Essential Scholars

Women of Liberty

beng — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 20:20:22 +0000

Women of Liberty beng Thu, 01/05/2023 - 12:20

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Foreword by Virginia Postrel
Edited by Donald J. Boudreaux and Aeon J. Skoble

Introduction copy

This series of essays, written by leading scholars in the United States, Canada and Europe, explores the lives and ideas of some of the most influential women over the past few centuries whose work contributed enormously to the democratic, prosperous and free societies that many people enjoy today. They are a remarkably diverse group of women. Their lives span the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries and their contributions are significant despite the barriers each faced. Some were educated at prestigious universities while others only had informal schooling. Some were academics, others writers and journalists, and still others activists. What they had in common was an understanding of the power of freedom and liberty, and their influential advocacy of such during their lives. These essays are a celebration and recognition of their lives and contributions.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with our authors to discuss the influential women whose work contributed to the freedom and prosperity we enjoy today.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

Jane Jacobs—Community impact and why it’s a key metric

Podcast episode description

Lydia Miljan, Professor of Political Science at the University of Windsor, joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss Jane Jacobs’ unconventional road to economic thinking through community activism and urbanism—and why assessing the needs of communities within cities remains vital for effective, non-disruptive urban planning/design. They even get into the various ways community, big or small scale, combats isolation.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/694978092633054/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/2eLrJM02KhM

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Rose Friedman and Mary Paley Marshall—Neck(s) of the Operation

Podcast episode description

Lynne Kiesling, co-author of the Essential Women of Liberty, joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss the critical behind-the-scenes work done by Rose Friedman and Mary Paley Marshall—two women who, despite not having very public-facing roles when it came to their respective husbands' careers, both collaborated with and made invaluable contributions to not only the work of their partners, but the field of economics entire.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/653810296574457/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/rcZeieedvzk

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Elinor Ostrom and the Bottom-Up Approach to Community Maintenance

Podcast episode description

Dr. Jayme Lemke, Senior Fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, and host Rosemarie Fike discuss Nobel Prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom and why community is best served and best empowered through grassroots movements that enable solutions tailored to their specific needs.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/1523900048441646/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/642rm3AKlhc

Explore the Book

Chapter title

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)

Chapter summary

Mary Wollstonecraft is one of the essential contributors to conceptions and discussions of liberty. Influential since the publication of her Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, she was and continues to be read and cited both within and beyond the English-speaking world (Botting, Wilkerson, and Kozlow, 2014). Frequently seen as the first English feminist, her philosophy is receiving increasing attention, thereby placing her views on the rights of women in the wider context of her economic, social, and political views. Most important in relation to the subject of her reflections on liberty is the close link she maintained between rights and duties, and her insistence that artificial hindrances to the development of all human beings violated natural law and divine justice. Liberty, for Wollstonecraft, had to be enjoyed by all, regardless of gender and race; it was her belief that gross inequality was incompatible with the well-being not just of the unprivileged, but also of the privileged.

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Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)

Chapter summary

Harriet Martineau was perhaps the greatest storyteller in the long tradition of liberal political economists. There is an engaging simplicity in her stories, told to educate the general public about basic principles of economics, the benefits associated with the division of labour and free trade, as well as alternatives to a nineteenth century system of enslavement in the US South. Her monthly serials, published under the umbrella title Illustrations of Political Economy, eventually brought her enormous celebrity and much-needed financial independence.

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Mary Paley Marshall (1850–1944) and Rose Director Friedman (1910–2009)

Chapter summary

With fewer academic and career opportunities than in the present, women in the past often found outlets for their scholarly and intellectual pursuits by collaborating with their husbands, sometimes while also raising families. That reality is reflected in the economics profession as well. This chapter highlights the intellectual contributions of two women who were economists in their own rights but who also married well-known and influential economists with whom they collaborated: Mary Paley Marshall and Rose Director Friedman. The nature of the collaborative intellectual relationships differed in the two cases in ways that reflect both the personal and cultural characteristics of each.

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Isabel Paterson (1886–1961)

Chapter summary

Isabel Paterson lived an extraordinary life. She was vivacious and independent. She was witty, insightful, and stylish. She was a woman of unwavering principle and was sometimes acerbic and curmudgeonly. She had a compendious memory, a towering intellect, and was extremely well read. She was a force of reason against misguided collectivist ideas and a vocal public advocate for the individual and for capitalism through her books, articles, columns, informal literary salons, and letter exchanges. You would be hard pressed to find a more influential thinker in the modern individualist movement.

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Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968)

Chapter summary

Rose Wilder Lane based her analysis of human liberty on her experiences and observations across the United States—and across the globe. In 1943, her always adventurous life took an unexpected turn. Not only did she publish The Discovery of Freedom: Man’s Struggle Against Authority that year, but she also took on the Social Security system, the US Post Office, and the FBI.

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Ayn Rand (1905–1982)

Chapter summary

Born Alisa Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ayn Rand would go on to become one of the most famous and polarizing defenders of liberty to wield a pen. Enamored with stories featuring swashbuckling heroes, French literature, and American film, Rand knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. Her aim was to depict the ideal man with an uncompromising heroic vision. To achieve this, Rand worked out over many years a philosophical system she would later call Objectivism.

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Anna J. Schwartz (1915–2012)

Chapter summary

Today it is commonly recognized that a country’s central bank and the money supply have a significant impact on inflation and economic activity. Indeed, whether in research or academic circles, in the financial industry, or in popular press, no one can utter the words “recession” or “inflation” without discussing the actions of the US Federal Reserve. This was not always the case. Prior to the 1960s, few people acknowledged that the money supply and a central bank’s actions governing it matter for economic activity and prices.

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Jane Jacobs (1916–2006)

Chapter summary

Jane Jacobs is best known for her books about cities. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, some people have speculated about the future of cities. With learning, working, and entertainment all being conducted in virtual spaces, are there still sufficient reasons to organize ourselves in places called cities?

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Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012)

Chapter summary

Elinor Ostrom was a scholar, citizen, and academic entrepreneur of exceptional insight and determination. Her research on democratic self-governance strongly influenced the emerging sub-fields of public choice and institutional economics, established an important new framework for the analysis of common pool resources and collective action problems, and helped to build bridges between otherwise unconnected bodies of research. For these contributions, Ostrom was awarded both the highest honor in political science and the highest honor in economics.

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Deirdre McCloskey (1942– )

Chapter summary

Economists are not generally known as iconoclasts. Ask most people to imagine an economist and they envision a nerdy white man in a blue suit talking about interest rates. Deirdre McCloskey breaks that stereotype in several dimensions, describing herself as a “literary, quantitative, postmodern, freemarket, progressive-Episcopalian, ex-Marxist, Midwestern woman from Boston who was once a man. Not ‘conservative’! I’m a Christian classical liberal.” Born in 1942 as Donald, the son of a professor, McCloskey famously undertook gender reassignment at age 56, writing a beautiful and eloquent memoir about her decision and the process (McCloskey, 1999) and staking out a professional path to make economics more humane (McCloskey, 2020).

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Chapter pdf

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Scholar's Full Name

Women of Liberty

Videos

Title and Link

Essential Women of Liberty

Video description

In this series, we explore the lives and ideas of some of the most influential women over the past few centuries whose work contributed enormously to the democratic, prosperous and free societies that dominate the world today.

Some were academics, who despite enormous barriers, greatly influenced their disciplines and were eventually recognized for their contributions. Others were community activists, and successful journalists and popular fiction writers who affected and shaped the general public with compelling stories about the benefits of freedom, individualism and equality.

Many women profiled in this series faced adversity because of their gender, but yet each managed to leave an indelible mark on the democratic, prosperous and free societies that many people around the world enjoy today.

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Title and Link

Elinor Ostrom

Video description

In this series, we explore the lives and ideas of some of the most important and influential women over the last few centuries, each of whom made enormous contributions to the democratic, prosperous, and free societies that dominate the world today.

And of those, perhaps the most decorated is Elinor Ostrom, the first woman ever awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Deirdre McCloskey

Video description

And no such series would be complete without Deirdre McCloskey, whose humanistic view of economics has fundamentally changed the way economists approach their profession.

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Title and Link

Jane Jacobs

Video description

Every spring, tens of thousands of people all over the world lace up their shoes and walk around their cities in honour of Jane Jacobs, a writer and community activist who spent much of her career fighting city planners in their pursuit to redevelop lower-income neighbourhoods. Through her work, she showed how cities evolved out of the interactions and exchanges between the residents of the area and the businesses that emerged over time, and importantly, how this process resulted in thriving, and safe communities.

Jacobs is perhaps best known for her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which is credited with fundamentally changing urban planning. Her work has been taught in universities for nearly 60 years, and as a result of her advocacy and writing, centrally planned government housing developments have been rejected in city after city.

In 1998, Jacobs was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honours.

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Title and Link

Rose Wilder Lane

Video description

Throughout history, some of the most ardent supporters of freedom and individual rights have been women, including Rose Wilder Lane, one of the founders of the American libertarian movement.

Born on the American frontier, Wilder Lane would go on to become a prominent writer and journalist who in her writings promoted individualism and capitalism at a time when fascism, communism and central economic planning were growing in popularity. And she was also a vocal critic of racism when discrimination in the United States was rampant and overt.

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Book PDF

essential-women-of-liberty.pdf5.6 MB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09TXYFXPX

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1612864893

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Jane Jacobs and the Center from Center for the Living City.org
A brief history of Jane Jacobs and her role in the development of the Center for the Living City, her efforts to expand the narrative on contemporary urban life and civic engagement, and her philosophy on how cities are integrated systems that have their own logic and dynamism subject to change over time depending on the needs and desires of residents.

Jane Jacobs as Spontaneous Order Theorist with Pierre Desrochers from The Economics Detective via YouTube
Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Pierre Desrochers discusses the life and work of Jane Jacobs as an activist and moral thinker; her beginnings as a business writer covering urban renewal and how it caused her to recognize the policy for the disaster it was, eventually becoming a voice for those whose neighbourhoods were bulldozed and relocated into new buildings preferred by urban planning reformers and city politicians.

The Great Mind and Vision of Jane Jacobs from FEE (by Sandy Ikeda)
A retrospective article covering Jacobs’ pivotal role as an urban activist, moral thinker, and how these ideas took shape and evolved over her lifetime, focusing on this progression via her published books The Economy of Cities (1969), Cities and the Wealth of Nations (1984), The Nature of Economies (2000), and her most famous work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961).

Elinor Ostrom: An Uncommon Woman for the Commons from PNAS.org
A detailed retrospective on Elinor Ostrom’s contributions to the field of political science, economics, and sustainability projects, and the way these individual disciplines overlapped in her research, as evidenced by her 2009 Nobel Prize win in Economics as a political scientist.

Elinor Ostrom Prize Lecture from Nobel Prize.org
A 28-minute video recording of Ostrom’s prize lecture “Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems”.

Elinor Ostrom 1933-2012 from EconLib
A short biographical account of Ostrom’s life’s work and enduring legacy as a proponent of property rights and property rights in favour of environmental sustainability.

Ending The Tragedy of The Commons from Big Think via YouTube
In this video, Elinor Ostrom dispels the myth of the tragedy of the commons using her theoretical and empirical research.

Deirdre Nansen McCloskey from Deirdre McCloskey.com
Deirdre McCloskey’s official site with links to her publications, social media, videos, titles, and interviews.

Deirdre McCloskey from Mercatus
A brief but concise professional bio on McCloskey, as well as her listing as a Distinguished Affiliated Fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. The bio details her training as an economist, her tenure at the University of Chicago, and how her writings and research have produced novel insights over a wide range of disciplines such as economic theory, economic history, philosophy, rhetoric, feminism, ethics, transgender advocacy, statistical theory, politics, and law.

How the World Became Rich - Deirdre McCloskey at UCCS from IHS via YouTube
In this video, McCloskey delivers a lecture that summarizes modern economics and history, and concludes that it was ideas, not matter or institutions, that made the difference (delivered at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs on April 2, 2019).

The Mike Wallace Interview with Ayn Rand from the Ayn Rand Institute via YouTube
Originally broadcast in 1959, Ayn Rand talks with Wallace about the personal philosophy underpinning her books The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, as well as the economy, welfare, the American political system, and taxes.

Ayn Rand - Her Philosophy in Two Minutes from the Ayn Rand Institute via YouTube
A 2-minute video summarizing Rand’s most prominent philosophical idea: objectivism, and how it applies to her philosophical principles of reason, rational self-interest, laissez-faire capitalism, and worldview.

Discover Ayn Rand from Ayn Rand.org
A website dedicated to Rand’s work, philosophy, influence on social and critical thought today, as well as summaries of her personal and professional life and an introduction to Objectivism.

Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-1797 from The History Guide
A short but concise biographical account of Mary Wollstencraft’s time as a feminist, intellectual and writer, and how her work’s enduring influence laid the groundwork for modern reason, as well as contributed to the new age of reason she herself lived through.

Mary Wollstonecraft from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An encyclopedic overview of Wollstonecraft’s life, pedagogical writings, moral and political writings, posthumous publications, her past and present reputation and legacy, influence on modern philosophical and political thought, as well as a list of additional learning resources.

Mary Wollstonecraft, English Author from Britannica.com
A detailed breakdown of Wollstonecraft’s life, influences, and philosophical ideas, particularly her trailblazing work as an advocate of educational and societal equality for women, embodied in her 1792 seminal text A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Rose Wilder Lane, the Secret Behind the Little House Books from the New England Historical Society
An overview of Rose Wilder Lane’s life and advocacy work, as well as her oft-forgotten contributions to her mother’s own legacy of Little House on the Prairie.

The Mother of Libertarianism: Rose Wilder Lane from Libertarianism.org
A 23-minute video that describes how in the early 20th-century, classical liberal ideas were in full retreat with the advent of extensive state interference in the economy until Rose Wilder Lane reignited a passion for liberal ideas in her numerous columns alongside her master work The Discovery of Freedom.

Rose Wilder Lane | Wikipedia audio article from Wikipedia.org via YouTube
A comprehensive look at Rose Wilder Lane’s life as an American journalist, travel writer, novelist, political theorist, and daughter of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Along with Ayn Rand and Isabel Paterson, Lane is credited as one of the founders of the American libertarian movement.

Anna Schwartz | Women in Economics from Marginal Revolution University via YouTube
The second episode of MRU’s Women In Economics series, covering Anna Schwartz and he influence as one of the most influential monetary economists of the 20th century, and how she dedicated the rest of her life to studying economics, changing general perception and understanding of the Federal Reserve and the Depression.

Anna Jacobson Schwartz from National Women’s Hall of Fame
An overview of Schwartz’s life and legacy as a critical monetary scholar of the 20th century, her meticulousness in the presentation, explanation and interpretation of data in her field, as well as her tenure with the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Anna Jacobson Schwartz, American Economist from Britannica.com
A review of Schwartz’s work as an advocate of monetarism and collaborative efforts with Milton Friedman, and overall contributions to economic theory and understanding of institutions.

Milton Friedman / Rose Friedman 2003 Interview - Free to Choose / Power of Choice from Basic Economics via YouTube
An 11-minute video of Milton Friedman and Rose Director Friedman interviewed in 2003 by Bob Chitester (President of Free to Choose media) on the emancipatory power of choice that tangibly and psychologically benefits all people in a democratic, free-market society.

Interview with Rose and Milton Friedman from New Media.ufm
In this interview, Milton Friedman, who was awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics, and Rose Director Friedman, explain the values, objectives, and beginnings of the Mont Pelerin Society—specifically what it was like to create a society dedicated to classical liberalism in a world where the prevailing economic views leaned towards central planning and collectivism.

Remembering Rose Friedman from Forbes
A retrospective on Rose Director Friedman’s contributions to the field of economics, economic history, her collaborations with her husband, Milton, including their joint publications Free to Choose (1980) and Tyranny of the Status Quo (1984), which critiqued how lobbies and organized interests held the upper hand in resisting and quashing reforms, from economic policies to school vouchers, and how the “happiness thesis” could be applied to their own lives.

Authors

Author's Name

Carri Ann Biondi

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Carrie-Ann Biondi is an adolescent program manager and coach at Higher Ground Education and a humanities guide at Academy of Thought and Industry. She taught a wide range of philosophy courses at the college level for 25 years, most recently at Marymount Manhattan College, NY. Her research and publications focus on ancient philosophy, the philosophy of education, and popular culture and philosophy. She has a BA in American studies from Hofstra University, an MA in American culture studies from Bowling Green State University, and both an MA and a PhD in philosophy from Bowling Green State University.

Author's Name

Dedra McDonald Birzer

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Author Bio

Dedra McDonald Birzer is a lecturer of history at Hillsdale College in Michigan, and the editor-in-chief and director of the South Dakota Historical Society Press. She is currently writing an intellectual biography of Rose Wilder Lane and has published essays in the Ignatius Critical Editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights. She completed her doctorate in history at the University of New Mexico in 2000.

Author's Name

Donald J. Boudreaux

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Author Bio

Donald J. Boudreaux is a professor of economics and former Economics Department chair at George Mason University and a Fraser Institute senior fellow. He is also a senior fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and holds the Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center. He has a PhD in economics from Auburn University in Alabama and a law degree from the University of Virginia.

Professor Boudreaux has lectured across the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe on a wide variety of topics, including the nature of law, antitrust law and economics, and international trade. He is published in a variety of newspapers and journals, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, and The Supreme Court Economic Review and writes a blog (with Russell Roberts) called Café Hayek, cafehayek.com.

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Andrew G. Humphries

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Author Bio

Andrew G. Humphries is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Arizona State University in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership. He earned his PhD in Economics from George Mason University, his M.Ed. in Montessori Integrative Learning from Endicott College, and his BA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. He previously worked as an educator in the United States, India, and Guatemala. He is most interested in the history of economic thought, liberal education, self-government, and Socratic pedagogy.

Author's Name

Rachel Davison Humphries

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Rachel Davison Humphries is director of outreach at the Bill of Rights Institute in Arlington, Virginia, where she currently leads innovation, partnerships, and programming. She earned her BA in Liberal Arts from St. Johns College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Annapolis, Maryland, and her Masters in Learning, Design & Technology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

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L. Lynne Kiesling

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Author Bio

L. Lynne Kiesling is a research professor and co-director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics in the College of Engineering, Design and Computing at the University of Colorado–Denver. She received a BS in Economics from Miami University (Ohio) and a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University.

