Thomas Woods

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 takes a strict constructionist view of the U.S. Constitution insofar as it limits the power of the Federal Government.[19] Woods echoes the views individualist anarchist Lysander Spooner set forth in a set of essays, No Treason, in which Spooner argues 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.[20][21][22][23]

Woods advocates the compact theory theory of the Union[24] which was espoused by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. The resolutions argue that states are duty-bound to resist unconstitutional federal acts. In his book Nullification, he details the history of and justification for nullification and its adoption by various political movements including abolitionists, slave holders, and those opposed to tariffs. He goes on to suggest nullification as a tool that states can use to check the powers of the federal government. As such, Woods is a supporter of the Tenth Amendment Center,[25][26] which aims to resist what it views as federal overreach through state action. On the other hand, Woods does not view the Bill of Rights as a limitation on the power of the states but rather a limitation solely on the power of the federal government. 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."[27]

Woods was received into the Roman Catholic Church from Lutheranism.[28] 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,[29] Woods is also recognized for his books attacking the post-Vatican II church.[30][31] Woods advocates what he calls the Old Latin Mass[32] and cultural conservatism.[33][34]

Tom Woods at CPAC in February 2010.

Woods is a former neoconservative and has been critical of neoconservative support for an aggressive and interventionist foreign policy. In place of this, he has advocated non-intervention.[35]

Woods makes a sharp distinction between paleoconservative thinkers, with whom he sympathizes,[3][36] and neoconservative thinkers. In articles, lectures and interviews Woods traces the intellectual and political distinction between the older conservative, or paleoconservative, school of thought and the neoconservative school of thought.

These views have provoked a strong response from some conservatives. On the release of Woods' Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, the book was scathingly reviewed by Max Boot[37] of The Weekly Standard. Boot accused Woods of being overly sympathetic with Southerners such as John C. Calhoun for his thoughts on a state's right to secede and state nullification (though northern politicians also advocated for nullification), while exaggerating the militarism of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Bill Clinton.[37] James Haley's Weekly Standard review of the book, in contrast, stated that it "provides a compelling rebuttal to the liberal sentiment encrusted upon current history texts..." the book is "ultimately about truth" and "[t]his is a book everyone interested in American history should have in his library".[38] Woods concluded his reply to Boot's review by saying "[s]ince in my judgment Max Boot embodies everything that is wrong with modern conservatism, his opposition is about the best endorsement I could have asked for".[39]

Woods has been highly critical of Keynesian economics, which he claims is at odds with historical examples.[40] While not formally trained in the field of Economics, Woods, who studies economics in his spare time, formerly co-hosted the Contra Krugman podcast with economist Robert P. Murphy.[7] The podcast analyzed and critiqued the writings of Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman. While Woods and Murphy share many policy prescriptions with certain Chicago school of economists such as Milton Friedman, they generally disagree with the Chicago School methodology.[41] Woods has been an advocate of hard money[42] and has shown interest in alternative currencies such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.[43] As with many other members of the Austrian School of thought, Woods is critical of the Federal Reserve and other central banks which he views as responsible for unnatural inflation and the business cycle.[44]

As a proponent of anarcho-capitalism, Woods is a critic of government control of education.[45] In his podcast, Woods discusses alternatives to government-run education such as private religious and nonreligious schools,[46] homeschooling,[47] and unschooling.[48] He has created a libertarian-infused history and economics education platform called Liberty Classroom with courses taught by historians, economists, and professors including Gerard Casey, Robert P. Murphy, Brion McClanahan, Kevin Gutzman, and Bradley Birzer.[49] In recent years, Woods has become increasingly critical of administrators and faculty at universities both public and private,[50][51] because he perceives a trend of decreasing quality,[52] lessening diversity of thought,[53][54] and little resistance to demonstrations that disrupt or "no-platform" traditionally open discussion and debate.[55] He has interviewed several high-profile academics who have been rebuked by university faculty and administrations due to non-left wing stances including notable examples such as Jordan Peterson,[56] Anthony Esolen,[57] Thaddeus Russell,[58] and Stephen Hsu.[59]

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.[6]

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."[6][7] The podcast released its final episode on June 11, 2020.

• The Great Façade: Vatican II and the Regime of Novelty in the Catholic Church (co-authored with Christopher Ferrara;[66] 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)[67] 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

• Choate, Rufus (2002). The Political Writings of Rufus Choate. Gateway Editions. ISBN 0-89526-154-5.
• Brownson, Orestes (2003) [1875]. 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.