Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek once warned that "the economist who is only an economist is likely to become a nuisance if not a positive danger." As an economist and theorist of liberalism, Wilhelm R pke was acutely aware of this danger. His combined commitments to sound economic analysis, the importance of social institutions, and the moral and religious framework of the Christian tradition make him a unique figure in the history of economic and social thought. This anthology, through carefully chosen selections from R pke's writings, introduces the contemporary reader to this most humane economist and theorist of the free and virtuous society.