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Jayme Lemke

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Author Bio

Jayme Lemke is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a senior fellow in the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. In addition to her work on the evolution of women’s economic rights and opportunities in United States history, she has written on public choice and institutional theory as applied to policing, higher education, and other local public services. Her PhD in Economics is from George Mason University.

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David M. Levy

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Author Bio

David M. Levy is professor of economics at George Mason University and a distinguished fellow of the History of Economics Society. Levy has written seven scholarly books, over 100 journal articles, and dozens of academic books reviews and chapters in scholarly publications. He received his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, studying under Nobel laureate George Stigler.

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Lydia Miljan

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Author Bio

Lydia Miljan is professor of political science at the University of Windsor, and a Fraser Institute senior fellow. Her main research interests include how journalists’ personal views are reflected in news content and public opinion formation. In addition to peer-reviewed papers, she is the author of three books: Public Policy in Canada, Hidden Agendas: How Journalists Influence the News, and Cross-Media Ownership and Democratic Practice in Canada. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Calgary.

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Liya Palagashvili

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Author Bio

Liya Palagashvili is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, and a research fellow at New York University School of Law. She has published in academic journals, books, and in major media outlets such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Her research is in law and economics, political economy, and entrepreneurship. She earned her PhD in Economics from George Mason University in 2015.

Author's Name

Sandra J. Peart

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Author Bio

Sandra J. Peart is dean and the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. She is past president of the International Adam Smith Society and the History of Economics Society. Her recent publications include The Essential John Stuart Mill, published by the Fraser Institute. She obtained her PhD in economics from the University of Toronto.

Author's Name

Virginia Postrel

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Author Bio

Virginia Postrel is a visiting fellow at the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy at Chapman University, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, and the author of four books: The Fabric of Civilization (2020), The Power of Glamour (2013), The Substance of Style (2003), and The Future and Its Enemies. Postrel has an AB in English Literature from Princeton University with heavy coursework in economics.

Author's Name

Aeon J. Skoble

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Author Bio

Aeon J. Skoble, Fraser Institute senior fellow, is a professor of philosophy and chairman of the Philosophy Department at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. Widely regarded for his innovative methods of teaching economic key concepts and the philosophy behind markets and voluntary exchange, Professor Skoble has frequently lectured and written for the U.S.-based Institute for Humane Studies and the Foundation for Economic Education. He is the author of The Simpsons and Philosophy and Deleting the State: An Argument about Government. Prof. Skoble received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA and PhD from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Author's Name

Sylvana Tomaselli

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Author Bio

Sylvana Tomaselli is a fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. She is the author of “Mary Wollstonecraft” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2020 Edition). Her most recent publications include “The Art of Being in the Eighteenth Century: Adam Smith on Fortune, Luck, and Trust,” in the History of European Ideas and Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics, Princeton University Press (2021). Tomaselli has a BA in philosophy from the University of British Columbia, an MA in social and political thought from York University, and an MA and PhD from the University of Cambridge.

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Audiobook description

The thinkers discussed in this volume are a remarkably diverse group. They were born in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, and their work extends into the twenty-first. Some are economists primarily addressing other scholars, others popular writers aiming at the general public. Their educational backgrounds range from entirely informal schooling to PhDs from major universities. They include a former telegraph operator, a one-time Hollywood wardrobe department manager, and a graduate of secretarial school. Some were shaped by the frontier, others by the city. They are storytellers and data collectors, committed Christians and confirmed atheists, devoted to family life and resolutely single. Two are recognized here as the intellectual partners of their illustrious spouses.

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Natural Law

beng — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 20:10:14 +0000

Natural Law beng Thu, 01/05/2023 - 12:10

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Samuel Gregg

Introduction copy

Few ideas have been as influential in the development of moral, political, legal, and economic thought in the broad Western tradition as the idea of natural law. It is also true that the understanding of natural law and its influence on specific norms and institutions—rights, justice, private property, rule of law, limited government, etc.—is not anywhere near as widespread in the twenty-first century as it was just 100 years ago. This book aims to help rectify this deficit by explaining the basic principles of natural law and highlighting significant contributions that key natural law scholars have made to ideas and concepts that have encouraged the growth of free societies.

Explore the Book

Chapter title

What is Natural Law?

Chapter summary

The origins of the expression “natural law” are to be found in debates between the Greek philosopher Plato and those thinkers known as the Sophists. In broad terms the Sophists believed that politics was not about questions of right, wrong, justice, or injustice. They maintained that social arrangements reflected whoever was the strongest. Hence, it was “natural” for the strong to rule the weak. Such was the “law” of human “nature.”

Plato disagreed with the Sophists. For him, politics and justice could not be reduced to the rule of the strong. Nevertheless, Plato recognized the rhetorical power of the term “natural.” He thus decided to use it for his own purposes. In Plato’s thought, “natural” became a way of saying “human,” and one distinctive feature of humans is that we have reason. This is what makes humans different from animals. They act according to instinct alone. We do not.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Rights and Justice

Chapter summary

The legal obligation to respect rights has been formally recognized by most countries since the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Yet as one of the members of the Declaration’s drafting committee stated at the time, “We are unanimous about these rights on condition that no one asks why” (Thils, 1981: 51). The participants, it appears, decided that agreement on a common philosophical foundation for rights was unlikely to be achieved.

Rights are usually presented as a product of a modern post-Enlightenment world and associated with figures like John Locke and events such as the American and French Revolutions. There is, however, a strong case to suggest that the first substantive conceptions of rights were developed by medieval natural law thinkers whose ideas on this subject were clarified and developed further by their modern counterparts, some of whom were reacting to expansionist tendencies on the state’s part.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Limited Government and Rule of Law

Chapter summary

Any discussion of the nature and ends of liberty and justice inevitably touches upon the role of government and law in society. A good place to begin reflecting upon natural law’s approach to these questions is Aquinas’s understanding of law.

In his Summa Theologiae, Aquinas defined law “an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated” (ST I-II, q.90, a.4). “Law” in this statement means laws formally made by the legitimate political authority. “Reason” means natural law, which signals the law itself must be reasonable rather than driven by whatever the authorities just happen to want. “Him” means the political authority: i.e., government and legal officials such as legislators, judges, and government ministers. Finally, the “common good” means the conditions that assist individuals and groups in a given political community to make free choices for the goods that promote human flourishing.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Property and the Economy

Chapter summary

If individuals and communities are to make free choices for moral goods and to be virtuous, they often require what might be called “instrumental goods.” These are goods that have their own value and which can be used to protect and promote the pursuance of fundamental goods like work and truth, but which are not in themselves fulfilling.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

The Law of Nations and International Trade

Chapter summary

Prior to the eighteenth century, the dominant economic framework of post-medieval Western Europe was essentially mercantilism. This was a way of economic thinking and acting which held that nations became rich by encouraging exports and restricting imports (LaHaye, 2021). Governments acted to protect merchants from foreign competition by imposing tariffs and quotas on imports, as well as granting monopolies on the production of particular goods or trade routes to particular merchants. Trade by sea was especially restricted under mercantile arrangements. While it was rare for states to ban outright the importation of goods and services from abroad, governments introduced a number of restrictions that served to minimize competition.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Conclusion

Chapter summary

Over the centuries, natural law ethics and reasoning has proved extraordinarily resilient. The relative influence of different philosophical positions waxes and wanes. But natural law’s understanding of the character of reason and the human mind’s capacity to know the truth about reality remain immensely attractive to people living in very different social, political, economic conditions,

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Scholar's Full Name

Natural Law

Videos

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What is Natural Law

Video description

Natural Law is a philosophical and scholarly tradition that traces its roots back thousands of years. At its core, natural law posits that all humans possess reason, and as such, all people, whatever their ethnicity, culture, or religion, have the ability to know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. But people must also be free to choose to do good instead of evil, and so natural law scholars over the centuries have influenced the creation of the institutions of modern western democracies that we enjoy today, including individual rights, justice, private property, rule of law, constitutionalism, and limited government. Few ideas have been as influential in the development of moral, political, legal, and economic thought in the broad Western tradition as the idea of natural law. Watch this video to learn more.

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Who Was Thomas Aquinas?

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Of all the thinkers, scholars and philosophers who have contributed to the natural law tradition over the centuries, none has been more influential than Thomas Aquinas. Born in 1225 in southern Italy, Aquinas was educated at the famous Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino. His work addresses critical questions such as the nature of human reason, the principles of morality, the character of justice, the origins and limits of government, and the relationship between man-made laws and natural law. For Aquinas and other natural law scholars who would follow him, the idea that all humans shared an inherent morality and could all understand what was intrinsically good and bad provided a moral restriction on the power of the state, and also created a rationale for why people were under no obligation to obey man-made laws that contravened natural law. Watch this video to learn more.

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The Legacy of Natural Law

Video description

At its core, natural law is a centuries-old philosophical and scholarly tradition that argues all human beings are capable of reason and possess free will and, as a result, all people, whatever their ethnicity, culture, or religion, have the ability to know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and to make free choices for the good and against evil. The idea that we are all guided by a universal moral code of conduct—and importantly that this natural law is more influential and binding than man-made laws—has had a significant impact on the development of moral, political, legal and economic thought throughout history. In fact, the principles of natural law have been at the heart of many of the world’s most important moments. Watch this video to learn more.

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Book PDF

essential-natural-law.pdf989.63 KB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09NR58LD2

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1600750335

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites where you can learn more about the basic principles of Natural Law.

The Natural Law Tradition in Ethics from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed explanation of the natural law tradition in ethics, including its origins and defining features, and the central role of Thomas Aquinas in shaping the natural law tradition.

Wacks, Raymond (2014). Philosophy of Law: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
An approachable historical introduction to the study of Natural Law, with an emphasis on the field of natural law within the greater context of the philosophy of natural law.

Natural Law, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An overview of the natural law theory and its core elements, including the Overlap Thesis, classical naturalism of scholars Thomas Aquinas and Sir William Blackstone, the four kinds of law as described by Aquinas, as well as an explanation of the distinction between natural law as a moral theory and as a type of legal theory.

Natural Law, Thinking Fellows (Podcast).
On this episode of the Thinking Fellows, the podcast hosts are joined by Dr. Russell Dawn to discuss the origins of natural law, its influence on our everyday and its role as a tool for understanding human laws.

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed overview of Thomas Aquinas, including his early life, education, major works, his contributions to the study of Christian philosophy and theology, and his influence on the natural law tradition.

The Natural Law (Aquinas 101), The Thomistic Institute.
A concise educational video that explores the roots of Thomas Aquinas's theory on natural law and its relation to human law. An emphasis on the influence of eternal law, and the five principal natural inclinations as defined by Aquinas.

Philosophy – Thomas Aquinas, The School of Life.
An engaging educational video that discusses Thomas Aquinas's contributions to the study of moral philosophy, including his philosophy regarding the role of reason in human life, and his views on reconciliation of faith and reason, and religion and science.

Natural Law Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #34, Crash Course.
An introduction to natural law theory, with an emphasis on Aquinas's views on the moral universe and the place of human beings in it, the seven basic goods, and the role of instinct and reason in shaping the natural law.

The Natural Law Theory of Thomas Aquinas, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute, by Thomas D'Andrea.
This article provides an introductory understanding of the fundamentals of Thomas Aquinas's natural law doctrine as described in his masterwork, "Summa Theologiae."

Authors

Author's Name

Samuel Gregg

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Author Bio

Samuel Gregg is Research Director at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Feulner Institute at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC, a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Contributing Editor at Law and Liberty, part of the Liberty Fund Network in Indianapolis, Indiana. The author of 16 books—including the prize-winning The Commercial Society (2007), Wilhelm Röpke’s Political Economy (2010), Becoming Europe (2013), the prize-winning Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization (2019), and over 400 articles and opinion pieces—he writes regularly on political economy, finance, American conservatism, Western civilization, and natural law theory. He served as President of the Philadelphia Society from 2019-2021. He is the General Editor of Lexington Books’ Studies in Ethics and Economics Series.

He also sits on the Academic Advisory Boards of Campion College in Sydney, Australia; the Fundación Burke in Madrid, Spain; the Instituto Fe y Libertad in Guatemala City, Guatemala; the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, United Kingdom; the Argaman Institute in Jerusalem, Israel; as well as the editorial boards of the Journal of Markets and Morality and Revista Valores en la sociedad industrial. In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Member of the Mont Pèlerin Society in 2004, and a member of the Royal Economic Society in 2008.

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Enlightenment

beng — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 19:43:47 +0000

Enlightenment beng Thu, 01/05/2023 - 11:43

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Douglas J. Den Uyl, Jacob T., Levy, and Chris W. Surprenant

Introduction copy

The political ideas that fully came together under the name “liberal” in the early nineteenth century—the ideas we often now refer to as “classical liberalism”—emerged out of major debates and developments from the late 1600s to the late 1700s, part of the broad European intellectual movement of that era that came to be known as “the Enlightenment.”

Explore the Book

Chapter title

Spinoza and the Origins of Liberalism

Chapter summary

Whether Feuer’s claim is strictly true or not need not concern us, but it may very well be. Liberalism in the modern world probably did begin with Spinoza a generation before John Locke, who is usually the thinker most associated with its origin. Born Baruch Spinoza, but sometimes identified as Benedict de Spinoza, he lived from 1632 to 1677 in the Netherlands. We shall have a bit more to say about Spinoza’s biography later, but it is important to know from the outset that the Netherlands at that time was the freest country in Europe. There is no doubt that its environment affected Spinoza’s reflections on political and social matters.

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Spinoza on Toleration

Chapter summary

In 1656, at the age of 23, Baruch Spinoza was literally excommunicated from the Jewish community in Amsterdam for his views on God, the law, and the soul. Members of that community were forbidden to associate or communicate with him. This happened even though Spinoza’s main discussion of religion, in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (TTP), did not appear until 1670. Across Europe, religion was perhaps the predominant cultural force. Controversies abounded and intolerance was common, even, at times, in relatively tolerant countries such as the Netherlands. Within a given religious sect, conformity was often strictly enforced. In addition, during the early years of Spinoza’s life, the “30 Years War” was raging. That war began as a religious war, though by the end it became more of a war over religious affiliations than over religion itself. Religious affiliation was perhaps the most common basis for group identification in that era. In Spinoza’s case, during his lifetime he circulated among some of the more liberal and radical religious sects. He had, for example, a number of Mennonite friends, and that sect was an offshoot of the Anabaptist movement, which advocated a strong separation of church and state. No doubt their “radical” doctrines both attracted and subsequently influenced Spinoza—and also put him at odds with the establishment of both the Jewish and Christian communities in Amsterdam.

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Spinoza on Freedom and Power

Chapter summary

In political philosophy there is an approach called “social contract” theory. Basically, this view began, at least in the modern era, with Thomas Hobbes and holds that the sovereign power—and sometimes also the legitimacy of that power—is established by people “contracting” with one another to set up a government. The time prior to when people get together to set up their government is known as the “state of nature.” The state of nature is thus that period of time, before any general agreement, when there is no government. There are different theories about what such a time would be like, or even whether it is truly possible to have a state of nature. Also, there are different theories about how the move out of the state of nature would go. Although it is debatable whether Spinoza is actually a social contract theorist, he does comment about our natural state and our natural rights, as well as the setting up of a government. Let’s begin with what Spinoza takes to be our natural rights and then move to the state of nature and the rights of government.

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Chapter title

Montesquieu on Despotism, Moderation, and Liberty

Chapter summary

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689- 1755) was a member of the provincial French nobility, a jurist, a celebrated novelist, and arguably the decisive figure in inaugurating the key decades of the Enlightenment in the study of society. Earlier thinkers, including Spinoza, had drawn on new scientific ways of thinking to try to understand the human mind, the nature of reality, and the relationship between man and God. But the flourishing of political, social, and economic thought that we associate with the Enlightenment, with thinkers as varied as Rousseau, Smith, Hume, Kant, Beccaria, Ferguson, Madison, Jefferson, Paine, Wollstonecraft, and Condorcet, only got fully underway with the publication of Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws (1748).

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Montesquieu on Pluralism

Chapter summary

Traditional political theories often focused on unity and uniformity as key aspects of a well-governed society. Difference, disagreement, and division were at best problems to manage, and at worst signs that there was no true community at all. From ancient Greece onward, political thought was marked by such metaphors as the ship of state, a ship on which we must all row in the same direction, one chosen by a captain we all obey, if we are to get anywhere; and the body politic, a body that acts as one, trying to preserve itself under the direction of a single mind.

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Montesquieu on Commerce

Chapter summary

The traditional emphasis on unity in political thought we discussed in the previous chapter accompanied a distrust of commerce, with its division of labour, difference between buyers and sellers, class differences, specialization, and conflicts of interest. In Part IV of The Spirit of the Laws Montesquieu decisively rejects that vision, and develops what comes to be known as the doux commerce thesis: commerce and trade soften and polish what had been harsh, warlike, and barbaric values. They have transformed the modern world and drawn it together. Although they have also provided the occasion for new kinds of international injustices through imperialism and colonialism, they tend to encourage toleration, peace, and justice. Montesquieu’s doctrine of the separation of powers shaped constitutional thought in the United States and elsewhere. His general approach to legal reform and criminal justice, his support for constitutional moderation, and his opposition to despotism were crucial for subsequent liberal political thought. But his account of commerce was probably his most important, transformative contribution to the social thought of the era of Enlightenment and to the development of what became liberal social theory. By putting the development of commerce at the center of his account of the transformations in European politics, and by developing an account of trade and exchange that stressed their moral advantages, he paved the way for the intellectual revolutions of the next few decades that were associated with the Scottish Enlightenment. The Spirit of the Laws was a widely acknowledged source and influence for the ideas subsequently developed by such authors as David Hume, Adam Ferguson, and Adam Smith.

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Chapter title

Kant’s Ethics

Chapter summary

Immanuel Kant is widely regarded as one of the most important thinkers in the history of Western philosophy for his contributions to both epistemology— the study of what there is to know and how we can know it—and ethics— what we generally understand to be the study of right and wrong. But for Kant, ethics is closely tied to epistemology, rationality, and the characteristics of rational beings. Instead of focusing on whether certain actions are right or wrong and why they are right or wrong, Kant’s moral philosophy focuses on the principles underlying those actions, how they are adopted, and whether or not they are consistent with individual freedom or autonomy.

