Jeffrey Albert Tucker (; born December 19, 1963) is an American economics writer of the Austrian School, an advocate of anarcho-capitalism and Bitcoin, a publisher of libertarian books, a conference speaker, and an internet entrepreneur.
As of 2016, he is Chief Liberty Officer (CLO) of Liberty.me and Director for Digital Development of the Foundation for Economic Education. Tucker is also an adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and an Acton Institute associate.
Video Jeffrey Tucker
Early life and education
A son of the Texas historian Albert Briggs Tucker and Roberta Janeice (Robertson) Tucker, Jeffrey Albert Tucker was born in Fresno, California in 1963.
He studied economics as an undergraduate at Texas Tech University and Howard Payne University, where he first encountered the literature of the Austrian School. He later enrolled as a graduate student in economics at George Mason University.
Maps Jeffrey Tucker
Career
Writer and editor
While studying at George Mason, Tucker attended a journalism program in Washington, D.C., where he became a volunteer at the Washington office of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
In the late 1980s, he went to work for Ron Paul, as an assistant to editor Lew Rockwell, who produced political and investment newsletters on behalf of the former congressman.
From 1997 to 2011 Tucker worked for the Mises Institute, of which Rockwell was a co-founder, as editorial vice president and editor for the institute's website, Mises.org. From 1999 to 2011 he also contributed scholarly efforts and humorous essays to LewRockwell.com.
In late 2011 he was hired by Addison Wiggin as publisher and executive editor of Laissez Faire Books, and worked in that capacity until 2016. As of 2017, he remains a contributor to LFB.
Tucker was appointed a Distinguished Fellow of the Foundation for Economic Education in 2013, speaking at FEE's seminars and writing for its publication The Freeman. As of 2016, he was FEE's Director of Digital Development.
Bitcoin advocacy
In 2013, Tucker began writing about the information-based cryptocurrency Bitcoin. He has been interviewed on the subject by Reason, Forbes, Fox Business Channel, and RT. Tucker's 2015 book Bit by Bit is devoted to Bitcoin and other products of the "information economy".
Speaker
Tucker has appeared as a speaker at numerous conferences on Bitcoin, Austrian school economics, and libertarianism, including events of the Free State Project and the 2016 Libertarian Party national convention.
Social media
In 2013, Tucker founded and became the CEO (under the title "Chief Liberty Officer") of Liberty.me, a "social network and online publishing platform for the liberty minded", which launched a successful Indiegogo fundraising campaign in 2013 and began operation in 2014.
Alleged role in Ron Paul Newsletters
In an interview with Reason, Timothy Virkkala, former managing editor of the libertarian magazine Liberty, alleged that Tucker played a role in the production of racially charged newsletters written on behalf of Ron Paul in the late 1980s and early 1990s. By Virkkala's account, he heard from Bill Bradford, then the editor of Liberty, that Tucker was an "assistant, [and] probably a writer" who assisted "editor and chief writer" Lew Rockwell in creating the newsletters. Eric Dondero, who served as (election) campaign coordinator and senior aide to Ron Paul in the mid to late 1990s, told the American Spectator in an on-line reader comment that "Lew Rockwell and Jeff Tucker wrote the newsletters." According to a political blog by Economist, unnamed "numerous veterans" of the libertarian movement said it was an "open secret" throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s that Tucker and Rockwell ghostwrote the newsletters. In response to questions about his role with the newsletters from Reason, Tucker said, "I just really am not going to make a statement, I'm sorry. I'll take all responsibility for being the editor of Mises.org, OK?"
Personal life
Formerly a Southern Baptist, Tucker is a convert to traditionalist Catholicism and was managing editor of the Church Music Association of America journal Sacred Music from 2006 to 2014. From 2013 to 2015, he edited CMAA's website New Liturgical Movement.
Published works
Books in English
- Right-Wing Collectivism: The Other Threat to Liberty (2017): Addresses that the threat of collectivism comes from the right as well as the far left
- Henry Hazlitt: Giant For Liberty (with Llewellyn H. Rockwell and Murray N. Rothbard, 1994, Ludwig von Mises Institute, ISBN 978-0-945466-16-1): an annotated bibliography of the works of Henry Hazlitt. A Foundation for Economic Education review described the book, which "includes citations of a novel, works on literary criticism, treatises on economics and moral philosophy, several edited volumes, some 16 other books and many chapters in books, plus articles, commentaries, and reviews," as "an apt eulogy of Henry Hazlitt."
- Sing Like a Catholic (2009, Church Music Association of America, ISBN 978-1-60743-722-2): essays on church music
- Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo (2010, Ludwig von Mises Institute, ISBN 978-1-933550-89-3)
- It's a Jetsons World: Private Miracles and Public Crimes (2011, Ludwig von Mises Institute, ISBN 978-1-61016-194-7)
- Hack Your Shower Head: and 10 Other Ways to Get Big Government out of Your Home (2012, Laissez Faire Books, ISBN 978-1-62129-063-6)
- A Beautiful Anarchy: How to Create Your Own Civilization in the Digital Age (2012, Laissez Faire Books, ISBN 978-1-62129-041-4): on the effects of small business regulation
- Liberty.me: Freedom Is a Do-It-Yourself Project (2014, Liberty.me, ISBN 978-1-63069-032-8)
- Bit by Bit: How P2P is Freeing the World (2015, e-book)
- Advice for Young, Unemployed Workers (2015, pamphlet, Foundation for Economic Education, ISBN 978-1-57246-039-3)
In translation
Four of Tucker's books have been published in Spanish translations, including the following:
- Milagros del sector privado y crímenes del sector público (2014, ISBN 978-84-7209-638-7)
- Una bella anarquía (2014, ISBN 978-1-909870-15-4)
In periodicals
He has written for, among others, Journal of Libertarian Studies, The Wall Street Journal, The Journal of Commerce, National Review, The Freeman, Catholic World Report, Crisis, Sacred Music, Newsweek, and Chronicles.
See also
- Libertarianism portal
References
External links
- Jeffrey Tucker at Goodreads
- Jeffrey Tucker at WorldCat
- Columns at Newsweek
- Books by Jeffrey Tucker (in e-book format)
- Essays at LewRockwell.com
- Columns in Crisis magazine
Source of article : Wikipedia