) is an American author and paleo-libertarian commmentator who is currently a senior fellow at the Mises Institute. Woods is a proponent of the Austrian School of economics. He hosts a daily podcast, The Tom Woods Show, and he formerly co-hosted the now defunct Contra Krugman.
Woods completed his doctorate in history from Columbia University in 2000. He first received media attention for writing the Politically Incorrect Guide to American History in 2004, which promoted a paleo-libertarian revisionist interpretation of American history and was a New York Times bestseller. His subsequent writing has focused on promoting libertarianism and libertarian leaning political figures such as former Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. His 2009 book Meltdown, which attempted to exonerate free markets from blame in the 2008 economic crisis, also became a New York Times bestseller.
During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Woods has been a vigorous voice of opposition to public health measures meant to control virus spread, questioning the efficacy and touting the dangers of social distancing, masking, and mandatory lockdowns. The non-partisan, non-profit science education organization Health Feedback has labeled Woods's claims misleading and presented an evidence-based rebuttal to a video of a November 7, 2020 speech delivered by Woods, entitled "Dangers of the Covid Cult." In November 2020, the video was removed from Youtube for violation of its medical misinformation policy.
Education and affiliations
Woods holds a A.B. from Harvard University, and both a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, all in history. He is a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama and a member of the editorial board for the institute's Libertarian Papers. Woods was an ISI Richard M. Weaver Fellow in 1995 and 1996. He received awards from the Independent Institute, Austrian Economics Center, and Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. His book The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (2005) won the $50,000 first prize in the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Awards.
Publications
Woods is the author of twelve books. His book The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History was on The New York Times Best Seller list for paperbacks in 2005. His 2009 book Meltdown also made the bestseller list in 2009. His writing has been published in numerous popular and scholarly periodicals, including the American Historical Review, the Christian Science Monitor, Investor's Business Daily, Modern Age, American Studies, Journal of Markets & Morality, New Oxford Review, The Freeman, Independent Review, Journal des Économistes et des Études Humaines, AD2000, Crisis, Human Rights Review, Catholic Historical Review, the Catholic Social Science Review and The American Conservative.
Views
Woods is a late Rothbardian anarcho-capitalist and paleo-libertarian.
U.S. Constitution
Woods co-authored Who Killed the Constitution? with Kevin Gutzman, Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University. Woods and Gutzman criticize what they view as unconstitutional political overreach spanning from World War I to the Obama Administration. Woods has promoted the views of Lysander Spooner, who argued that the Constitution holds no authority because the public has not explicitly consented to it and because the Federal Government in his view has not followed its obligations and limits.
Woods advocates the compact theory theory of the Union and promotes the discredited legal theory of nullification.
Woods views the Bill of Rights as a limitation solely on federal power, and not on the power of the states. In an article for the Southern Partisan magazine in 1997 Woods writes: "The Bill of Rights, moreover, erroneously invoked by modern Civil Libertarians, was never intended to protect individuals from the state governments. Jefferson is far from alone in insisting that only the federal government is restricted from regulating the press, church-state relations, and so forth. The states may do as they wish in these areas."
Catholicism
Woods was received into the Roman Catholic Church from Lutheranism. He wrote How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. For eleven years, he was associate editor of the Latin Mass Magazine, which advocates traditional Catholicism. As a traditionalist Catholic, Woods is also recognized for his books attacking the post-Vatican II church. Woods advocates what he calls the Old Latin Mass and cultural conservatism.
Conservatism
In a 2011 interview, Woods said that he entered Harvard as a "middle-of-the-road Republican, the very thing that drives me most berserk today" and then later became a "fully-fledged libertarian." He has criticized those he deems "neoconservative" and has identified as a traditional conservative.
Woods' Politically Incorrect Guide to American History was scathingly reviewed by commentator Max Boot of The Weekly Standard. Boot accused Woods of being overly sympathetic with Southerners such as John C. Calhoun and their belief in a state's right to secede and in state nullification, while exaggerating the militarism of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Bill Clinton. James Haley, by contrast, praised the book in the conservative Weekly Standard as "a compelling rebuttal to the liberal sentiment encrusted upon current history texts." Woods responded by criticizing Boot as an embodiment of "everything that is wrong with modern conservatism."
Economics
Woods has been highly critical of Keynesian economics. Woods formerly co-hosted the Contra Krugman podcast with economist Robert P. Murphy; the podcast critiqued the writings of Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman. Woods has been an advocate of hard money, and is critical of the Federal Reserve and other central banks which he views as responsible for unnatural inflation and the business cycle.