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Chapter title

Kant’s Politics

Chapter summary

Kant’s account of morality focuses on a person’s capacity to be the agent and owner of his own actions, not merely a conduit for social and psychological forces or influences over which he has little or no control. His discussion of this connection between morality and freedom centers on autonomy of the will. Because morality is connected with autonomy, and autonomy is connected with an individual’s ability to participate in the process of rational deliberation and choosing ends for himself, it appears as if an individual alone should be the sole determining factor in whether he becomes virtuous. But that is not the case.

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Kant’s Legacy

Chapter summary

There’s a story in academic circles that serious philosophical work in the liberal political tradition coming out of Enlightenment thinkers died after Kant, only to be resurrected by Harvard University philosopher John Rawls in the 1970s. While this story contains a bit of hyperbole, there’s little doubt that, after Kant, no writing before 1971 had the impact of Rawls’s A Theory of Justice. Rawls’s project was to take the principles that he identified as central to Kant’s moral philosophy—principles like the obligation not to treat another moral being merely as a means to accomplishing some end—and apply those principles to the political question of what justice entails and how best to bring it about.

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Chapter title

Conclusion

Chapter summary

The Enlightenment as an intellectual movement is commonly taken to end with Kant. The early modern political and social world that Enlightenment thought arose out of and theorized about was disrupted and transformed by the American, Haitian, and, especially, French Revolutions. By the time self-conscious and self-identified liberal political thought and political parties coalesced in the era after the Napoleonic wars had ended, the problems faced in politics seemed very different. States became much more powerful and centralized under the force of wartime military competition. Religious persecution and censorship and the power of absolute kings faded by comparison with the rise of nationalism and worries about the kind of violent, mob rule seen in France during 1793 and 1794. A generalized commitment to constitutional government or republicanism gave way to complicated institutional questions about how much to democratize government, how quickly: how much of a society could take part in voting and elections at any given level of economic and educational development without risk of revolution.

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Scholar's Full Name

Enlightenment

Videos

Title and Link

What was the Enlightenment?

Video description

Broadly speaking, the Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement, largely based in Europe, that spanned about a century—from the mid-to-late 1600s to the late 1700s. It was a time of major intellectual upheaval, characterized by the rise of reason and the scientific method as tools for understanding the world and bringing about progress. In fact, many of the radical ideas that came about in the Enlightenment period would ultimately lay the foundation for the liberal democratic institutions that we take for granted today, including: impartial courts and the rule of law, democratically elected governments, separation of church and state, equality for all people, and freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

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Title and Link

Baruch Spinoza

Video description

Baruch Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher, is rightly regarded as one of earliest Enlightenment thinkers to champion individual rights and to begin defining the proper limits of the state. For Spinoza, when people were free to live as they saw fit, and when the state was limited to maintaining order and justice, people would flourish. Spinoza’s ideas of religious toleration, individual rights and even democracy set the stage for later Enlightenment thinkers to develop ideas that would eventually lead to the classical liberal traditions many take for granted today.

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Montesquieu

Video description

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu—better known simply as Montesquieu—was a French nobleman, judge, novelist, and also a decisive figure in the early years of the Enlightenment, whose impact can still be seen in Western democracies around the world. One of Montesquieu’s most lasting legacies is the idea of separating powers within government among different branches: legislative, executive and judiciary. He was also a firm believer in the power of commerce and markets, and was one of the first to realize the moral benefits of trade, ideas that influenced Adam Smith and David Hume, considered the founders of economics.

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Immanuel Kant

Video description

One of the most widely regarded, influential and important thinkers of the Enlightenment era was the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, whose impact on western philosophical thought has endured for centuries. His ideas on liberty, morality, justice and ethics represent, in many ways, the totality of ideas that came out of the Enlightenment period, and that would go on to form the classical liberal traditions that we benefit from to this day like rights, liberty, justice, and democratic government.

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Book PDF

essential-enlightenment.pdf888.95 KB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09K4VHJPY

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1591689712

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Baruch Spinoza

Episode 33 – Spinoza pt. 1 – from Baruch to Benedicto! (August 25, 2021)
An episode of the “Philosophize This!” podcast provides context to the time in which Spinoza lived, and the reasons underlying Spinoza’s exile from his community, and thus forced life of solitude. In addition, Spinoza’s view on religion is discussed, including excerpts of correspondence between Spinoza and his former influential friend Albert Burgh.
Episode 34 – Spinoza pt. 2 (September 1, 2021)
Part two of the “Philosophize This!” podcast on Spinoza continues to describe his philosophy, with a focus on his thoughts of God, Nature, and Free Will.
Philosophy – Baruch Spinoza, The School of Life
An engaging eight-minute educational video that covers Spinoza’s early years, his views on God, his criticism of traditional religion, and his philosophy based on a rationalist system of beliefs.
Steven Nadler on Spinoza on Free Speech (May 18, 2021)
An episode of the “Philosophy Bites” podcast featuring a discussion between Steven Nadler and Nigel Warburton on the topic of Spinoza’s views on freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
The Core Curriculum: Baruch de Spinoza
A brief overview of Spinoza’s life, including his major works, his philosophy of metaphysics, his ethics, and his political philosophy.

Immanuel Kant

Philosophy – Immanuel Kant, The School of Life
An engaging eight-minute educational video that discusses Kant’s upbringing, and his major contributions to philosophy, including his belief in replacing traditional religion with the authority of reason, as well as a detailed explanation of Kant’s central philosophical concept, the categorical imperative.
Immanuel Kant from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed account of Kant’s life and major works, including an explanation and interpretation of his core philosophical ideas including the fact of reason, the categorical imperative, objectivity and judgment, and the law-giver of nature, among others.
The Core Curriculum: Immanuel Kant
A brief overview of Kant, focusing on his early family life, his scholastic endeavors, and his major philosophical works and contributions.
Kant’s Principles of Politics, including his essay on Perpetual Peace (author: Immanuel Kant, translator: William Hastie)
A translated edition of a number of Kant’s shorter essays on the topic of Universal History, Political Right, Principle of Progress, and Perpetual Peace.
Immanuel Kant
An overview of Kant’s major works and contributions, including the core principles of his moral philosophy, political philosophy, and his critique of metaphysics.
Immanuel Kant from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed account of Kant’s life, major works, the impact of his contributions to philosophy, and an explanation of his core belief in acting rationally according to a universal moral law.
Immanuel Kant: Metaphysics from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed overview of Kant’s life and major works and contributions, with various detailed sections such as Empiricism, Rationalism, Kant’s Answers to his Predecessors, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, Kant’s Criticisms of Utilitarianism, among others.

Montesquieu

Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An encyclopedic overview of Montesquieu’s early life, his most important works, including his theory of the separation of powers, which he believed was the principal way to prevent government corruption and has been key to the development of liberal political theory.
Montesquieu and the Separation of Powers
A comprehensive overview of Montesquieu’s life and the sources of inspiration in his early years that influenced his approach to the separation of power and his views on the monarchy, as well as a detailed explanation of his major works, including the “Lettres persanes,” “De l”Esprit des Loix,” among others.
Montesquieu: The Spirit of Separation – Enlightenment
A concise educational video exploring Montesquieu’s early influences, his most influential works including, “Persian Letters,” “The Spirit of Laws,” among others, and a detailed explanation of his theory on the separation of power.
Hobbes, Locke, Montequieu, and Rousseau on Government
This article compares and contrasts the theories of government of three influential Enlightenment philosophers, including Montesquieu, Locke, and Rousseau, and each of their distinct influence on the democratic governments that would follow the American and French revolutions.

The Enlightenment period

Enlightenment from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
This article provides a detailed overview of the core themes of philosophical thought attributed to the Enlightenment period in Europe and is divided into three distinct sections accordingly: “The True: Science, Epistemology and Metaphysics in the Enlightenment,” “The Good: Political Theory, Ethical Theory and Religion in the Enlightenment,” and “The Beautiful: Aesthetics in the Enlightenment.”
The Enlightenment: Crash Course European History #18, Crash Course
A concise educational video that explores the historical context of the Enlightenment, the influential thought leaders and philosophers, and the lasting impact of their ideas on our worldview today.

Authors

Author's Name

Douglas J. Den Uyl

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Douglas J. Den Uyl, Ph.D., was born in Monroe, Michigan and attended Kalamazoo College (B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy), the University of Chicago (M.A. in Political Science), and Marquette University (Ph.D. in Philosophy). He is interested in the history of ideas and has published essays or books on Spinoza, Smith, Shaftesbury, Mandeville, and others. His interests also include moral and political theory. He is the author of Power, State and Freedom: An Interpretation of Spinoza’s Political Thought and God, Man and Well Being: Spinoza’s Modern Humanism. He co-founded the American Association for the Philosophic Study of Society, The North American Spinoza Society, and The International Adam Smith Society. He taught Philosophy and was Department Chair and Full Professor at Bellarmine University before coming to Liberty Fund where he is now Vice President Emeritus and Benjamin A. Rogge Resident Scholar.

Author's Name

Jacob T. Levy

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Jacob T. Levy is Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory, Chair of the Department of Political Science, and associated faculty in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University. He was Founding Director of McGill’s Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds, and is coordinator of the Lin Centre’s Research Group on Constitutional Studies. He is the author of The Multiculturalism of Fear (Oxford, 2000) and Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom (Oxford, 2015). He is a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and the Institute for Humane Studies.

Author's Name

Chris W. Surprenant

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Chris W. Surprenant is Professor of Ethics, Strategy, and Public Policy; Director of the University Honors Program; and Founding Director of the Urban Entrepreneurship & Policy Institute at the University of New Orleans. He is the author of Injustice for All: How Financial Incentives Corrupted and Can Fix the US Criminal Justice System (Routledge, 2019) and Kant and the Cultivation of Virtue (Routledge, 2014).

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Ronald Coase

beng — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 18:38:49 +0000

Ronald Coase beng Thu, 01/05/2023 - 10:38

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L. Lynne Kiesling

Introduction copy

Ronald Coase (1910-2013) was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. His influence is due largely to two publications, the only two cited in the announcement of his Nobel Prize: “The Nature of the Firm” (1937) and “The Problem of Social Cost” (1960). These two articles are among the most-cited works in economics. The ideas Coase developed in these two works led to entirely new fields of inquiry in economics, law, management, and political science, and in conjunction with his article on using markets to allocate radio spectrum (Coase 1959), spawned new market design theory and practice that helped to transform our society and enable innovation and digitization.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with the author, Dr. Lynne Kiesling to discuss the work, life, and ideas of Ronald Coase.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

Ronald Coase Part 1: Reconciling Theory with Reality

Podcast episode description

Dr. Lynne Kiesling, author of The Essential Ronald Coase, joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss Ronald Coase, one of the most influential economic thinkers of the 20th century, including his dissection of Price Theory in favour of real market evidence and tenure at the University of Chicago Law School that eventually lead to his Nobel Prize.

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Youtube link

https://youtu.be/_2iU2BZEawI

Podcast title and link

Ronald Coase Part 2: Markets Don’t Fail, They Fail to Exist

Podcast episode description

Dr. Lynne Kiesling, author of The Essential Ronald Coase, once again joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss Ronald Coase, specifically his theory of markets and what exactly prevents them from naturally emerging.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/235520019078597/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/M2fB3Hs_p-A

Explore the Book

Chapter title

Institutions, Property Rights, and Transaction Costs

Chapter summary

In all of his work Coase emphasized the importance of incorporating institutions into economic theory and empirical economic research. Institutions are the arrangements, the “rules of the game,” that structure social interactions. They vary from informal social norms about acceptable conduct to formal law enshrined in precedent or legislation. Institutions structure social interactions in the sense that they shape the incentives that individuals face as they make decisions, decisions that can affect their own outcomes and the outcomes for other people.

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Chapter title

Why Do Firms Exist?

Chapter summary

In response to the question “why do firms exist?” Coase answered that they exist in order to address—specifically, to keep to a minimum—transaction costs. Coase’s answer unleashed a stream of influential research that is still generating new ideas today (although he did not use that phrase in his 1937 article, calling them “marketing costs” instead). Coase defined transaction costs as “the cost of using the price system” (1937: 390). A more general definition is the cost of establishing and maintaining property rights (Allen 1999:898). As examples of transaction costs, Coase included the task of discovering what market prices are and the cost of negotiating a separate contract for each transaction. Institutions emerge to reduce those costs, but they can never be eliminated entirely.

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Chapter title

Resolving Disputes: The Problem of Social Cost

Chapter summary

How can people resolve conflicts over resource use when that use creates costs for people who are not party to the transaction? Coase used his approach of examining how people resolve such conflicts in reality to look at the history of how disputes were resolved in English common law, from grazing cattle eating a neighbouring farmer’s crops to industrial smoke harming nearby residents.

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Chapter title

Applied Transaction Cost Economics: Spectrum Allocation

Chapter summary

In 1959 Coase published “The Federal Communications Commission,” an article that explained the institutional and historical background of the development and use of radio spectrum in the United States since the 1910s. Coase asked if there was a feasible way to allocate the use of radio spectrum to create the most possible value out of it, which the then-current public interest hearings method did not accomplish. The policy objective should be not to minimize interference along the spectrum, but to maximize output from the spectrum, treating interference as a constraint to be managed (or something that innovation would reduce). Why not define a property right in a specific part of the spectrum for each user, and make those rights tradable? Coase here followed the suggestion of Leo Herzel (1951), who proposed defining spectrum ownership rights and allocating them through auctions.

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Chapter title

Applied Transaction Cost Economics: Emission Permit Trading

Chapter summary

Transaction costs, that is, the costs of defining property rights, shape incentives and how we organize the use of resources. As the example in the previous chapter of spectrum license auctions shows, these ideas have significant policy implications, even if their implementation takes decades. The use of emission permit trading in the United States to reduce air pollution is another example; it too, has long-lasting and great beneficial effects. The design of the emission permit trading program has several Coasean features, particularly the emphasis on institutional design to reduce transaction costs.

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Chapter title

Coase and the Lighthouse in Economics

Chapter summary

Since the 19th century economists have routinely posed the lighthouse as an example of a public good. Ships coming in to port benefit from lighthouse services. Ships cannot individually be excluded from using the lighthouse if they have not paid for it, so the public good argument suggests that ships will free-ride on the payments of others for the provision of the lighthouse. If the free-rider problem is extreme, then there won’t be enough lighthouses, or any at all. For that reason, economists starting with John Stuart Mill in 1848 and most notably Paul Samuelson, who formalized public good theory in 1954, concluded that public goods should be supplied by governments and paid for through taxation. Coase was dissatisfied with this treatment of public goods, and in “The Lighthouse in Economics” (1974) he laid out his critique and an alternative analysis.

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Chapter title

Problems of Monopoly

Chapter summary

An interesting and thorny question in the economic organization of production is monopoly, that is, when a single firm produces all output sold in a market. Coase analyzed two different monopoly questions: how should public utilities price their output, and how should a monopolist that produces a durable good price it?

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Chapter title

Conclusion

Chapter summary

Coase’s pioneering work brought institutions, property rights, and transaction costs into economic analysis, catalyzing new research in diverse fields in economics, management, law, political science, and other social sciences. The fields of law and economics, property rights economics, transaction cost economics, and institutional and organizational economics built upon Coase’s original contributions to our understanding of the organizational structure of production and the effect of law on economic activity. Founded in 2000, the Ronald Coase Institute works to promote institutional and transaction cost scholarship, particularly by connecting young international scholars and providing them with valuable research opportunities. Similarly, the annual Institutional and Organizational Economics Academy brings together European graduate students working in the Coasean tradition. Through such efforts, research and application in institutional, organizational, and transaction cost economics continues to expand and thrive.

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Scholar's Full Name

Ronald Coase

Videos

Title and Link

Who Was Ronald Coase?

Video description

Ronald Coase was one of the 20th century's most influential economists and he made significant contributions not only in economics, but also social and political science, legal studies and business management, among other disciplines. After teaching in Britain, Coase's academic work brought him to the University of Virginia and then the University of Chicago's law department, where he would remain for the rest of this career. In 1991, Coase was awarded the Nobel prize in economics.

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Title and Link

What Are Transaction Costs?

Video description

One of Ronald Coase's most significant contributions to our understanding of how the economy works is his explanation of the importance of transaction costs—those costs that people incur when they exchange goods and services with others. Transaction costs include the time it takes to find someone with which to trade, the time and costs to negotiate the conditions of the exchange, and the costs to enforce the contract afterwards, if necessary. Prior to Coase, economists greatly underestimated the importance of transaction costs, but these costs are present for every exchange, and can impede economic activity if they're too high.

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Title and Link

Transaction Costs & Institutions

Video description

In a previous video, we explored the importance of transaction costs—those costs incurred when people exchange goods and services. But Nobel laureate Ronald Coase not only identified transaction costs, he also understood how transaction costs were instrumental in shaping the way the entire economy works.

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Why Do Firms Exist?

Video description

Some of Coase's most powerful insights came from answering simple questions. For example, why do businesses exist? As in, why do some people join together to create firms and businesses, instead of just working on their own? As Coase explained, firms exist to minimize the transaction costs that people incur when they exchange goods and services. Coase's insights into the nature of firms created entirely new fields of study in economics, business management and political science.

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The Lighthouse in Economics

Video description

Throughout his career, Ronald Coase urged economists to avoid relying too heavily on theories and generalizations—what he called "blackboard economics"—to explain human behaviour and economic outcomes. Instead, Coase understood it was important to study history in order to understand the nuances and complexities of the real world. One of the best examples from Coase's own work is the lighthouse. Long viewed as a quintessential public good that needed to be built by government and financed by taxes, Coase's research revealed that, in fact, lighthouses had been built, maintained and financed privately in Britain for centuries, and that they were not, in fact, the public good that economists had previously thought.

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The Problem of Social Cost

Video description

Ronald Coase's most important contribution to economics is his work on the role played by transaction costs, legal rules and property rights in allowing or impeding the negotiating and bargaining that individuals do with one another, particularly when trying to resolve conflicts. As Coase explained in his famous paper The Problem of Social Cost, when transaction costs are high, and property rights are not well defined, then people are prevented from easily resolving conflicts and using resources most efficiently.

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Book PDF

essential-ronald-coase.pdf752.63 KB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09B19XLMZ

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1577829022

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites to learn more about Ronald Coase, his theories, written works, lectures, and interviews.

