Preface.

• Author: Baade, Nicole M.

The recent trade war between the United States and China has highlighted arguments between free-market principles and protectionism nationally. At the state and local level too, judges, lawmakers, and scholars have debated the proper balance between individual economic liberty and governmental interests on issues like civil asset forfeiture, licensing, and home-sharing laws. Consideration of these issues, however, is not a recent invention. The quest for economic liberty in response to tyrannical restrictions on trade and taxes was central to the American Revolution and to debates leading to the Constitution's ratification. In a similar vein, the theme of the Thirty-Eighth Annual Federalist Society Student Symposium was inspired by Frederic Bastiat's maxim: "Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." Many of the nation's finest scholars and judges came together at the Symposium to discuss how factions, relations among the states, congressional powers, and constitutional structure affect economic liberty.

We have the honor of presenting eight Essays from the Symposium in this Issue of the Harvard journal of Law & Public Policy. In the first, Professor Randy Barnett analyzes three key historical data points to determine the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause. Next, Professor Roderick Hills examines whether economic protectionism is a legitimate state interest. In three thought-provoking Essays, Professor Beth Colgan, Professor Erik Luna, and Christina Sandefur discuss the interplay between criminal justice and individual economic liberty. Then, Professor John McGinnis remarks on the nature of Bitcoin and its future as a currency. Finally, Professor Allan Ides and Dana Berliner each explore the contributions of federalism and constitutionalism to economic liberty.

Additionally, we are pleased to present three Articles addressing current constitutional issues. The first Article of this Issue, by Paul Larkin and GianCarlo Canaparo, considers the case Kahler v. Kansas, currently pending before the Supreme Court. They argue that neither...