Laozi
Economist Murray Rothbard suggested that Laozi was the first libertarian, comparing Laozi's ideas to Friedrich Hayek's theory of spontaneous order. James A. Dorn agreed, arguing that Laozi like many liberals "argued that minimizing the role of government and letting individuals develop spontaneously would best achieve social and economic harmony." David Boaz quotes the Daodejing in his 1997 book The Libertarian Reader. Philosopher Roderick Long argues that libertarianism in Taoism actually borrowed from earlier Confucian writers.