Coase on Externalities, the Firm, and the State of Economics from EconTalk
Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase of the University of Chicago talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his career, the current state of economics, and the Chinese economy. Coase, born in 1910, reflects on his youth, his two great papers, "The Nature of the Firm" and "The Problem of Social Cost". At the end of the conversation he discusses his new book on China, How China Became Capitalist (co-authored with Ning Wang), and the future of the Chinese and world economies.

Boudreaux on Coase from Econ Talk
Don Boudreaux of George Mason University and Cafe Hayek talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the intellectual legacy of Ronald Coase. The conversation centers on Coase's four most important academic articles. Most of the discussion is on two of those articles, "The Nature of the Firm," which continues to influence how economists think of firms and transaction costs, and "The Problem of Social Cost," Coase's pathbreaking work on externalities.

A Conversation with Ronald H. Coase from EconLib
Nobel laureate Ronald H. Coase (1910-2013) was recorded in 2001 in an extended video now available to the public. Coase’s articles, “The Problem of Social Cost” and “The Nature of the Firm” are among the most important and most often cited works in the whole of economic literature. Coase recounts how he tried to encourage “economists and lawyers to write about the way in which actual markets operate, and about how governments actually perform in regulating or undertaking economic activities.”

Interview With Ronald Coase from The Ronald Coase Institute
A transcribed interview of Ronald Coase, with interviewers John Nye of Washington University and Alfredo Bullard and Hugo Eyzaguirre of INDECOPI, Lima, Peru from the Inaugural Conference for the International Society for New Institutional Economics in St. Louis, Missouri, dated September 17, 1997.
The interview covers a wide range of topics from the reason the International Society for New Institutional Economics was founded, due to mainstream economics overemphasizing the formal and abstract aspects of theory at the expense of empirical and institutional research, to Coase’s hopes for the economics profession and the future of economic research.

Speech To ISNIE: The Task Of The Society from The Ronald Coase Institute
This lengthy speech (dated September 17, 1999) is the opening address to the Annual Conference for the International Society of New Institutional Economics in Washington, DC, and summarizes Coase’s hopes for the society, highlighting the importance of staying true to the promise of the economics field inherent in Adam Smith’s work: empirical application over abstract theory, that being the “task of the society” at large in addition to “transforming economics.”

A conversation with Ronald Coase from Y-S Ko on YouTube
A 62-minute-long Liberty Fund video from their “Intellectual Portrait Series” (dated 2001) consists of a brief biographical account of Ronald Coase, his contributions to the field of economics, and a lengthy conversation between Coase and Richard A. Epstein, in which they discuss the field of economics at large with particular focus on Coase’s seminal text The Firm, The Market, and the Law.

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Ronald H. Coase Banquet speech from Nobel Prize.org
A transcription of Ronald Coase’s short speech at the Nobel Banquet on December 10, 1991, and his gratitude for recognition given to the study of the institutional structure of the economy.

Looking for Results: An Interview with Ronald Coase from Reason Magazine
A lengthy interview (dated January 1997) of Ronald Coase, conducted by economist Thomas W. Hazlett, in which Coase discusses rights, resources, and regulation, and his unusual rise to prominence in the field of economics.

Ronald Coase: Centennial Coase Lecture from the University of Chicago on YouTube
The 17th annual Coase Lecture, presented by Ronald Coase, on April 1, 2003, discussing the present and future of law, economics, and their intersection.

Ronald H. Coase 1910-2013 from EconLib
A succinct summary of Coase’s work as an economist, his unconventional rise to prominence, and his enduring legacy for his work on the discovery and clarification of the significance of transaction costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy.

Ronald Coase British-American economist from Britannica.com
A short, encyclopedic entry on the life and legacy of Ronald Coase, from his pioneering work on how transaction costs and property rights impact business and society to his work on institutional economics, which attempts to explain political, legal, and social institutions in economic terms and to understand the role of institutions in fostering and impeding economic growth.

About Ronald Coase from The Ronald Coase Institute
A paragraph-long entry on Coase’s life, time at the LSE, and eventual role in the clarification of the significance of transaction costs and property rights that would win him the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1991.

Ronald H. Coase from Investopedia
An encyclopedic entry on who exactly Ronald Coase was, his pathbreaking contributions economic theory via institutional economics by highlighting the role of transaction costs and economic institutions, and how a consistent and now enduring theme in Coase's work is the failure of abstract, mathematical models to describe the operation of the real-world economy.

Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist, Dies at 102; CEI Releases Interview Footage From 2004 from the CEI
A 40-minute interview where Coase, interviewed by CEI Founder Fred L. Smith, Jr., explains the nuances of his work, answers questions about market pricing, antitrust, healthcare, and intellectual property.

Why Economics Will Change from The Ronald Coase Institute
A speech from Coase, dated April 4th, 2002 at the University of Missouri, covering the topic of shifting economics, why it ought to change as it inevitably does so, and the profound impact the static character of economics has had on the discipline as the field shifts towards a more futuristic outlook.

Authors

Author's Name

Lynne Kiesling

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Lynne Kiesling is a Research Professor and Co-Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics in the College of Engineering, Design and Computing at the University of Colorado-Denver. She also provides advisory and analytical services as the President of Knowledge Problem LLC. Her research in grid modernization and transactive energy uses institutional and transaction cost economics to examine regulation, market design, and technology in the development of retail markets, products, and services, and the economics of smart grid technologies in the electricity industry. She served as a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Smart Grid Advisory Committee, and is an emerita member of the GridWise Architecture Council. Her academic background includes a BS in Economics from Miami University (Ohio) and a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University.

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UCLA School of Economics

beng — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:46:17 +0000

UCLA School of Economics beng Thu, 01/05/2023 - 09:46

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David R. Henderson and Steven Globerman

Introduction copy

The UCLA tradition carries on in the work of dozens of economists who earned their PhDs at UCLA during its golden years. Because their work spread beyond UCLA, the tradition lives on in the work of scores of economists who had no formal connection with the School. The most important economists at UCLA during the 1970s were Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz, Sam Peltzman, Benjamin Klein, Robert Clower, Axel Leijonhufvud, Jack Hirshleifer, William Allen, and George Hilton.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with David Henderson of the Naval Postgraduate School to discuss the UCLA School.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

Key Insights of UCLA—Part 1: Why the profit motive is better for industry and b…

Podcast episode description

David Henderson, emeritus professor of economics with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and host Rosemarie Fike dive right into conflict aversion in school, in the home, and even discuss how the UCLA school illuminated how the profit motive helps reduce discrimination by automatically imposing a penalty on those who do.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/616572583259033/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/GJw0_IQNjhk

Podcast title and link

Key Insights of UCLA—Part 2: Why good economics is not often good politics

Podcast episode description

Steve Globerman, professor emeritus at Western Washington University and senior fellow as well as the Addington Chair in Measurement at the Fraser Institute, joins host Rosemarie Fike to continue the discussion on the UCLA school of thought, including rent control, the housing crisis, the arguable role of city governments, and maintaining quality of life.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/900941040983161/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/-fZBSxvbxCc

Podcast title and link

Key Insights of UCLA—Part 3: Markets and Social Issues

Podcast episode description

David Henderson⁠—emeritus professor of economics with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California⁠—and Steve Globerman⁠—professor emeritus at Western Washington University and the Addington Chair in Measurement at the Fraser Institute⁠—both join Rosemarie Fike once more to talk about why the UCLA school of economics has remained relevant in today's world. Especially how even when it comes to social issues, companies are ultimately bound by the preferences of their consumers.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/680945673798688/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/cYL3aF2lVZU

Explore the Book

Chapter title

What was the UCLA School?

Chapter summary

The UCLA School of economic thinking was a strong free-market tradition in late twentieth century economics. Some who observed it from a distance humorously referred to UCLA as “the University of Chicago at Los Angeles.” In some ways it was almost as strong as the University of Chicago School, whose most notable members in the 1960s and 1970s were Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Gary Becker. In other ways, the UCLA School was even stronger. Armen Alchian, in particular, was one of a kind. His relentless application of economic analysis, especially analysis of property rights, was not replicated anywhere else. In the area of property rights, Harold Demsetz was a close second. The UCLA School was at its zenith from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s.

The UCLA tradition carries on in the work of dozens of economists who earned their PhDs at UCLA during its golden years. Also, because the work spread beyond UCLA, the tradition lives on in the work of scores of economists who had no formal connection with UCLA.

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Can Property Rights Help Us Understand People’s Actions and Even Reduce Conflict?

Chapter summary

Should restaurants allow smoking or not? Should schools teach evolution or intelligent design or both? Should insurance companies cover contraception? Should we be able to take off our shoes in your living room?

You might think that that last question doesn’t belong with the first three. After all, the first three questions are momentous ones about “public policy.” The last one is only about the rules you have for our behaviour in your living room—a “private policy” question. And your answer to that question will depend on how you want to use your property.

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Chapter title

How the Profit Motive Reduces Racial and Other Discrimination

Chapter summary

The legal ability of owners of private property to use their human and physical assets to earn income, combined with competition from other owners of similar assets, creates a powerful incentive for those assets to be used efficiently. This is perhaps the most well-known argument for free markets. This is certainly a major theme underlying much of the research done by members of the UCLA School.

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Chapter title

When Do Property Rights Come About?

Chapter summary

When and why do property rights come about? It’s an important question but it was relatively unstudied by economists before the UCLA School got its hands on the issue. A pathbreaking article that gave an answer was Harold Demsetz’s 1967 “Toward a Theory of Property Rights” published in the American Economic Review.

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Chapter title

Firms Exist to Solve Problems

Chapter summary

Economists have long been interested in the following issue: why are some types of economic activity carried out within individual organizations, while other types of economic activity are carried out through market exchanges between independent organizations or individuals. The obvious answer is that if it is more efficient to carry out transactions within the boundaries of a single organization it will be done that way, and when it is not, transactions will be carried out between independent economic agents. But why are some transactions carried out more efficiently within organizations than between organizations? It also raises a related question: why do organizations take different forms? For example, why are so many law firms and accounting firms organized as partnerships or limited liability companies while others are organized as corporations with publicly traded stocks? And why does organizational form matter?

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Chapter title

The Nirvana Approach

Chapter summary

In the now-famous article quoted above, Harold Demsetz, then back at the University of Chicago after his earlier time at UCLA, presented the “nirvana approach” and contrasted it with the “comparative institution” approach. His term “the nirvana approach” has become famous and most economists who discuss it currently refer to it as the “nirvana fallacy.” The latter term has become so well known that it has earned its own entry in Wikipedia.

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Chapter title

Does the High Market Share of a Few Companies Imply Market Power?

Chapter summary

Demsetz and Peltzman’s work primarily provides empirical evidence challenging the conventional wisdom that antitrust authorities should discourage or prevent mergers and acquisitions because allowing only a smaller number of firms in a market will primarily result in higher prices that hurt consumers. The UCLA School also provides novel theoretical explanations for why mergers and acquisitions could improve economic efficiency, thereby making consumers better off.

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Chapter title

Regulation: The Economics of Unintended and Intended Consequences

Chapter summary

One of the UCLA School’s main contributions to our understanding of the regulatory process is that it shows how regulators behave. Rather than acting as all-knowing promoters of the social good, regulators act in their own self-interest. Specifically, while in their positions, regulators seek to maximize political support, which translates into more secure on-the-job tenure, larger agency budgets and higher salaries, and greater immunity from the scrutiny of legislators.

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Chapter title

Do Firms Need to Maximize for the Model to Fit?

Chapter summary

The setting for Alchian’s article, his first major submission accepted by a top journal, was a heated debate in economics journals in the 1940s about whether it was reasonable to assume that firms maximize profits. Defenders of that assumption argued that firms acted as if they maximized profits. Some critics of the assumption argued that the fact of uncertainly meant that they couldn’t maximize profits. Alchian took a different perspective from that of either the defenders or the critics. He did not argue that firms act as if they maximize profits. And he agreed with one critic, Gerhard Tintner, that when firms’ managers cannot have certainly, the very concept of profit maximization is suspect.

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Chapter title

Can Economies Recover Quickly from Disaster?

Chapter summary

Jack Hirshleifer, one of the key members of the UCLA School, was ever the empiricist. In the early 1960s, when decision-makers in the US military were concerned about the after-effects of a nuclear war, Hirshleifer did a pioneering study for the US Air Force on the “causes, characteristics and consequences of important historical disasters.” The study, formally titled RAND Corporation Memorandum RM-3079-PR, was published in April 1963 and was later reprinted in his 1987 book Economic Behaviour in Adversity.

While works of fiction often depicted a descent into savagery after a major catastrophe, Hirshleifer found the opposite: when property rights were fairly secure and governments avoided economy-wide price controls, societies were relatively peaceful and economies recovered quickly.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Concluding Comments

Chapter summary

Scholars often see the economists of the UCLA School as ferocious defenders of free markets. They typically are. However, the claim should be qualified. Leading researchers of the UCLA School never claimed that free markets operate perfectly and always achieve textbook efficiency. As the earlier chapters in this book have shown, Alchian, Demsetz, and other members of the School acknowledged that phenomena such as imperfect information, transactions costs, and opportunism are pervasive. The critical issue that such phenomena raise, given real-world conditions, is whether a system relying upon well-defined property rights and private transactions results in more-efficient economic outcomes than a system that relies upon government proscriptions and regulations. The major contribution of the economists from the UCLA School is their careful and wide-ranging explanations and demonstrations of how and why private property rights and market competition are typically the most efficient institutional arrangement in an imperfect world characterized by scarcity.

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Chapter pdf

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Scholar's Full Name

UCLA School of Economics

Videos

Title and Link

What was the UCLA School of Economics?

Video description

The economics department of the University of California Los Angeles, better known as UCLA, gained prominence in the last few decades of the 20th century with a focus on how property rights, regulations, the legal system and social norms influenced the economy. The insights of UCLA economists, including Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz, Sam Peltzman, Benjamin Klein, Jack Hirshleifer, George Hilton and others have had a lasting impact on economics and government policy.

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Title and Link

The Nirvana Fallacy

Video description

One important contribution from the UCLA's Harold Demsetz is the idea that when considering alternatives to the status quo, it's important to compare real-world alternatives and not an imagined perfect solution that doesn't exist. Demsetz referred to this as the "nirvana fallacy," and it's still used by economists to this day.

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Why Property Rights Are Key to Efficiency and Reduce Conflict

Video description

Harold Demsetz, a key member of the UCLA School of Economics, was one of the first to write about the "tragedy of the commons," which explains that when property is owned by everyone communally, it will be overused and used ineffectively. But, as Demsetz explained, when well-defined property rights are introduced, conflicts can be reduced and resources will be used more efficiently.

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Title and Link

Confusing Efficiency for Market Power

Video description

Some people think that the reason large firms in concentrated industries are so profitable is because their size gives them the power to charge higher prices, force competitors out of business and prevent new companies from entering the market. But as the UCLA School of Economics explained, some large firms in industries with few competitors are more profitable because they are more efficient, an insight which fundamentally changed government regulations the United States and around the world.

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Title and Link

The Economics of Unintended Consequences

Video description

Sam Peltzman, a key member of the UCLA School of Economics, understood that human behaviour is complex, and so governments cannot possibly anticipate all the consequences of their regulations and, in fact, regulations intended to achieve a specific result—say, increased safety—might actually achieve the exact opposite result of what was intended.

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Title and Link

How Property Rights & Profits Reduce Discrimination

Video description

Building on the pioneering work of economist Gary Becker, who showed that companies that discriminate paid a cost in the form or lower profits, the UCLA's Armen Alchian expanded that analysis to show that government regulations that limited or reduced a company's profits in turn lowered the costs of discrimination, which could actually lead to more discrimination.

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Book PDF

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Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B098R8RQD3

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1575489784

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites where you can learn more about the UCLA School of Economics, their theories, written works, lectures, and interviews.

Armen A. Alchian from EconLib
A brief history of economist Armen Alchian, a prominent figure in the UCLA school, from his time in the Air Force during WWII to his contributions to the field of economics, including his work on the learning curve in aircraft production, instances of overt discrimination in regulatory policy, and his most impactful contribution: the economics of property rights and how this can be applied to the incidence of discrimination.

Property Rights by Armen A. Alchian from EconLib
Alchian’s essay that details one of his most major scientific contributions to the economics of property rights, with a particular focus on discriminatory regulations and how the introduction of property rights can foster sharing and stewardship in society rather than selfishness.

Why Did Armen Alchian Have to Teach Economists About Property Rights? by Peter Boettke, from EconLib
A detailed essay by Peter Boettke discussing the significance of Alchian’s influential writings in economics, and how they contributed to political economy at large during a period when the property rights perspective in both fields was dwindling.

Armen A. Alchian from Encyclopedia Britannica
A short encyclopedic entry on Alchian’s life, philosophical and ideological leanings, and his scholarship in the field of economics (covering such topics as labour costs and property ownership).

Armen A. Alchian, 1914- 2013 from History of Economic Thought
A short biography of Alchian’s sparse but significant contributions, including a list of his major scholarship.

Armen Alchian from UCLA Economics
Alchian’s UCLA page, including his emeritus status and pioneering efforts that helped elevate UCLA’s economics department to one of the most respected in the country, as well as his time as part of the Rand Corporation.

Armen A. Alchian from the Online Library of Liberty
A reference page that acknowledges Alchian’s role as the founder of the “UCLA tradition” in economics, and his enduring influence in the areas of market structure, the theory of the firm, law and economics, resource unemployment, monetary theory and monetary policy. Includes links to additional information.

Armen Alchian - Property Rights from LibertyPen on YouTube
Famed UCLA economics professor Armen Alchian shares insights on property rights and the meaning of ownership.

Friedrich von Hayek and Armen Alchian Part I (U1008) - Full Video from Free to Choose Network on YouTube
A 40-minute video from 1978 of Armen Alchian engaging Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich A. Hayek in reminiscences that provide a uniquely personal and entertaining perspective on Hayek's life and work.

Friedrich von Hayek and Armen Alchian Part II (U1008) - Full Video from Free to Choose Network on YouTube
A 50-minute video from 1978 of Armen Alchian engaging Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich A. Hayek in reminiscences that provide a uniquely personal and entertaining perspective on Hayek's life and work.

Armen A. Alchian from the Independent Institute
A short history of Armen Alchian, his prominence as a founding figure in the UCLA school of economics that emphasizes that individual behavior is self-directed and "rational" and that this has many unanticipated consequences.

