Yaron Brook
Objectivism's public voice
Capitalism as the unknown ideal, argued daily.
Heterodox ObjectivistOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Objectivist hall →- Role
- Advocate
- Era
- b. 1961
- Region
- Israel / US
- Social band
- Heterodox
- Placement
- +56 · −90 · +15
§ Where Yaron Brook stands
3 axesBrook defends laissez-faire capitalism without qualification, calling for the welfare state to be phased out and for a separation of economy and state as complete as that of church and state. Equal Is Unfair (2016), written with Don Watkins, argues that economic inequality largely reflects differences in productive achievement and is not in itself an injustice to be corrected.
Brook wants government limited to protecting individual rights through police, courts and the military, and opposes the regulatory and welfare state that has grown beyond those functions. Free Market Revolution (2012) presents Rand's ideas as the way to end big government. He parts company with many libertarians on foreign policy, urging forceful military action against what he calls Islamic totalitarianism after the attacks of 11 September 2001.
Socially Brook is a secular individualist whose views lean only slightly progressive overall. He is an outspoken atheist who supports abortion rights and open immigration, positions that put him at odds with religious conservatives. Against that, his rejection of egalitarianism in Equal Is Unfair (2016), his hawkish foreign policy and his hostility to environmentalism keep him close to the centre.
How close are you to Yaron Brook?
Three statements, one per axis. Answer them and we’ll drop you on the compass next to them.
§ The story
LivingYaron Brook (born 1961) is an Israeli-American advocate of Objectivism. Raised in Israel, he served in the Israel Defense Forces and studied civil engineering at the Technion before moving to the United States, where he earned an MBA and a PhD in finance at the University of Texas at Austin. After teaching finance at Santa Clara University, he became executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute in 2000, leading it until 2017 and then chairing its board.
Brook has been one of the most visible public advocates of Rand's ideas in the twenty-first century, arguing in debates, articles, television appearances and his long-running online show that capitalism is moral and that the 2008 financial crisis grew out of government intervention rather than free markets. His books with Don Watkins, Free Market Revolution (2012) and Equal Is Unfair (2016), carry that case into policy. Critics on the left reject his defence of inequality, while many libertarians object to his hawkish foreign policy and many conservatives to his support for open immigration.
Notable for
- 01Led the Ayn Rand Institute
- 02Prolific Objectivist debater
- 03'In Pursuit of Wealth'
Key works & moments
- 1980sLeaves Israel for graduate study at the University of Texas at Austin, later earning a finance PhD.
- 2000Becomes president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.
- 2009Contributes to Winning the Unwinnable War, an Ayn Rand Institute book on post-9/11 foreign policy.
- 2012Publishes Free Market Revolution with Don Watkins, arguing Rand's ideas can end big government.
- 2016Publishes Equal Is Unfair with Don Watkins, a critique of the campaign against inequality.
- 2017Hands over day-to-day leadership of the Ayn Rand Institute and becomes chairman of its board.
§ Minds closest to Yaron Brook
All minds →
§ Also in the Objectivist hall
Enter the hall →§ Common questions
4 answersWhat is Yaron Brook's political ideology?
Yaron Brook is an Objectivist, a follower of Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason, rational self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Heterodox Objectivist. Economically he is firmly pro-market (+56), seeking to phase out the welfare state. On governance he is strongly libertarian (−90), wanting government confined to protecting individual rights, and socially he leans only slightly progressive (+15), combining atheism, abortion rights and open immigration with a hawkish foreign policy.
Is Yaron Brook left-wing or right-wing?
Right-wing on economics, but not a conservative. Brook's defence of laissez-faire, his hostility to the welfare state and his defence of economic inequality place him on the free-market right. Yet he is an atheist who supports abortion rights and open immigration, positions that set him against much of the religious and nationalist right. He is best described as an Objectivist individualist who fits neither major party's coalition comfortably.
Is Yaron Brook a libertarian?
Partly, though he identifies first as an Objectivist. Brook shares the libertarian goals of free markets, minimal government and individual rights, and he regularly debates and appears with libertarians. But he follows Rand in grounding politics in a full philosophy of reason and rational egoism rather than in a non-aggression principle alone, rejects anarchism in favour of a limited government, and backs a hawkish foreign policy that most libertarians oppose.
Which minds are closest to Yaron Brook?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to Yaron Brook are Leonard Peikoff (98% alike), Ayn Rand (96% alike) and John Galt (94% alike). The furthest is Pol Pot (0% alike).