Affiliation with League of the South
In 1994, Woods was an inaugural member of the League of the South, a neo-Confederate organization, and has been criticized for this affiliation. Woods contended in 2018 that the League was founded as a "decentralist" organization and then later took a "dramatic" and "vicious" turn toward racism and anti-semitism. Woods argued: "To show that the organization has undergone a dramatic change, I don’t exactly need to hire a private detective. The League’s president himself wrote of having made a 'conscious change' to the League, such that 'we have radicalized by openly and directly addressing the Negro Question and the Jew Question.' Here is express admission of what was already obvious to anyone of good will: this is not the League Jeffrey Tucker and I joined in 1994. Anyone who says otherwise has no idea what he’s talking about. This in fact is why all the PhDs present at the League’s founding, including one of the world’s top David Hume scholars, by all accounts, are long gone — as even the Southern Poverty Law Center now concedes."
In an interview with Reason TV's Matt Welch, Woods stated, “Anyone who knows or listens to me, knows I would not be involved with anything sinister. The problem is I will not apologize because the group I joined were a bunch of nerdy academics like me and there was nothing wrong with that group. I could save myself an enormous amount of grief if I would apologize but I will not apologize for this because I am sick and tired of cowards who give in to this type of pressure.”
Podcasts
The Tom Woods Show
Since September 2013, Woods has delivered a daily podcast, The Tom Woods Show, originally hosted on investment broker Peter Schiff's website. On the podcasts, which are now archived on Woods' own website, Woods conducts interviews on economic topics, foreign policy, and history.
Contra Krugman
In September 2015, Woods began Contra Krugman, a weekly podcast, with economist Robert P. Murphy that critiques The New York Times columns of economist Paul Krugman by analyzing Krugman's viewpoints through the lens of free market Austrian economics. The podcast sought to teach economics "by uncovering and dissecting the errors of Krugman." The podcast released its final episode on June 11, 2020.
Bibliography
As author
- The Great Façade: Vatican II and the Regime of Novelty in the Catholic Church (co-authored with Christopher Ferrara; 2002) ISBN 1-890740-10-1
- The Church Confronts Modernity: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive Era (2004) ISBN 0-231-13186-0
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History (2004) ISBN 0-89526-047-6
- The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (2005) ISBN 0-7391-1036-5
- How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (2005) ISBN 0-89526-038-7
- 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask (2007) ISBN 0-307-34668-4
- Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass (2007) ISBN 978-0-9793540-2-1
- Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush (co-authored with Kevin Gutzman; 2008) (ISBN 978-0-307-40575-3)
- Beyond Distributism (2008)
- Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse (February 2009) (ISBN 1-5969-8587-9, 978-1-5969-8587-2)
- Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century (2010) ISBN 1-59698-149-0
- Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse (2011) ISBN 1-59698-141-5
- Real Dissent: A Libertarian Sets Fire to the Index Card of Allowable Opinion (2014) ISBN 1-50084-476-4
As editor
- Choate, Rufus (2002). The Political Writings of Rufus Choate. Gateway Editions. ISBN 0-89526-154-5.
- Brownson, Orestes (2003) . The American Republic. Gateway Editions. ISBN 0-89526-072-7.
- Rothbard, Murray (2007). The Betrayal of the American Right. Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-1-933550-13-8.
- We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing from 1812 to Now. Basic Books. 2007. ISBN 978-1-56858-385-3. (Co-edited with Murray Polner.)
- Back on the Road to Serfdom: The Resurgence of Statism. ISI. 2010. ISBN 978-1-935191-90-2.
References
- "How Does a Libertarian Survive College or Grad School? | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- "Thomas E. Woods, Jr". Mises Institute. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ Naji Filali, Interview with Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Harvard Political Review, August 16, 2011.
- ^ Woods, Tom. "About Tom Woods". Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- "Liberty Classroom | The History and Economics They Didn't Teach You". Liberty Classroom. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Profile: Thomas E. Woods, Jr". www.mises.org. Mises Institute. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ O'Leary, Lizzie (24 September 2019). "The Libertarians on the Anti-Krugman Cruise Just Want to Be Left Alone". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- "What You Should Know About the Author of the NYT Bestseller, Politically Incorrect Guide to American History | History News Network".