Harold Demsetz, 1930-2019 from EconLib
A brief biography of economist Harold Demsetz, detaling how Demsetz was one of the more prominent figures of the UCLA school, making major contributions to the economics of property rights and to the economics of industrial organization. This page also acknowledges how Demsetz coined the term “the Nirvana approach.”

The ideas of Harold Demsetz, 1930-2019 by Thomas N. Hubbard from VoxEU.org
This column, written by a friend and colleague of Demsetz, outlines some of his most influential ideas and characterises his thinking as rigorous, insightful and highly relevant to central problems in industrial organisation and business strategy today.

The Greatness Of Harold Demsetz by Richard A. Epstein from Hoover Institution
An article and obituary demonstrating the profound influence Demsetz had on his contemporaries, economic thinking in the 1970s and how it’s endured today, as his works penned decades ago remain essential reading for economists.

In Memoriam: Harold Demsetz, 1930-2019 from Forbes
An article about Harold Demsetz’s contributions to the field of economics, and as a “24-7 economist” whose work has timeless applicability.

A Conversation with Harold Demsetz from EconTalk on YouTube
An hour and a half-long video of Mark Grady, Professor at the UCLA School of Law speaking with Harold Demsetz, discussing his original research on the theory of the firm, regulation in markets, industrial organization, antitrust policy, transaction costs, externalities, and property rights.

The Legacy of Economist Harold Demsetz (1930-2019) from the Competetive Enterprise Institute
A blog post and obituary discussing Demsetz’s influence as one of the pioneers of New Institutional Economics, including testimonies from CEI staff about his impact.

Pioneers in Law and Economics: Benjamin Klein by Joshua Wright from the International Center for Law and Economics
A blog post covering the less recognized but immensely valuable contributions Klein has made to law and economics, focusing on his pioneering efforts regarding and understanding of antitrust on a global scale.

Brand Names by Benjamin Klein from EconLib
A commentary by Benjamin Klein on the impact brand names have on the information consumers take away from a product at face value as they attempt to navigate their otherwise incomplete information about product availability, quality, and alternative prices.

Robert Clower, 1926-2011 from the History of Economic Thought website
A short biography of Clower’s contributions to the field of economics, including his development of Disequilibrium Keynesianism, and a list of his major scholarship.

Robert Clower passes away at 85 from Marginal Revolution
An obituary detailing Clower’s influence as an economist and scholar, specifically for demonstrating how a lot of Keynesian concepts made microeconomic sense, even without invoking the macro notion of aggregate demand or IS-LM analysis, and his staunch opposition to “hydraulic Keynesianism.”

Jack Hirshleifer, 1925-2005 from the History of Economic Thought website
A short biography of UCLA economist Jack Hirshleifer, and his impact as one of the pioneers of the application of theories of uncertainty and information in economics.

Jack Hirshleifer from UCLA Economics department
A concise profile on Hirshleifer, his contributions to the UCLA department and more broadly the field of economics, as well as tributes from colleagues and former proteges.

George W. Hilton from the UCLA Economics department
A short tribute to economist and historian George W. Hilton from the UCLA economics department, covering his life from an undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College to his dissertation at the London School of Economics. Also includes his research focuses of steamboat inspection and the Eastland disaster and the Lake Michigan passenger steamship lines.

Authors

Author's Name

David R. Henderson

Author's Photo

Author Bio

David R. Henderson is an emeritus professor of economics with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, a research fellow with the Hoover Institution, and a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute.

Professor Henderson is a widely respected public policy expert and educator. He is also the editor of The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, a comprehensive but accessible summary of economics.

Born and raised in Canada, Professor Henderson earned a B.Sc. degree in mathematics from the University of Winnipeg before heading south to complete his Ph.D. in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and was previously a frequent contributor to Fortune. He has also written scholarly articles for the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Monetary Economics, Cato Journal, Regulation, Contemporary Policy Issues, and Energy Journal.

Professor Henderson served as a senior economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1982 to 1984, specializing in energy and health policy.

Author's Name

Steven Globerman

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Steven Globerman is Resident Scholar and Addington Chair in Measurement at the Fraser Institute as well as Professor Emeritus at Western Washington University. Previously, he held tenured appointments at Simon Fraser University and York University and has been a visiting professor at the University of California, University of British Columbia, Stockholm School of Economics, Copenhagen School of Business, and the Helsinki School of Economics.

He has published more than 200 articles and monographs and is the author of the book The Impacts of 9/11 on Canada-U.S. Trade as well as a textbook on international business management. In the early 1990s, he was responsible for coordinating Fraser Institute research on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In addition, Mr. Globerman has served as a researcher for two Canadian Royal Commissions on the economy as well as a research advisor to Investment Canada on the subject of foreign direct investment. He has also hosted management seminars for policymakers across North America and Asia.

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The UCLA tradition carries on in the work of dozens of economists who earned their PhDs at UCLA during its golden years. Because their work spread beyond UCLA, the tradition lives on in the work of scores of economists who had no formal connection with the School. The most important economists at UCLA during the 1970s were Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz, Sam Peltzman, Benjamin Klein, Robert Clower, Alex Leijonhufvud, Jack Hirshleifer, William Allen, and George Hilton.

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James Buchanan

beng — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 16:39:53 +0000

James Buchanan beng Thu, 01/05/2023 - 08:39

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Donald J. Boudreaux and Randall G. Holcombe

Introduction copy

James (“Jim”) McGill Buchanan (1919-2013), surely seemed an unlikely prospect for winning a Nobel Prize in Economics when he was born in rural Tennessee on October 3rd.

Many of the works on Buchanan’s extensive list of publications stemmed from a single insight from early in his career: because neither the state nor society is a singular and sentient creature, a great deal of analytical and policy confusion is spawned by treating them as such. Collections of individuals cannot be fused or aggregated together into a super-individual about whom economists and political philosophers can usefully theorize in the same ways that they theorize about actual flesh-and-blood individuals.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with the author to discuss the James Buchanan's work which led to him winning the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1986.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

James Buchanan: Why What’s “Best For All” Doesn't Work For Everyone

Podcast episode description

Randall G. Holcombe, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University and co-author of The Essential James Buchanan, joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss the life and philosophy of economist James Buchanan, including his contributions to public choice theory. They even get into why it is that government officials struggle to have the right information and the right personal incentive to make optimal decisions for society.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/2515770435255580/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/g8WtufiiPCM

Podcast title and link

James Buchanan: Self Interest & Rational Ignorance

Podcast episode description

Randall Holcombe, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University and co-author of The Essential James Buchanan, joins host Rosemarie Fike once again to break down how economist James Buchanan's contributions to public choice theory remain relevant in today's world, specifically what it means to be "well-informed" how that informs voter logic--critical election or small.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/1297721157507386/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/cfDnBZyBESM

Explore the Book

Chapter title

The “Organismic” versus the Individualistic Conception of Collective Choice

Chapter summary

The great majority of the many comments, speeches, articles, and books that Buchanan wrote over the course of his long scholarly career is an outgrowth of the fundamental insights that he offered in 1949.

Most foundational among these 1949 insights is this: because neither the state nor society is a singular and sentient creature, a great deal of analytical and policy confusion is spawned by treating them as such. Collections of individuals cannot be fused or aggregated together into a super-individual about whom economists and political philosophers can usefully theorize in the same ways that they theorize about actual flesh-and-blood individuals. Two or more people might share a common interest and they might—indeed, often do—join forces to pursue that common interest. But two or more people are never akin to a single sentient individual. A collection of individuals, as such, has no preferences of the sort that are had by an actual individual. A collection of individuals, as such, experiences no gains or pains; it reaps no benefits and incurs no costs. A collection of individuals, as such, makes no choices.

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essential-james-buchanan-ch1.pdf89.46 KB

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On the Burden of Government Debt

Chapter summary

Until John Maynard Keynes published his General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money in 1936, most economists—from Adam Smith in the mid-eighteenth century through economists in the early twentieth century—understood that the costs of government projects funded with debt are passed on to the future generations who, as citizen-taxpayers, must repay the debt. This understanding was rejected by the new orthodoxy and replaced with the insistence that projects funded with borrowed money are, just like projects funded with currently collected taxes, paid for at the time the projects are undertaken.

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Chapter title

The Individualistic Approach to Fiscal Policy

Chapter summary

Economists often depict government as an omniscient organization that implements policies to maximize social welfare. But this depiction falls short in at least two ways. First, there is no such thing as “social welfare” beyond the welfare of each of the individuals who make up the society. Second, recognizing that government is not omniscient, there is no way for policy makers to know what policies would benefit those who are affected by them beyond discovering the preferences of its citizens as revealed by those citizens themselves.

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Chapter title

Subjective Costs

Chapter summary

When someone makes a choice, that person incurs a cost in the form of the value, to him or her, of what he or she forgoes as a result of making that choice. Someone who spends $15 to go to a theater to watch a movie forgoes the opportunity to spend that $15 to go to a restaurant to have lunch. Costs are often summarized in monetary terms, which obscures the fact that the true cost is not giving up the money itself, but, rather, giving up what else could have been purchased with the money.

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Chapter title

Clubs and Externalities

Chapter summary

An externality exists when the actions of some people impose costs or convey benefits to others not involved in those actions. One common example is smoke from a factory that pollutes the air that nearby individuals breathe. The typical remedy suggested by economists is to tax the externality-generating activity, or if that is not feasible, to impose a regulation that reduces the external cost—the cost that’s imposed on third parties.

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essential-james-buchanan-ch5.pdf98.31 KB

Chapter title

Ethics and Economics

Chapter summary

Individuals have their own goals and desires, and the purpose of economic activity is to enable them to cooperate with each other so they can further those goals. As economists depict it, individuals have “utility functions” and they make choices that enable them to maximize their utility. What this means in more common language is that individuals have their own goals, which each individual understands better than does anyone else. And the subject of economics, as Buchanan saw it, is to analyze how individuals interact for their mutual benefit in furtherance of those goals.

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Chapter title

Politics, Science, and Subjectivism

Chapter summary

A major difference between the social sciences and the physical sciences is that the objects of study in the physical sciences behave exactly as prescribed by the laws of nature. The challenge in the natural sciences lies in discovering those laws. The social sciences face this same challenge—there are indeed laws of social behaviour, such as the law of demand. But in the social sciences there’s an additional challenge: Its subjects—human beings—make choices about how they will behave. Predictions in the social sciences, therefore, can never be as precise, or as replicable, as predictions in the physical sciences.

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essential-james-buchanan-ch7.pdf94.81 KB

Chapter title

Politics as Exchange

Chapter summary

Individuals engage in market exchange because it is mutually advantageous for them to do so. They voluntarily agree to trade because all parties to each exchange view it as a way for each party to further his or her own individual interest. The most familiar kind of market exchange is the simple “two-party” exchange: you give me some fish in exchange for some of my bananas. But much exchange involves many individuals, each still seeking his or her own gain, consciously organizing together to pool their resources and efforts. Thus, individuals often work together through collective organizations to carry out those mutually advantageous activities. Some organizations, such as clubs and firms, are voluntary, but other kinds of collective action are taken through government. When government is used ideally, people exchange with each other politically in order to accomplish ends that they could not accomplish individually or through market exchange.

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Chapter title

Constitutional Economics

Chapter summary

Buchanan observed that economic analysis, for the most part, examines the choices people make subject to given rules. Constitutional economics, in contrast, examines the choice of rules themselves. Buchanan calls decisions on what those rules should be “constitutional decisions,” while decisions that people make within some set of rules are called “post-constitutional decisions.” Using a sports analogy, Buchanan likens constitutional rules to the rules of the game, and post-constitutional decisions to those that are made within the rules of the game. Constitutional decisions are the decisions that determine the rules under which the game is played.

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essential-james-buchanan-ch9.pdf98.64 KB

Chapter title

What Should Economists Do— and Not Do?

Chapter summary

James Buchanan devoted his presidential address to the Southern Economic Association to answering the question “What should economists do?”—also the title of his talk. To non-economists, this question probably seems silly, or at least surprising. Don’t professional economists already know what they should do? And isn’t the answer obvious—namely, study the economy?

Well, yes, of course. But what, exactly, is the economy? “The economy” is a familiar enough phrase, regularly used by economists and non-economists alike. But the very familiarity of the phrase likely inhibits those who hear it from thinking deeply about just what it refers to, and hence, about what exactly it is economists should study. Buchanan argued that economists had become seriously misled by their failure to think carefully about just what the economy is and what it does.

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Chapter pdf

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Scholar's Full Name

James M. Buchanan

Videos

Title and Link

Who Was James Buchanan?

Video description

James McGill Buchanan was one of the 20th century's most influential economists who had a lasting impact on the study of government finances, political processes and the subjective nature of costs. In 1986, Buchanan was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for his work co-founding Public Choice, a field of economic study that looks at the self-interest and individual incentives involved in politics and political decision. Watch this video to learn more.

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Constitutional Economics

Video description

One of Buchanan's greatest insights is his work explaining the importance of rules in determining outcomes. For Buchanan, people make certain decisions—and achieve certain outcomes--specifically because of the rules they face. And so when outcomes fail to meet expectations, then we need to change the rules. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Subjective Costs

Video description

One of James Buchanan's most powerful insights—that was at odds with prevailing economic thinking at the time—is that cost and choice are inseparable from each other, and that real costs of any decision we make are subjective, and can't be measured or observed, even by the very people who incur the costs. Watch this video to lean more.

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Understanding Collective Decision-Making and Choices

Video description

One of the reasons Buchanan was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1986 was for his insight that to properly explain decisions made collectively—particularly in politics—we must understand the individual people involved, and the personal incentives and constraints they faced. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Public Choice Theory

Video description

Many people still believe that politicians and government workers are guided by the "public good," and not their own self-interests, preferences and well-being. But one of Buchanan's most powerful contributions is his insight that when people make political decisions--as politicians, government workers, voters and lobbyists--they have the same self-interests and individual preferences as when they make private decisions as parents, friends, workers, consumers and business owners. Buchanan's work into the self-interest and individual incentives affecting the political process is the foundation for an important field of economics known as Public Choice, which is devoted to the study of politics through an economic lens. Watch this vide to learn more.

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Title and Link

The Burden of Government Debt

Video description

James Buchanan cautioned against excessive government debt for two reasons: Not only does it place the burden of paying for decisions made today on future taxpayers, it also creates a disincentive for government to spend prudently and wisely. Watch this video to learn more.

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Book PDF

essential-james-buchanan.pdf1.43 MB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B093MT9DJC

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1565008790

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites where you can learn more about James Buchanan, his theories, his written works, expert lectures, and interviews.

James M. Buchanan from Econlib
A detailed breakdown of Buchanan’s contributions to economic theory, specifically public choice theory and welfare economics, and the influence of his ideas on the role political decision-making plays in economics.

In Appreciation: James M. Buchanan from Cafe Hayek
Essential Buchanan co-author Donald J. Boudreaux’s remembrance of James Buchanan, which was printed in the Wall St. Journal on January 10, 2013.

James M. Buchanan: American Economist and Educator from Britannica.com
A short but concise biographical account of Buchanan’s life as a Nobel Prize winning economist, and the books he authored on the politician’s self-interest and governmental economic policy.

Don Boudreaux on Buchanan from the Library of Economics and Liberty
Essential Buchanan co-author Donald J. Boudreaux of George Mason University discusses the life and work of the economist James Buchanan with EconTalk host Russ Roberts.

James M. Buchanan, Jr. from Investopedia
A quick summary of Buchanan’s life and his contributions to economics, with a detailed explanation of public choice theory.

James M. Buchanan from the Library of Economics and Liberty
A detailed account of what lead to Buchanan’s interest in free market thinking, including inspiration from the writings of Knut Wicksell that contradict the mainstream view on taxation, that would eventually shape his contributions to economic theory.

James M. Buchanan, Jr. from the Independent Institute
An overview of the many titles of distinction and honorary doctoral degrees held by Buchanan, such as Emeritus University Professor of Economics in the Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University; University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics and Philosophy, Virginia Polytechnic and State University; and winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

James M. Buchanan (1919 — 2013) from the Cato Institute
A page-long description of Buchanan’s life, time as an educator and economist, and his enduring legacy in the fields of economics and political economy.

James M. Buchanan, RIP from the Cato Institute
A reflection on Buchanan’s role as one of the 20th century’s greatest proponents of limited government and free markets and contributions to economic thought through his consideration of spontaneous order and the problem of constitutional choice.

James M. Buchanan and Young J. Yoon, Individualism and Political Disorder by Peter J. Boettke
An excerpt from Peter Boettke’s book on James M. Buchanan (pages 359-362), outlining the major insights to be gleaned from Buchanan’s life’s work across the spectrum of philosophy, politics and economics, and the exploration of majoritarian politics.

James M. Buchanan from the Online Liberty Library
A short, paragraph-long entry on Buchanan’s life as one of the founders of the Public Choice school of economics, and the author of numerous books and hundreds of articles in the areas of public finance, public choice, constitutional economics and economic philosophy.

A Conversation with James M. Buchanan (Part II) from New Media UFM
In this video from Liberty Fund’s “The Intellectual Portrait Series”, James M. Buchanan gives his insights on topics such as work ethic, anarchy, federalism, subjectivism, and tells anecdotes of his personal experiences and philosophy.

James McGill Buchanan from the Tennessee Encyclopedia
An encyclopedic entry on James Buchanan’s life and professional career, chronically his roots in Murfreesboro, TN, to his time in the second world war, academic career, and his revolutionary work as an economist and free market advocate.

James M. Buchanan (1919-2013) from MEI
A brief obituary detailing how Buchanan altered the way economists analyze economic and political decision making, examining how politicians' self-interest and non-economic forces affect government economic policy.

James M. Buchanan from Nobel Perspectives
An in-depth article breaking down Buchanan’s perspective on a host of topics related to his prize-winning research, such as how self-interest affects politician’s decisions; are politicians motivated by the greater good; why doesn’t democracy work perfectly well; how can constitutional rules be modified; do governments have too much power in their hands; and how people should participate in the political process.

James M. Buchanan: Antitrust and Politics as a Process from Libertarianism.org on Youtube
In this video from a 1983 Center for the Study of Market Processes (now the Mercatus Center at George Mason University) event, James M. Buchanan gives his own opinion on rules that plan for competition, colloquially known as antitrust rules.

