Walter E. Block, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, USA

Abstract: Wysocki and Dominiak (2023) defend the thesis that blackmail is only beneficial, relatively, since the target of this offer values his secrecy more than the money he must pay. However, he loses absolutely, since the blackmailee would have been even better off if the blackmailer had disappeared from the scene, and/or never made his demand in the first place. In their view, the blackmailer is thus akin to the highwayman who offers you the choice of your money or your life. You value the latter more highly, so you “gain” by complying, but only in this relative sense. However you lose absolutely, since you would have been even better off had there been no highwayman threatening you, in the first place. This is in sharp contrast to the person who sells you a car. There, you gain in both cases: you value the auto more highly than its price, otherwise you would not make the purchase, and, you would not be better off if he disappeared. The present paper is critical of this thesis.

Keywords: Justice; Austrian economics; economic welfare; libertarianism.