A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist,[1] he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit promoting the Austrian School of economics.

After graduating from university, Rockwell had jobs at the conservative Arlington House Publishers, the radical-right John Birch Society, and the traditionalist Hillsdale College.

[2][3] Reading the works of Murray Rothbard, who became his mentor, led Rockwell to become an ardent believer in Austrian economics and what he calls "libertarian anarchism".

[4][5] Racist and homophobic content in those newsletters became a controversy in Paul's later campaigns; Rockwell denied ghostwriting it but acknowledged a role in the promotion.

[26] Rockwell admitted to Kirchick that he was "involved in the promotion" of the newsletters and wrote the subscription letters but denied ghostwriting the articles.

He explained "the term paleolibertarian became confused because of its association with paleoconservative, so it came to mean some sort of socially conservative libertarian, which wasn't the point at all...."[32] Rockwell's website, LewRockwell.com, formed in 1999, features articles and blog entries by various columnists and writers.

[36][independent source needed] The website is primarily home to right-libertarian authors, although left-wing anti-war writers have been featured.

[37][independent source needed] The academic Tanni Haas wrote in his 2011 book on political bloggers that of the 20 figures he interviewed, "none have more radical views" than Rockwell, whose avowed goal was to "do everything he can to undermine the state".

[38] Brian Doherty of Reason wrote that the site's "Mises Institute-associated writers" tend to emphasize the domestic and international fallout from government action.

[39] Conservative writer Jonah Goldberg of National Review wrote that the site regularly hosts invective against icons of American mainstream conservatism, including National Review, The Weekly Standard, neoconservatives, and William F. Buckley Jr.[40] A writer in The American Conservative described the site as paleolibertarian and "an indispensable source" of news on Ron Paul.

[44] Rockwell's paleolibertarian ideology, like Rothbard's in his later years, combines a right-libertarian theory of anarcho-capitalism based on natural rights with the cultural conservative values and concerns of paleoconservatism, and he identifies strongly with the modern Rothbardian tradition of Austrian economics.