Gordon Tullock and James Buchanan: The Calculus of Consent After 25 Years from from Libertarianism.org on Youtube
In this lecture, given to mark their book’s 25th anniversary in 1987, Tullock and Buchanan talk about the impact of The Calculus of Consent on political and economic academia. Richard E. Wagner also comments.

James Buchanan from the American Enterprise Institute
Open-access PDF copies of James M. Buchanan’s Political Economy 1957-1982, and Public Debt in a Democratic Society co-authored by Richard E. Wagner which discusses the accumulation, composition, and ownership of public debt.

James M. Buchanan Lecture Archive from George Mason University
An archive of the James M. Buchanan Lecture Series from GMU that features videos, lectures papers, photographs, invitations, and programs of and for speakers devoted to public choice discourse, drawing inspiration from Dr. Buchanan's pioneering scholarship.

James Buchanan and the Soul of Classical Liberalism from the Institute for Humane Studies
A detailed account of Buchanan’s life and time with the Institute for Humane Studies, and his desire to inspire the organizing principle of individual freedom across multiple generations as a speaker and educator.

James M. Buchanan facts for kids from Kiddle
A children’s encyclopedia entry on James Buchanan, explaining his ideas and influence regarding political economy and constitutional economics in a simplified manner.

James M. Buchanan Jr. Prize Lecture from nobelprize.org
A transcript of Buchanan’s lecture upon accepting the 1986 Nobel Prize in economics, from his discovery of economist Knut Wicksell to his pioneering work in the theory of political decision-making and public economics.

James M. Buchanan Facts from nobelprize.org
A short list of facts about James M. Buchanan, including his motivation for the prize and affiliation at the time of the award.

James M. Buchanan on Economists and the Great Recession from the University of Richmond on Youtube
A 1 hour and 22-minute lecture given by Buchanan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, George Mason University and Virginia Polytechnic and State University, on "Ideology or Error: Economists and the Great Recession" at the Summer Institute for the History of Economic Thought at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies on June 24, 2011.

James M. Buchanan on ‘Institutional Sources of America's Fiscal Tragedy’ from the University of Richmond on Youtube
An hour and 27-minute lecture given by Buchanan at the 13th Annual Summer Institute for the History of Economic Thought conference at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies on June 29, 2012.

Remembering James M. Buchanan from PERC.org
A reflection on Buchanan’s thinking and work related to free market environmentalism, which has led to a multitude of programming and research because of his enduring influence.

Interview with James Buchanan from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota
An in-depth interview with Buchanan, from September 1995, discussing the inspiration and insight behind his seminal work The Calculus of Consent, an expansion on his ideas surrounding public choice as they apply to the practical world of politics and academia, and how public choice relates to monetary theory.

A Conversation with James M. Buchanan, Parts I and II from Econlib
A two-part interview series from Liberty Fund’s “Intellectual Portrait Series”: the first video discusses the theory of public choice, the exchange theory of economics, and constitutional thought, while part two focuses on work ethic, the logic of free markets, subjectivism, anarchy, federalism, the Nobel prize, and Buchanan’s personal experiences and philosophy.

A Note about James Buchanan from George Mason University and Cornerstone Magazine
A tribute to Buchanan following his death in 2013 containing a short collection of testimonies from faculty and colleagues discussing his historic contributions and enduring influence in the field of economics and political thinking.

The Legacy of James Buchanan from Heritage.org
A short but concise article examining Buchanan’s upbringing in rural Tennessee, his advocacy on behalf of institutional changes to limit leviathan government, and his overall impact on economics.

PRC Forum: James Buchanan (U1026) - Full Video from the Free to Choose Network on YouTube
An hour-long video of Buchanan discussing political and constitutional rules within which politicians operate and summarizes his analysis of incentives faced by politicians and bureaucrats.

Authors

Author's Name

Donald J. Boudreaux

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Donald J. Boudreaux is Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Senior Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute. He is also holds the Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center. He is the author of The Essential Hayek, and he blogs at cafehayek.com.

Author's Name

Randall G. Holcombe

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Randall G. Holcombe is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Tech, and taught at Texas A&M University and at Auburn University prior to coming to Florida State in 1988. Prof. Holcombe is also Senior Fellow at the James Madison Institute, a Tallahassee-based think tank that specializes in issues facing state governments, and is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California. He served on Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2000 to 2006, and is past president of the Public Choice Society and the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics. Prof. Holcombe is the author of twenty books and more than 200 articles published in academic and professional journals. His books include Political Capitalism: How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained (2018) and Coordination, Cooperation, and Control: The Evolution of Economic and Political Power (2020).

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John Stuart Mill

beng — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 19:42:00 +0000

John Stuart Mill beng Wed, 01/04/2023 - 11:42

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Sandra J. Peart

Introduction copy

The oldest of nine children, John Stuart Mill was born on May 20, 1806; he died in France, where he spent many of his later years, on May 7, 1873.

Mill had a very extraordinary, strenuous education, overseen by his ambitious father James, who believed that one becomes improved via education and, once educated, that is the end of the matter. John Mill was reading Greek at age three and Latin at the age of eight. He was at heart always reform-minded, however, and his more mature views allowed that people might come to realize how best to reform, remake, and improve themselves. In fact, reform-mindedness is a major theme in Mill’s life. Among the many liberal causes associated with him are the defense of the abolition of slavery, repeal of the Corn Laws, extension of the franchise and property rights to women, reform of Irish property arrangements, and the question of birth control.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with Dr. Sandra Peart of the University of Richmond to discuss John Stuart Mill.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

J.S. Mill—Part 1: The moral, the political, and the economic

Podcast episode description

In this installment of the Essential Scholars podcast, host Rosemarie Fike is joined by Dr. Sandra Peart of the University of Richmond to discuss John Stuart Mill’s life, influence in the field of moral philosophy and economics, and how his experiences during the early half of the industrial revolution shaped his thinking. In the next episode, we'll explore why Mill's ideas are still relevant in today's modern world.

FB link

https://fb.watch/iywYzemT2N/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/83Alb8efHBU

Podcast title and link

J.S. Mill—Part 2: Imagining a world with more than the basics

Podcast episode description

In this installment of the Essential Scholars podcast, host Rosemarie Fike and Dr. Sandra Peart of the University of Richmond discuss John Stuart Mill’s ongoing contributions in economics and philosophy, and how his vision of a world where people have access to more than the bare minimum basic necessities of life—or “lower pleasures”—is a vision we should all share.

FB link

https://fb.watch/iSppStQPQ0/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/JgiTukNfQiY

Explore the Book

Chapter title

Liberty: Why, for Whom, and How Much?

Chapter summary

Mill’s 1869 On Liberty made the case for three forms of freedom: thought, conscience, and expression; tastes, pursuits, and plans; and to join other like-minded individuals for a common purpose. Why did he care so much about these freedoms? He believed that self-governance—freedom—was an essential part of human happiness, how “human life… becomes rich, diversified, and animating”. Liberty holds a special place Mill’s overall conception of happiness, serving both as a means to obtaining individual and societal happiness, and also as an essential component of being human. Mill grounds his discussion of liberty on “utility,” “the permanent interests of man as a progressive being”.

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Chapter title

Freedom of Expression: Learning, Bias, and Tolerance

Chapter summary

For Mill, the important lesson on speech is that, like choice itself, speech is a learning device, a way that people become better choosers (especially in the case of political choice), more tolerant, and more learned. Unlike thoughts and beliefs that are unexpressed in public, speech is for the most part a social act. This publicness is useful, in Mill’s mind: By speaking our arguments aloud, we learn to understand our own words and we see how others receive them. Via speech, we learn to understand, and—Mill hoped—tolerate each other. For Mill, this was particularly important in the coming age of democracy. Since speech is a social act, it influences others. That influence comes with a responsibility: those in authority, such as politicians or professors, have a responsibility to speak truthfully and listen to counterarguments. Speech thus comes with potential limitations and restrictions that attempt to balance potential harms against the benefits associated with speech.

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Chapter title

Utilitarianism: Happiness, Pleasure, and Public Policy

Chapter summary

Here, we consider how Mill’s Utilitarianism was grounded in a theory of morals in which the worth and capacity of each was equal to that of others and all individuals are connected via sympathy and the desire for approbation. From this ethical theory, Mill recommended sweeping institutional reforms to offer equal treatment to all while continuing to advocate more individual choice.

Mill’s Utilitarianism relied on several key principles. For individual actions, Mill held that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”.

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Chapter title

Mill’s Feminism: Marriage, Property, and the Labour Market

Chapter summary

Here, we examine Mill’s views on “the woman problem,” as commentators called it in the nineteenth century. We will see that Mill was a thoroughgoing feminist before the emergence of a feminist movement. Long before it was fashionable to do so, he advocated for equal labour market and educational opportunities for women. As part and parcel of his utilitarian presumption that people be treated equally under the law, Mill advocated for women to obtain the legal right to leave marriages and the ability to own property outside of marriage.

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essential-john-stuart-mill-ch4.pdf89.82 KB

Chapter title

Production and Distribution

Chapter summary

In his 1848 edition of the Principles of Political Economy and in all editions that followed, Mill famously distinguished between the laws of production, subject to technological and knowledge constraints, and those of distribution, a matter of human design. Perhaps more than any other claim in Mill’s corpus, this famous distinction has caused a great deal of confusion and consternation.

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essential-john-stuart-mill-ch5.pdf106.75 KB

Chapter title

Mill on Property

Chapter summary

Mill’s chapters on property in the Principles of Political Economy begin with his observations on property arrangements in mid-nineteenth century Britain. As he saw it, private property—and here, for the most part, he had in mind property in land—was not justified by natural law or utilitarian principles but rather had emerged over the course of time as a means to minimize conflict.

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Chapter pdf

essential-john-stuart-mill-ch6.pdf110.67 KB

Chapter title

Mill on Socialism, Capitalism, and Competition

Chapter summary

Although Mill insisted that production and distribution are in fact interrelated, we should not conclude that he favoured only market-determined outcomes without regard for other, freely chosen institutional arrangements. Indeed, much of Mill’s Principles of Political Economy is devoted to the review of potential costs and benefits associated with socialism, peasant proprietorship, and trade unions. In this chapter, we examine Mill’s main arguments as they relate to alternative economic arrangements. While he was open to different institutional arrangements, Mill strongly opposed a centrally directed imposition of goals.

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Chapter title

Mill’s Considerations on Representative Government

Chapter summary

Mill was both reform-minded in principle and active in a significant number of reform proposals. As a member of Parliament during the Governor Eyre controversy in Jamaica and the Fenian rebellion in Ireland, his tenure overlapped several key incidents related to self-governance of former slaves and dependent Irish people.

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essential-john-stuart-mill-ch8.pdf103.74 KB

Chapter title

Mill’s Harm Principle: A Study in the Application of On Liberty

Chapter summary

English philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill argued that people learn by choosing: this is how they become creative and productive individuals. For this reason, and because he felt that individuals are typically the most capable people to make their own choices, Mill was highly skeptical of restrictions on choice placed by a third party, such as the state. While the cases Mill uses in On Liberty clearly pertain to nineteenth century concerns and thus seem dated, his blueprint for how we think about and possibly intervene over potential harms nevertheless sheds light on contemporary issues, such as: gun control, free speech, and even mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Chapter pdf

mills-harm-principle.pdf156.93 KB

Scholar's Full Name

John Stuart Mill

Videos

Title and Link

Who was John Stuart Mill?

Video description

John Stuart Mill was an 19th century philosopher, political economist and, later, a member of British Parliament known for championing liberty, individualism and women's rights. We now take for granted many of the causes that Mill championed throughout his career, including women's rights, extending voting rights to minorities and individual rights. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

The Benefits of Individualism and Choice

Video description

One of J.S. Mill's most well-known insights is that both individuals and society as a whole benefit when people are allowed—and even encouraged—to pursue their different interests, preferences and tastes. For Mill, exercising the act of choice is how we learn to make better decisions, which improves our lives. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

The No-Harm Principle

Video description

J.S. Mill understood that individual rights are not absolute, and that some limits need to exist to ensure a cooperative, functioning society. But in what circumstances should our right to pursue our own interests be limited? Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Against Government Paternalism

Video description

Mill adamantly opposed government paternalism—the idea that government should make decisions for people to protect them—because Mill understood that the only way people learn to make good choice in life is by sometimes making bad decisions and learning from their mistakes. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Feminism

Video description

J.S. Mill was an early advocate for gender equality. He not only wrote about the need for broad reforms to achieve equality for women as a scholar, but he also championed these reforms as a member of the British Parliament. Mill's advocacy included access to the labour market, education, full voting rights, better information on birth control and no-fault divorces, which were considered radical ideas at the time. Watch this video to learn more.

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Capitalism, Competition, and Choice

Video description

One of J.S. Mill's most important contributions as a philosopher and economist was his advocacy for mandatory and widespread education for all citizens, including the poor, as a way to provide a fair start in what he called the "race of life" for all people so that everyone would have the opportunity to prosper. Watch this video to learn more.

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Book PDF

essential-john-stuart-mill.pdf1.19 MB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09119WCK5

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1559973476

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites where you can learn more about John Stuart Mill, his theories, his written works, expert lectures, and interviews.

Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, in 33 vols
An online library of Mill’s complete works with open-access links to his essays, articles, books, and correspondence with peers.

John Stuart Mill from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed breakdown of Mill’s life, influence as an exponent of utilitarianism and member of parliament, philosophical and socio-economic ideas.

John Stuart Mill from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A peer-reviewed commentary on Mill’s impact on centuries of British thought and the way his body of work incorporated logic, epistemology, economics, social and political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, religion, and current affairs.

The Curious Task: Sandra Peart—What Can We Learn From John Stuart Mill?
An episode of the Curious Task podcast featuring Essential John Stuart Mill author Sandra Peart, who traces the life of John Stuart Mill and explores some of the key pillars of his thinking.

John Stuart Mill: Ethics from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A comprehensive assessment of Mill’s ethical theory by examining the central ideas of his text 1861 Utilitarianism.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) from utilitarianism.com
A brief biographical account of Mill’s life and most prominent works, with a specific focus on his public image during his lifetime and the ways in which he attempted to demonstrate that economics could be used to measure what human beings truly valued.

John Stuart Mill from Investopedia.com
An overview of J.S. Mill’s life as a controversial philosophical and economic figure who advocated for the use of economic theory in political decisions—examples such as using his writings and other publications to compare the legal status of women at the time to the legal status of slaves, to promote radical empiricism as a function of mathematics, and to pioneer the harm principle (including a breakdown of this concept as it applies to philosophical and political thought).

On Liberty from Econlib
A copy of J.S. Mill’s famous essay published in 1859. It applies Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and state and suggests standards for the relationship between authority and liberty. Mill emphasizes the importance of individuality, which he considers prerequisite to the higher pleasures.

John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873 from econlib
A brief biographical account of Mill’s life and works, including how his ideas function in relation to those of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, in addition to the way he shaped our formal understanding of comparative advantage and opportunity costs.

An Introduction to John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty
A detailed breakdown of J.S. Mill’s philosophical positions that lead to the development of the harm principle, how it is outlined and explored in his seminal work On Liberty, and the enduring influence of this notion.

John Stuart Mill from Oregonstate.edu
A post discussing Mill’s powerful conception of ethical values, the difference between deontological ethics and consequentialist ethics, both the direct and indirect role his brand of political thought has continued to impact debates regarding freedom of expression.

John Stuart Mill from The First Amendment Encyclopedia
An overview of how Mill remains a figure for modern liberalism and individual liberty, and examples of how practical applications of First Amendment principles often rest upon allusions to his ideas.

John Stuart Mill from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
A detailed account of Mill’s life, from his childhood and early years, speculation regarding his ‘mental crisis’, his relationship to science and logic, and his development of political economy.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) from BBC
A brief history of J.S. Mill’s role as a philosopher, political economist, and social reformer who had a huge impact on 19th century thought.

How John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor’s Pioneering Intimate Partnership of Equals Shaped the Building Blocks of Social Equality and Liberty for the Modern World by Maria Popova
A commentary on the influence Harriet Taylor had on Mill’s political thought, and moreover how the model of their partnership based on shared intellectual, creative, and moral ideas became profoundly influential to their culture, their era, and the moral and political development of the world itself.

John Stuart Mill’s Philosophy of Equality
An article detailing Mill’s position and writings on women’s suffrage, and his more broadly applicable arguments about the detriment of inequality to society and how opportunity begets equality.

John Stuart Mill (1806—1873) philosopher, economist, and advocate of women's rights from Oxford Reference
A quick overview of Mill’s life and works, specifically his most widely recognized texts On Liberty and Utilitarianism.

John Stuart Mill
A brief record of Mill’s life, focusing on his notable works, professional relationship with the East India Company, and role as a 19th century social reformer.

Mill’s Mind by Richard V. Reeves from Brookings
An op-ed on how the events of Mill’s life may have played a likely role in shaping his political thought and philosophical positions: the way in which Mill’s extraordinary upbringing and education fuelled his journey away from utilitarianism towards liberalism and how his relationship with Harriet Taylor influenced his thinking on gender equality and the potentially damaging influence of social custom.

John Stuart Mill from Humanism.org
A brief but detailed explanation of Mill’s position on utilitarianism and how the economy can widely apply to the essential needs of the market, the pursuit of quality of vs the quantity of happiness, and the consequences of actions and people’s happiness in relation to pre-conceived notions and rules in society that were laid down centuries ago.

John Stuart Mill (1806-73)
A “study notes” snapshot of Mill’s insights into public opinion, the despotism of custom, the harm principle, free will, experiments in living, utilitarianism, the marketplace of ideas and electoral reform.

John Stuart Mill from Lumen Learning
A brief study guide on Mill’s moral philosophy as a radical empiricist, his explanation of the canons for reasoning inductively, contributions to utilitarian and economic theory, and a short collection of additional primary and secondary sources for further reading.

Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An encyclopedic overview of Mill’s philosophical positions and intellectual background, with various detailed sections such as Psychological Egoism, Liberalism, Conceptions of Duty, myriad types of Utilitarianism, Paternalism, and the Harm Principle, among others.

Great Thinkers: John Stuart Mill
A detailed article discussing Mill’s influence as a 19th century figure, how his influence has shaped modern and contemporary thought, and how his ideas relate to notions of liberalism, utilitarianism, representative government and democracy, and the status of women in society.

