On facebook, his book Free Trade Doesn't Work is one of the advertisements that appear. I always delete it and give "misleading" as the reason why.
Ian Fletcher: http://www.usbic.net/ianfletcher/
He supposedly also has found the fatal flaws in the theory of competitive advantage.
I love this quote from one of his essays:
"How can reducing people’s freedom make them better off? The answer, obvious enough once one thinks about it in the way implied by our experiment, is this: People are better off with less freedom when they would use that freedom to hurt themselves."
So tell me again how Mr. Fletcher know which freedoms are harmful to people and need to be eliminated, and which are not?
How does Ian Fletcher know what it means for an individual to hurt themselves? Mises required that individuals act with a purpose or act to achieve some ends. These ends need only be important to the individual. These other folks require that individuals act "rationally" where rational is defined using their preferences and not the preferences of the individuals.
I can imagine him in his California office, coming there in his supercar, making loud demands for protectionism to visiting bureaucrats, getting thanked by the industry interests who put him up to it, and driving back to his mountain gated community with the same smug look on his face.
I appreciate the work businessmen do, and I appreciate that they know far more than economists ever would about the practical realities of commercial life. My own family is of businessmen. But never should businessmen be allowed to become a political voice, a political force, or a political movement. They are the most dangerous rent-seekers in destroying the rest of society to get things their way. Do unto the rest of society what they should do to you - leave them alone. Don't demand that they pay more for your products and not buy other people's stuff. It's petty.
Once a business becomes a perpetual groveller to government for its rent-seeking interests, and demands regulations in its favour, it should have all its profits forfeited and ploughed back to government. We could do this for all rent-seeking businesses, so that government can eliminate income tax on individuals and discourage other business lobbyists in the capital city.
I guess he was previously an economist serving hedge-funds because his idiocy didn't serve them very well.
To play Devil's Advocate for a moment, Mises also said the means people choose to accomplish their ends can be (and often is) incorrect. For the reason the history of man is one of error and frustration. Thus, you can define somone going against their interests (hurting themselves) as someone who has chosen an incorrect means for accomplishing their ends.