For anyone familiar with F. A. Hayek’s famous 1944 book, The Road to Serfdom, the present electoral campaigning to gain the Democratic and Republican nominations as the party’s presidential candidate cannot help but call to mind Hayek’s chapter, “Why the Worst Get on Top.” As matters now stand, the most likely candidates will be,…
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How often when discussing politics, listening to the news, or hearing about the latest government debacle do you hear something like, “If only John Doe was in office” or “If we could just get the right people in there, things would be better?” How often are issues like corruption, waste, and other perverse outcomes…
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Born May 8, 1899, F. A. Hayek made landmark contributions to more subjects than most social scientists are even conversant in: economic theory, social-science methodology, political and legal theory, intellectual history—he had something valuable to say about all of these and more. Because so many great pieces about Hayek’s life and work have been…
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A Buttonwood column in the new issue of The Economist, “Taking von Mises to pieces: Why is the Austrian explanation for the crisis so little discussed?,” discusses the enormous relevance of the Austrian School of economics, including the work of F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Lawrence White in explaining the current economic crisis….
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Carden, Art and Robert A. Lawson. 2009. Human Rights and Economic Liberalization, under review at Business and Politics. This paper has made the rounds at a handful of conferences and is finally available. Thanks to everyone who has offered comments and suggestions. The abstract: Using several case studies and data from the Economic Freedom…
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Joseph Schumpeter, in his 1943 book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, was concerned that the people who benefit most from a capitalist economy take its benefits for granted, and cannot be counted on to defend capitalism against its attackers. This would lead to capitalism’s eventual collapse. This seemed plausible in 1943, but less plausible in…
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