John Stuart Mill
A quick analysis of Mill’s life and legacy, specifically how his writings on logic and scientific methodology and his voluminous essays on social and political life have continued to shape conversations related to reason and prejudice, as well as a glance into his early years and educational background.

John Stuart Mill
An extensive collection of links to Mill’s writings including essays, articles, books, letters, and personal entries, in addition to reviews and articles about Mill and his socio-political and economic thought.

Authors

Author's Name

Sandra J. Peart

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Sandra J. Peart, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, became the fourth dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies in August 2007. In 2018, she was appointed to the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professorship in Leadership Studies. She is past president of the International Adam Smith Society and the History of Economics Society and has written or edited ten books, including most recently, Towards an Economics of Natural Equals: A Documentary History of the Early Virginia School of Political Economy, from Cambridge University Press (2020). She is the author of more than 100 articles in the areas of constitutional political economy, leadership in experimental settings, ethics and economics, and the transition to modern economic thought. Her popular articles on leadership, ethics, higher education, and economic themes have appeared in The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, and the Washington Post.

Peart’s research focuses on the role and responsibilities of experts in society. She examines these questions as a historian of economic thought with a particular interest in the economics of Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.

Peart obtained her doctorate in economics from the University of Toronto. She is an elected member of the Mont Pelerin Society, the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and the Reform Club.

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David Hume

beng — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 20:08:44 +0000

David Hume beng Fri, 12/23/2022 - 12:08

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James R. Otteson

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David Hume (1711–1776) is a towering and intriguing figure. He was the preeminent philosopher in what is now called the Scottish Enlightenment, a time that was “crowded with genius” and in a place regarded as the rebirth of the golden era of Athens. His writing displayed an astonishing range, addressing everything from metaphysics to politics, and in subject after subject he produced fresh, novel, and brilliant insights.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with the author, James Otteson to discuss the work, life, and ideas of David Hume.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

David Hume Part 1: The Good, the Bad, and the Governmental

Podcast episode description

Dr. James Otteson, John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics at the University of Notre Dame and author of the Essential David Hume, joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss Scottish philosopher and economist David Hume’s perspective on human nature—and why he viewed specifically government as an oft-misused vehicle for a select few to extract resources at the expense of others.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/1028347695024157/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/YZWuebG7Mqc

Podcast title and link

David Hume Part 2: With Prosperity for All

Podcast episode description

Dr.James R. Otteson, Professor of Business Ethics at the University of Notre Dame and author of The Essential David Hume, joins host Rosemarie Fike once again to discuss Hume’s perennial insights on how free trade can serve as a vehicle for global prosperity and the building blocks of a commercial society, while government debt can hinder a country’s sovereignty.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/710184557604318/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/-3QLZ1cm080

Explore the Book

Chapter title

Who was David Hume?

Chapter summary

David Hume was born in 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the third and final child of Joseph and Katherine Home. (Hume changed the spelling of his last name from “Home” to “Hume” in 1734 so that its spelling matched its pronunciation.) His father died when Hume was only two years old, and Hume was raised by his mother, Katherine, who never remarried. Katherine was the daughter of Sir David Falconer, a prominent judge in Scotland, and was herself an advocate (or lawyer). It was perhaps understandable, then, that Hume’s mother expected him to follow a similar path and also become an advocate.

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Empiricism

Chapter summary

Hume’s philosophical methodology can be described as “empiricism.” Unlike many philosophers before Hume and since, he was skeptical that we could learn about the world by merely thinking about it. We needed to observe it. We must run experiments; we must gather and assess data; we must measure and quantify. We make tentative hypotheses, and then test them against further observations. For Hume, this holds as much for physical sciences—how things move in the world, how chemicals interact, what materials should be used and how they should be configured to build bridges—as it did for the human sciences—how medicines affect us, how our passions motivate us, how our beliefs are formed, where our moral sentiments come from, what governments do or should do, where wealth comes from.

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Justice, Conflict, and Scarcity

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Hume applied his empirical “experimental method” not just to the natural sciences, however, but to the “science of man” as well—which includes morality and politics, or what we might call political economy. How might Hume’s experimental method apply to, for example, justice? Hume argued that, as with other virtues, we come to have a sense or conception of justice based on our experiences. In that way, justice is, according to Hume, an “artificial” virtue, not a “natural” one—that is, it is constructed by human beings in light of their experiences, not written into the fabric of the universe or deduced from uncontradictable premises.

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The Origins of Government and the Social Contract

Chapter summary

Hume offers two accounts of the origins of government. One account, which appears in his early Treatise of Human Nature, explores why a government would be necessary and what proper purpose it would serve. The other account appears in several of his later essays, in which he explores the historical development of actual governments. The former outlines what government should do, whereas the latter account focuses on what they actually do. As one might expect, the latter departs rather significantly from the former. But Hume’s purpose in giving these two accounts was, first, to help us see clearly what the nature of government is and, second, give us some potential guideposts for reform.

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Commercial Society

Chapter summary

Hume was one of the earliest expositors and defenders of commercial society. In a series of essays, he showed that, when secured in their lives and property, people would trade, transact, exchange, partner, and associate with one another in mutually voluntary and mutually beneficial ways, generating benefit not only for them as individuals but also for their fellow citizens, for their country, and even for others in the world.

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Trade, Money, and Debt

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Hume’s support for markets, trade, and commerce were almost unqualified, and he made these arguments before Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. But Hume also made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of economic policy matters like the balance of trade, the role of money and the use of currency, the role of prices, the role of interest, and public credit.

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Virtue, Religion, and the End of Life

Chapter summary

Hume did not believe that all preferences and desires are good. In fact, he drew clear distinctions between virtues, on the one hand, and vices, on the other. He went so far as to claim that people “who have denied the reality of moral distinctions”—that is, people who claim a moral equality among all preferences and desires, thereby eliminating any moral distinction among them—“may be ranked among the disingenuous disputants,” because, he claimed, no one “could ever seriously believe, that all characters and actions were alike entitled to the affection and regard of everyone”. The question for Hume, then, was not whether there are moral virtues and moral vices, but, instead, how we discern them and what their origin is—and what institutions support and encourage them.

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Happiness, Friendship, and Tragedy

Chapter summary

Can a philosopher be happy? Hume had a lot to say about happiness throughout his writings. He also appears to have been one of the few great philosophers in history—indeed, perhaps the only one—who was both joyful and would have been a joy to be friends with. He was beloved by virtually everyone he met, and though many disliked his ideas—in particular his religious skepticism—it appears that everyone who met or spent time with him enjoyed the experience. Hume was witty, sharp, incisive, and provocative without being belligerent. He was an excellent conversationalist, was frequently invited to attend dinner parties throughout his adult life, and was widely sought-after as an acquaintance and guest. Even those who objected to his alleged irreligiosity admitted that it was hard to hate him as a person, even if you hated his ideas.

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Scholar's Full Name

David Hume

Videos

Title and Link

Who Was David Hume?

Video description

David Hume was a member of the Scottish Enlightenment and is considered one of the greatest empiricist philosophers of all time. His insights into the benefits of free trade, commercial society, the dangers of public debt and the legitimacy of government continue to have a lasting influence. Watch this video to learn more.

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Commercial Society

Video description

David Hume was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher and one of the first to recognize that economic and moral benefits arise from people trading with one another. Not only does trade—which Hume called commercial society—allow for specialization, which increases prosperity, it allows forces us to care about the needs and wants of other people. Watch this video to learn more.

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The Benefits of Free Trade

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David Hume was an early advocate for free trade between nations because he understood that through trading, people could specialize, increase prosperity and ultimately lead better lives. Watch this video to learn more.

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Public Debt

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More than 250 years ago, David Hume warned against governments using debt to finance spending. Hume's insights that debt burdened future generations and also weakened a nation's sovereignty are as relevant today and they were in his time. Watch this video to learn more.

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The Social Contract & The Origins of Government

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Even to this day, many people believe that the legitimacy of government is rooted in a social contract wherein citizens agree to be governed in exchange for certain protections and rights. But David Hume observed that throughout history, governments came to power through violence and conquest, and not by the consent of those who had been conquered. Hume also recognized, though, that government can play a beneficial role in society by upholding justice and protecting property rights, which allow people to flourish. And so, for Hume, the legitimacy of government is limited to the extent to which it enforces justice and protects property rights. Watch this video to learn more.

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Resolving Scarcity and Conflict

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In a world with limited resources, but unlimited wants and desires, how can we resolve the conflicts that are surely to arise as a result? David Hume's answer was private property. Watch this video to learn more.

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Book PDF

essential-david-hume.pdf1.23 MB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08WH2KC5M

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1553200551

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites and resources where you can learn more about David Hume, his theories, his written works, his impact on philosophy, expert lectures, and interviews.

David Hume from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A detailed breakdown of Hume’s life, influence as an Enlightenment figure, and philosophical ideas.

Hume’s Moral Philosophy from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An explanation of Hume’s position in ethics, specifically his empiricist theory of the mind that asserts (1) Reason alone cannot be a motive to the will, but rather is the “slave of the passions” (2) Moral distinctions are not derived from reason (3) Moral distinctions are derived from the moral sentiments: feelings of approval and disapproval felt by spectators who contemplate a character trait or action (4) While some virtues and vices are natural, others, including justice, are artificial

David Hume from Britannica.com
A biographical account of Hume’s life from his early days in Edinburgh to his influence as a philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist.

David Hume 1711-1776 from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A peer-reviewed commentary on David Hume’s unique position in intellectual thought, including his epistemic understanding of the self and notions of personal identity, and how this broadly translated into his political and scholarly influence in the 18th century that has endured years after his death.

Hume Texts Online from David Hume.org
A robust, accessible online collection of David Hume’s essays, treatises, dissertations, and books (both acknowledged and originally anonymous, published in his time and posthumously).

Western Philosophy: David Hume from The School of Life
A detailed breakdown of Hume’s philosophical positions and an elementary explanation of the crux of Hume’s most significant contribution to the ideas of human nature: people are more influenced by our feelings than by reason.

David Hume: Causation from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A peer-reviewed commentary on Hume’s position on the notion of causation and how it relates to everyday occurrences and his (Hume) own empirical standards for knowledge.

David Hume from EconLib
A brief overview of Hume’s contributions to economic thought in addition to or in tandem with his treatments of philosophy, history, and politics.

A Very Brief Summary of David Hume UWPlatt.edu
A short entry that focuses on David Hume’s position in the tradition of British empiricism and his ethical theory on moral distinctions being rooted in emotion as opposed to the previous, long-held belief that they’re based in reason.

A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume from Project Gutenberg
A free, open-access e-book copy of Hume’s seminal text on empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism.

A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Section VI: Of Personal Identity from Web MN State.edu
A public domain copy of the “Section VI: Of Personal Identity” from Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature.

David Hume’s Life and Works from Hume Society
A detailed, succinct overview of Hume’s life and works, his relationship to contemporaries such as Adam Smith, his time spent working on A Treatise of Human Nature, Essays Concerning Understanding, and The History of Great Britain, and years in Paris and Edinburgh up until his death.

David Hume from the Online Liberty Library
A brief biography of Hume’s life and works, and includes a list of quotes, books and titles (with links to epub, pdf, and kindle formats for reading), and associated movements.

David Hume from Oregon State University.edu
A one-page blog post from a “Great Philosophers” series discussing Hume’s impact on the theory of knowledge, ethics, and the philosophy of religion. Includes an explanation of Hume’s account of the mind by identifying the ways in which ideas might be related to one another i.e. resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect.

David Hume’s Treatment of the Mind from BU.edu
A relatively short but comprehensive paper that critically examines Hume’s argument against the knowledge/existence of substantival mind.

David Hume from Oxford Reference.com
A quick reference/overview of Hume’s status as a philosopher, historian, and economist.

David Hume at 300 from Philosophy Now
A retrospective analyzing the life and legacy of David Hume, from his biography to the crux of his major works, in honour of his 300th year.

David Hume from the New World Encyclopedia
An encyclopedic entry on David Hume with an in-depth contents list.

David Hume from the Encyclopedia of Scientonomy
An encyclopedic entry on David Hume’s life, major contributions, historical context, and criticism specific to the science of human nature and scientific methodology applied to his philosophical approach.

David Hume (1711-1776) from National Records of Scotland
An overview of Hume’s life and his legacy as an enlightenment figure in Scotland. It likewise includes images/scans of original documents related to his life uploaded to the online archive, including his last will and testament.

Hume: Empiricist Naturalism from Philosophy Pages
A quick overview of Hume’s life followed by more in-depth analysis of Hume’s ideas, specifically his notions regarding matters of fact, rationality, skepticism, necessary connection among people and experience, our relation to the self, and the external world at large.

David Hume from Open Learn.edu
A free, open-access course on the philosophy of David Hume, including learning outcomes, quizzes/examinations, lectures on enlightenment and romanticism, Hume’s intellectual background, opinions on death, life, suicide, how his views were received, and the philosophy of religion and everyday life (to name a few).

Hume, David (1711-1776) from Encyclopedia.com
An encyclopedic entry on Hume’s life, his impact on secularism, his notable works, and a breakdown of the elements of Hume’s science of human nature (objects, perception, the copy principle and theory of origins, natural and philosophical relations, and associations) as well as Hume’s rejection of abstract ideas and how this interacts with his treatment of space and time.

Commentary on David Hume from Lumen Learning’s Epistemology chapter
A short summary of the central themes of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, and Hume’s relationship to Kant’s criticism and the later appreciation of logical positivists.

David Hume from Essays Moral, Political, and Literary (1742-1754) from University of Pennsylvania.edu
An open-access copy of Hume’s Essay X: Of Superstition and Enthusiasm from Essays Moral, Political, and Literary.

Hume on the Importance of Humanity by Jaqueline Taylor from Cairn Info
A comprehensive commentary that details Hume’s perspective on humanity and sympathy, more specifically humanity as a sympathy-engendered response to the tendencies of character, in his body of work.

Words of Wisdom, Intro to Philosophy: David Hume from Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project
A short summary of David Hume’s legacy and role as a sentimentalist, his notions of what is vs. what ought, followed by Hume’s introductory text on “the General Principle of Morals”.

Authors

Author's Name

James R. Otteson

Author's Photo

Author Bio

James R. Otteson, Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, is John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics and Faculty Director of the Business Honors Program in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, and a Senior Scholar at The Fund for American Studies. He received his BA from the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame and his PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago. He specializes in business ethics, political economy, the history of economic thought, and eighteenth-century moral philosophy. He has taught previously at Wake Forest University, New York University, Yeshiva University, Georgetown University, and the University of Alabama. Prof. Otteson’s books include Adam Smith’s Marketplace of Life (Cambridge, 2002), Actual Ethics (Cambridge, 2006), Adam Smith (Bloomsbury, 2013), The End of Socialism (Cambridge, 2014), The Essential Adam Smith (Fraser Institute, 2018), and Honorable Business: A Framework for Business in a Just and Humane Society (Oxford, 2019). His latest books include Seven Deadly Economic Sins (Cambridge, 2021); and Should Wealth Be Redistributed? A Debate (with Steven McMullen; Routledge, 2022).

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Austrian Economics

beng — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 19:46:13 +0000

Austrian Economics beng Wed, 12/21/2022 - 11:46

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Christopher J. Coyne and Peter J. Boettke

Introduction copy

The origin of the Austrian School of economics is the publication of Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics in 1871. Menger, William Stanley Jevons, and Léon Walras are considered the co-founders of the “marginal revolution” in economics, a shift to the marginal utility theory of value from the labour theory of value. The revolutionists argued that value is not based on the amount of labour expended but reflects how useful people perceive the commodity to be in satisfying their ends.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with the author to discuss the key tenets of the Austrian school of economics.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

Austrians Economics Part 1: The Little Things that Keep the World Turning

Podcast episode description

Christopher J. Coyne, Professor of Economics at George Mason University and co-author of The Essential Austrian Economics, joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss the contributions to economic thinking and systems made by the Austrian School, including how our quality of life is in large part thanks to countless interactions occurring within the market that allow everyday people access to the things we need to sustain us.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/126432153827098/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/5i7Y6Qy8Qes

Podcast title and link

Austrian Economics Part 2: Government Intervention and the Assumption of Power

Podcast episode description

Christopher J. Coyne, Professor of Economics at George Mason University and co-author of The Essential Austrian Economics, returns to the podcast to join host Rosemarie Fike in a discussion about why the Austrian School’s way of thinking about politics, social change, and governmental power is as relevant today as ever—specifically, how advocating for expansion of state power may be intended as a vehicle for good but when leadership changes, so do the government’s priorities.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/524120689846258/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/gkf6izw3a4U

Explore the Book

Chapter title

The History of Austrian Economics and Marginal Thinking

Chapter summary

The origin of the Austrian School of economics is the publication of Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics in 1871. Menger, based in Austria, along with William Stanley Jevons in England, and Léon Walras in Switzerland, are considered the co-founders of the “marginal revolution” in economics. The marginal revolution was a paradigm shift from the established labour theory of value to the marginal utility theory of value. The labour theory of value held that the value of a commodity is a function of the labour required to produce the item. The marginal revolutionists, in contrast, argued that value is not based on the amount of labour expended, but rather reflects how useful people perceive the commodity to be in satisfying their ends.

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Chapter title

Methodological Principles

Chapter summary

In recasting economics along the lines of marginal utility analysis, Carl Menger provided a unique set of methodological principles that are at the foundation of what makes Austrian economics distinct. These principles are grounded in the core purpose of economics, which is the intelligibility of the world in which we live. Further, since their goal is to understand the human world, economists must render the events under examination intelligible in terms of purposeful human action. This leads to the recognition that only individuals face decisions and make choices, though undoubtedly conditioned by their social surroundings. Therefore, social phenomena are only rendered intelligible if the economist traces those phenomena back to individual decisions. This is the concept of “methodological individualism,” which holds that people, with their unique purposes and plans, are the beginning of all economics analysis.

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Economic Calculation

Chapter summary

Several years ago, Thomas Thwaites, an inventor, undertook the “Toaster Project” in which he attempted to build a simple electric toaster from scratch. To begin, he purchased the cheapest toaster available at a local store. He then deconstructed the toaster to understand the parts that he would need to build his own. Thwaites identified over 400 parts and realized that building the toaster required copper, iron, nickel, mica, and plastic, among other materials. He began by going to mines to obtain the necessary raw materials. After extensive travel and effort, he acquired the necessary resources to construct his toaster. He then shaped these materials into the various components for the toaster and created a plastic mold for the toaster body. Upon plugging the completed (and very ugly!) toaster into an electrical outlet, it shorted out in a matter of seconds. The Toaster Project illustrates the marvel of coordination that takes place to produce goods that most of us take for granted. How does this marvel operate? We will be exploring the answer to this question over the next several chapters. Here we begin with the concept of economic calculation.