- "Very bad news". us5.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- "Some COVID Resources | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- "Non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns and wearing face masks, are effective measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission, contrary to claims in viral video". Health Feedback. 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- "Young Americans for Liberty - Dangers of the COVID Cult | Facebook". archive.is. 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- Jeff (2020-11-25). "YouTube Attempts to Silence the Mises Institute". Mises Institute. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- "Editorial Board at Libertarian Papers". Libertarianpapers.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- "First Principles – Banana Republic, U.S.A". Firstprinciplesjournal.com. 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- "About: Author, Historian, Libertarian | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- Inferno New Media. "About Tom Woods | Tom Woods". Thomasewoods.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- "ISI Announces 2006 Templeton Enterprise Award Winners" (Press release). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- New York Times "Bestseller List" (Paperback non-fiction), January 9, 2005
- New York Times "Bestseller List" (Paperback non-fiction), March 08, 2009
- "About: Author, Historian, Libertarian | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- "Libertarian Anarchy: Against the State". 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- "They Don't Dare Tell You the Real Meaning of July 4 | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "Ep. 322 Lysander Spooner: Anti-Slavery, Pro-Secession | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "Ep. 323 Does the Constitution Bind Anyone? | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "Ep. 1086 Lysander Spooner: The Evolution of a Radical Libertarian | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "Ep. 1468 Spooner vs. Locke: Can Governments Rest on "Consent"? | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "Is Nullification Unconstitutional? | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- Sanford Levinson, The Twenty-First Century Rediscovery of Nullification and Secession in American Political Rhetoric: Frivolousness Incarnate or Serious Arguments to Be Wrestled With?, Vol. 67, No. 1, Arkansas Law Review (initially prepared for delivery as the Wylie H. Davis Distinguished Lecture, University of Arkansas School of Law, September 27, 2013).
- Thomas, Woods (1997). "Christendom's Last Stand". Southern Partisan. 17 (2nd Quarter 1997): 26–29.
- Woods, Thomas E. (Presenter) (2008). The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization (Television production). Vol. Episode 8: "Catholic Charity". Eternal Word Television Network. ASIN B00C30D3NG. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
My personal favorite in this list is Martin Luther because I, myself, am a former Lutheran.
- "A Profound Philosophical Commonality by Anthony Flood". Lewrockwell.com. 1987-11-22. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- Beirich, Heidi. "Two Treatises: A pair of recent books attack the Vatican and its current policies form the core of radical traditionalist teachings". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
- Woods, Thomas E.; Ferrara, Christopher A. (2002). The Great Façade: Vatican II and the Regime of Novelty in the Catholic Church. The Remnant Press. ISBN 978-1890740108.
- "Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass". BooksForCatholics.com. 2007-09-14. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- "History and Truth: An Interview With Thomas E. Woods, Jr. by Bernard Chapin". Lewrockwell.com. 2005-07-23. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- "Up From Conservatism – Mises Media". Mises.org. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- E. Woods, Thomas. "The Split on the Right". LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
- ^ Boot, Max (Feb 14, 2005). "Incorrect History". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
- "Haley, James W., The Standard Reader, Weekly Standard 01/31/2005". 31 January 2005.
- "A Factually Correct Guide for Max Boot". The American Conservative. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- kanopiadmin (2014-08-05). "Keynesian Predictions vs. American History". Mises Institute. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- "Why the Greenbackers Are Wrong (AERC 2013) | Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- Woods, Thomas E. (2009). Meltdown : a free-market look at why the stock market collapsed, the economy tanked, and government bailouts will make things worse. Washington, DC: Regnery Pub. ISBN 978-1-59698-587-2. OCLC 276335198.
- "Review Essay of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas E. Woods, Jr". 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
- Max Blumenthal (July 14, 2006). "Parshall featured founding member of neo-Confederate hate group as guest American history expert". Media Matters for America.
- Tom Woods (May 10, 2018). "What's the Deal with Woods and the "League of the South"?".
- Tom Woods: The Making of an Anti-War Libertarian, retrieved 2021-07-03
- On Woods' association with Ferrara, see "On Chris Ferrara"
- Also on audio book Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, as read by the author Thomas Woods.
External links
- Official website
- Contra Krugman (podcast)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Tom Woods at IMDb
- Thomas Woods archive at LewRockwell.com
- Thomas Woods archive at TheAmericanConservative.com
- 1972 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American historians
- 21st-century American essayists
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century Roman Catholics
- American anarcho-capitalists
- American columnists
- American libertarians
- American male non-fiction writers
- American men podcasters
- American podcasters
- American political commentators
- American political writers
- American traditionalist Catholics
- American writers of Armenian descent
- Armenian American
- Catholics from Massachusetts
- Catholic libertarians
- Columbia University alumni
- Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism
- Critics of neoconservatism
- Harvard University alumni
- Historians from Massachusetts
- Historians of the United States
- Historians of the Catholic Church
- Libertarian historians
- Libertarian theorists
- Mises Institute people
- Non-interventionism
- Paleoconservatism
- Paleolibertarianism
- Right-libertarianism
- People from Melrose, Massachusetts
- Suffolk County Community College faculty
- Traditionalist Catholic writers