David Boaz

David Boaz
Boaz in 2018
BornDavid Douglas Boaz
(1953-08-29)August 29, 1953
Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJune 7, 2024(2024-06-07) (aged 70)
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation
  • Writer
  • editor
Alma materVanderbilt University (BA)
SubjectLibertarianism in the United States
PartnerSteve Miller

David Douglas Boaz (/ˈbz/; August 29, 1953 – June 7, 2024) was a libertarian author, philosopher and editor. He was a distinguished senior fellow and the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, an American libertarian think tank. Boaz was a prominent advocate for individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and non-interventionist foreign policy.

Boaz authored several works on libertarian philosophy, including Libertarianism: A Primer and The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom. He was an early proponent of civil liberties, marriage equality, drug policy reform, and school choice, contributing to the mainstream acceptance of these issues in public discourse. Boaz is regarded as a key figure in the development and promotion of modern libertarian thought.