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Chapter title

Capital and the Structure of Production

Chapter summary

Producing the toaster discussed at the beginning of the previous chapter involved the combination of over 400 inputs. As the Toaster Project illustrated, this involves significant coordination across both time and geographic space. In the previous chapter, we discussed the role that economic calculation plays in coordinating people’s economic activity. This chapter builds on that foundation by exploring the unique nature of inputs, or capital goods, necessary to produce final consumer goods. Beginning with Carl Menger’s work in 1871, Austrian economists have emphasized the unique characteristics of capital, which refers to goods that are valued because of their contribution to producing subsequent consumer goods.

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Chapter title

The Market Process

Chapter summary

What is a market? There is a tendency for people to think of markets as if they are choosing entities that determine the allocation and distribution of resources. “The market,” we often hear, is responsible for the decline of certain industries, the loss of jobs, or inequality in the distribution of income, and so on. This framing neglects the reality that markets reflect the choices of individuals participating in exchange relationships with others. The market is not a place or thing and has no purpose and no ability to engage in choice. Instead, market outcomes reflect the purposes, plans, and choices of the numerous people (demanders and suppliers) who voluntarily choose to interact with others. Given this, a more accurate way to think about markets is as an array of overlapping, continually changing, voluntary interactions among people, each of whom is seeking to achieve his or her own unique goals. These interactions among individuals contribute to the emergence of a pattern of resource allocations and distributions.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Spontaneous Order

Chapter summary

Overnight, snow falls on a college campus. As students make their way to class the next morning, they seek the shortest path possible to avoid getting wet and cold. The first student cuts across the grass, leaving a set of footprints in the snow. A second student follows the first, taking advantage of flattened snow left by the first student. As subsequent students follow suit, a well-defined path quickly appears. This is an example of a spontaneous order, an outcome that is the result of purposive action but not design. No single person or group of people consciously planned the path, yet the path appeared as each person pursued the goal of getting to class in a way that minimized their chances of getting wet and cold. The idea of spontaneous order is one of the most important concepts in the social sciences and is prevalent throughout the work of Austrian economists.

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Chapter pdf

essential-austrian-economics-ch6.pdf563.77 KB

Chapter title

Interventionism

Chapter summary

Well-intentioned government policymakers seek to help low-income families purchase milk. In order to make cow’s milk more affordable, the policymakers impose a price ceiling. A price ceiling is a government mandate on the maximum monetary price that can be legally charged for a product.

Milk producers, however, are not passive in the wake of the government’s price decree. They adjust their behaviour to the price ceiling by holding some milk off the market until the price is allowed to again rise above the price established by the ceiling. This reduces the supply of milk available to consumers, including those less well off who were the intended beneficiaries of the initial government price control. That’s not all. In the face of the reduced supply of milk, consumers shift to milk substitutes—like soy milk and almond milk—and this leads to an increase in the price of these goods, making them less affordable to the least well-off in society.

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Chapter pdf

essential-austrian-economics-ch7.pdf556.29 KB

Chapter title

Business Cycles

Chapter summary

F.A. Hayek earned two doctorates from the University of Vienna (1921 and 1923). After his university studies, Hayek was introduced to Ludwig von Mises through his teacher, Friedrich von Wieser, and their collaboration began. For five years, Hayek worked under Mises at a government office and then, in 1927, they co-founded the Austrian Institute for Business Cycle Research, where their work resulted in the Mises-Hayek theory of the trade cycle.

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Chapter title

Planning and the Power Problem

Chapter summary

As discussed in earlier chapters, government policymakers suffer from the problem of insufficient knowledge in their efforts to plan economic activity. Knowledge is dispersed throughout society and much of this knowledge is tacit, meaning it cannot be communicated, aggregated, or possessed by a single policymaker or group of policymakers. This knowledge problem applies both to efforts at comprehensive economic planning—that is, planning all economic activity—and to efforts at non-comprehensive planning—that is, piecemeal efforts at planning aspects of economic activity. The market process attenuates this knowledge problem as entrepreneurs, relying on market-determined prices and profit and loss as guideposts, discover the best use of scarce resources. The inability of government planners to acquire the necessary economic knowledge, combined with the fact that people adjust their behaviour to interventions, also means that efforts to plan economic activity will lead to a series of unintended consequences, as illustrated by the example of the price control of cow’s milk at the beginning of chapter 7. Beyond the knowledge problem, there is another issue with the government planning of economic activity: it tends to centralize discretionary power in the hands of a small group of policymakers.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Austrian Economics Yesterday and Today

Chapter summary

The Austrian School of economics has a long and distinguished history. Members of this school have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science, recognized as Distinguished Fellows of the American Economic Association, elected to the British Academy, served as President of the major scientific associations in economics, edited the major academic journals, and taught at some of the most prestigious universities in the world. Beyond this rich history, the central elements of the Austrian School have contemporary relevance for economic understanding and for public policy.

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Chapter pdf

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Scholar's Full Name

Austrian Economics

Videos

Title and Link

What is Austrian Economics?

Video description

The Austrian School of Economics was started by 19th century economist Carl Menger, who actually began his career as a journalist but noticed major discrepancies between what most economists were teaching about prices and what he observed as a in the real world. First and foremost, Austrian economics focuses on people, the incentives they face, their limited knowledge and the environment within which decisions are made. And while other schools of thought tend to think about the economy like a machine, Austrian economists emphasize the complicated, ever-changing and adaptive nature of the economy. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Marginal Thinking

Video description

Why is water so inexpensive when it’s necessary for life, while diamonds, which have limited practical usefulness, are incredibly expensive? This is known as the water-diamond paradox, and Austrian economics has the answer—marginal thinking. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Economic Calculation

Video description

How does an entrepreneur or business figure out which combination of resources is best to make a product? The answer is prices. Austrian economics recognizes the critical role prices play in helping people allocate limited resources efficiently, which in turn benefits society. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Interventionism

Video description

One of the key insights from the Austrian School of Economics is that one government intervention—a new tax, a new regulation or price control, for example—will almost always lead to more and more interventions. That's because policymakers can't possibly know all of the unintended consequences that their one intervention will have on the market. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Business Cycles

Video description

Why do economies experience booms and busts? Well, according to the Austrian school of economics, one of the reasons is central banks actively intervening to change interest rates from what they would otherwise be. When central banks lower interest rates relative to the actual amount of savings, it artificially stimulates investment that is not sustainable. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

The Market Process

Video description

For many people, including some experts, there is a tendency to think about the economy as a machine that just needs tweaks here and there to operate smoothly. But Austrian economists understand the economy is complex, and is constantly evolving as a result of countless individuals making choices based on their preferences and values. The Austrians refer to this organic nature of the economy as the Market Process. Watch this video to learn more.

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Book PDF

essential-austrian-economics.pdf1.33 MB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08PL8343J

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1543453568

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites and resources where you can learn more about the Austrian School of Economics.

The Essential Austrian Economics
Peter Boettke emphasizes the preferences and actions of individuals, and explores the key tenets of Austrian economics and its foremost thinkers.

Austrian Economics: A Primer by Eamonn Butler
Jointly published by the Institute for Liberal Studies and the Adam Smith Institute, this is a 121-page ebook quickly breaking down the key areas of focus in the Austrian School (i.e. price theory, knowledge problem, etc.) including criticism and current relevance of the paradigm. Eamonn Butler is now director of the ASI.

Competition and Entrepreneurship by Israel Kirzner
Explains Austrian theory of entrepreneurship and market process. The big takeaway is that the dynamic processes of competition and entrepreneurship are deeply intertwined and, at a certain point, the same. Discusses contemporary industrial organization theory and theory of the firm, re-interpreting these from Kirzner’s perspective. Published in 1973, this is a book by a distinguished disciple of Hayek and Mises and senior figure in Austrian economics today.

What Austrian Economics IS and What it is NOT with Steve Horwitz video by FEE
FI Senior Fellow Steve Horwitz breaks down common misconceptions about the Austrian School, tenets of which are often conflated with political leanings or certain policy platforms. He focuses on the analytical tools that Austrian economics provides and their usefulness in a variety of empirical contexts, while clarifying subtle distinctions between important concepts.

Austrian School of Political Economy I: Value, Prices, & Economic Calculation video from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
In this discussion, Lemke and Coyne cover a brief history of Austrian economics and the role that value and prices play in economic calculation.

Austrian School of Political Economy II: Knowledge & Institutions video from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
In this discussion, Lemke and Coyne cover the importance of knowledge and institutions in Austrian methodology.

Austrian School of Political Economy III: The Continuing Relevance of Austrian Economics video from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
In this video, Hayek Program Senior Fellow Jayme Lemke interviews Associate Director Christopher Coyne on a core approach: the Austrian School of Political Economy. In this discussion, Lemke and Coyne discuss the continuing relevance of Austrian economics.

The Methodology of the Austrian School of Economics video by EconClips (a blog)
A clear and accessible explanation of where the Austrians came from, their contributions to current orthodoxy, and how the School works as a methodological paradigm. Does a good job of explaining the philosophical underpinnings of Austrian axioms, introducing the viewer to the heterodox foundations of the theories that follow.

The Austrian School of Economics by Mary Hall (Investopedia article)
Quick encyclopedia-style article with bite-sized explanations of core concepts in the paradigm.

Austrian School of Economics by Peter Boettke (The Library of Economics and Liberty)
Encyclopedic account of the Austrian School’s intellectual history, beginning with the Marginal Revolution in the 1870s. This is then joined with a breakdown of 10 key propositions unique to Austrian economics.

Keynesian vs. Austrian Economics by Baijnath Ramraika from Seeking Alpha.com
A short overview of the central differences between the Keynesian and Austrian schools, specifically highlighting the role of governments as a market intermediary.

Austrian Economics Explained from econ.economicshelp.org
An organized list of key points and beliefs that Austrian Economists endorse, as well as criticism of the school, simplified in an easy-to-digest format.

Austrian Economics Reading List from Medium.com
A reading list for both beginners and moderately more advanced students, compiled based on categories of Principles, Methodology and Epistemology, History of thought, Economic history, and Monetary Theory. Covering the fundamental aspects of Austrian thought, from subjectivism and marginal utility to inflation and the business cycle.

Understanding Austrian Economics by FEE
An article by Henry Hazlitt, breaking down the fundamental principles of Austrian Economics and real-world application through anecdotal examples.

A Guide to Austrian Economics by CATO
An overview of how the ideas of the Austrian school of economics have long informed the principles of the broader movement. Detailed policy report covering the topic attached.

Austrian Economics from Exploring Economics.org
A bullet-point breakdown of the core elements and economic concept of Austrian Economics, followed by a detailed explanation of ontology, epistemology, methodology, ideology, political objectives, the business cycle, and ongoing debates within the school.

Austrian Economics: An Introduction from Libertarianism.org
An article describing FI Senior Fellow Steve Horwitz’s book on the subject, focusing on the aspect of choice in particular. Also includes a video (the first part of his seven-part lecture series) on the Marginal Revolution and Birth of the Austrian School.

The Empirics of Austrian Economics by Steve Horwitz from Cato Unbound
An article by FI Senior Fellow Steve Horwitz responding to criticism of the Austrian school based on assumptions of “praxeology” and other mainstream misunderstandings.

Peter Boettke and the Austrian School of Economics video by Liberty Fund Books
In this video, Peter Boettke, University Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University and the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center, talks about the important role Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, and Israel Kirzner played in the development and understanding of economic thought.

Peter Boettke discusses the Austrian School of Economics video by Liberty Fund Books
In this video Peter Boettke, University Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University and the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center, gives a brief overview on the history and importance of the Austrian School of Economics.

Why the Austrian School of Economics? from the Austrian Institute.org
A brief article making the case for why the Austrian school promotes economic and social thinking based on how people really are, as opposed to aspirational if unlikely objectives and outcomes.

The Austrian School from Austrian Centre.com
A brief historical overview of prominent thinkers from the Austrian school, and its relevant application in the world today.

Austrian Economics from The Future of Freedom Foundation
A reading list of books and articles explaining the Austrian School of Economics.

Learn Austrian Economics from Liberty Classroom.org
A resource list on Austrian Economics, including links to books, articles, and PDFs.

The Austrian School from The History of Economic Thought.net
An overview/explanation of the Austrian school’s origins, history, prominent thinkers, and beliefs central to this school of economic thought.

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt from FEE
A free PDF of the seminal text by Henry Hazlitt. An introduction to economics based on Bastiat’s own theories.

Austrian Economics from Lara Murphy.com
A brief historical account of the Austrian school, the marginal revolution and the transition from the classical labor theory of value into the modern, subjective value theory of market prices. Also includes a “recommended resources” section on Austrian economics.

Hayek in Context of Austrian School of Economics from 4Liberty.eu
A commentary discussing Hayek and his role in the conext of the Austrian school.

Austrian Economics Explained by Fred Foldvary from Progress.org
This 2-page article examines the history, method, and theory of Austrian Economics. Outlines the main topics of Austrian theory and historical studies as a) entrepreneurship; b) money and banking; c) the time structure of capital goods; d) the business cycle; e) the dynamics of markets and spontaneous orders; f) critiques of governmental intervention and planning; g) knowledge as decentralized and unknowable to central planners.

Carl Menger, Founder of the Austrian School of Economics by Jasmin Guénette from MEI
An op-ed that discusses Carl Menger’s formative text, Principles of Economics, and explains Menger’s influence as both the founder of the Austrian School of Economics and one of the pioneers of modern economics.

How Don Lavoie Changed the Debate about Socialism and Central Planning from Mercatus Center
In this video, Hayek Program Director Peter Boettke and Associate Director Christopher Coyne discuss how economist Don Lavoie’s books 'Rivalry and Central Planning: The Socialist Calculation Debate Reconsidered' and 'National Economic Planning: What Is Left?' changed mainstream thinking about socialism and central planning.

Austrian School from Wikiwand.com
Lengthier encyclopedic style article with detailed recounts of the school’s history, waves, transition between early and 20th century thinking, influence, methodology, and fundamental tenets.

History of Austrian Economists from ECAEF.org
A brief historical sketch of the Austrian School’s intellectual foundations, outlining the core concept that the value of goods arises from their relationship to our needs.

The Austrian economists: why we would bring them back from the sidelines from Economics Students.com
This article discusses some of the merits and shortcomings of bringing the Austrian school of economic thought back into the mainstream, and features a useful diagram of Austrian capital theory.

Austrian School of Economics from Nikolaus Kimla.com
A summary of the school’s history, philosophy, methodological and economic framework, fundamental principles, key figures, the pipeliner philosophy, other intellectual foundations, and how these theories fit into shifting markets brought on by ever-evolving technological advances.

Carl Menger, Founder of Austrian Economics from Adam Smith.org
A short overview of Menger’s influence as the founder of the Austrian School of Economics, and how understanding value relates to real world transactions, as people give up what they value less in order to gain what they value more.

Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomics from Econ488.org
A thorough assessment of Austrian economics, including the major cornerstones of methodological individualism, methodological subjectivism, and an emphasis on processes rather than on end states. This article also includes overview of the business cycle, PPF, the Loanable Funds Model, stages of production, stage-specific labour markets, and criticism of the school’s main theories.

Here's how Austrian economics thinks about immigration by Matt McCaffrey (Mises Institute) from Business Insider
A commentary explaining how immigration applies to Austrian economic theory, specifically Mises’ essays in Nation, State, and Economy that tackle this subject. Essentially, what would Mises and the Austrian school say about immigration and its effect on the economy.

What is Austrian economics? from Economic Students.com
An overview of Austrian economics, from its beginnings and views on the business cycle to the emergence of mal-investment. This encyclopedia-style article also addresses the school’s focus upon individuals and how this truly differentiates AE from mainstream economics, as well as its relationship to pluralism.

Austrian Economics from the Library of Economics and Liberty (econlib.org)
A description of the Austrian school’s origins, history, cornerstones, and policy implications based on this school of economic thought.

Authors

Author's Name

Christopher J. Coyne

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Christopher J. Coyne is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University, the Associate Director of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center, and F.A. Harper Professor of Economics at the Mercatus Center. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University. He is the co-editor of The Review of Austrian Economics and The Independent Review, and the author or co-author of Tyranny Comes Home: The Domestic Fate of U.S. Militarism; Doing Bad by Doing Good: Why Humanitarian Action Fails; Media, Development and Institutional Change; and After War: The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy. He is also the co-editor of In All Fairness: Liberty, Equality, and the Quest for Human Dignity; Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of James M. Buchanan; Interdisciplinary Studies of the Market Order: New Applications of Market Process Theory; Future: Economic Peril or Prosperity?; The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics; and The Handbook on the Political Economy of War. He has written numerous academic articles, book chapters, and policy studies.

Author's Name

Peter J. Boettke

Author's Photo

Author Bio

Peter J. Boettke is a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University, the director of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University. Prof. Boettke has developed a robust research program that expands an understanding of how individuals acting through the extended market order can promote freedom and prosperity for society, and how the institutional arrangements shape, reinforce, or inhibit the individual choices that lead to sustained economic development. His most recently published books include F. A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy; and The Four Pillars of Economic Understanding. Prof. Boettke is the editor of numerous academic journals, including the Review of Austrian Economics, and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and of the book series, Cambridge Studies in Economics, Choice, and Society. He has served as President of the Southern Economic Association, the Mont Pelerin Society, the Association of Private Enterprise Education, and the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics.

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Audiobook description

The origin of the Austrian School of economics is the publication of Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics in 1871. Menger, William Stanley Jevons, and Léon Walras are considered the co-founders of the “marginal revolution” in economics, a shift to the marginal utility theory of value from the labour theory of value. The revolutionists argued that value is not based on the amount of labour expended but reflects how useful people perceive the commodity to be in satisfying their ends.

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Robert Nozick

beng — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 21:23:26 +0000

Robert Nozick beng Tue, 12/20/2022 - 13:23

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Aeon J. Skoble

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Robert Nozick was a professor of philosophy at Harvard University who is most famous for his contributions to political philosophy. His 1974 book Anarchy, State, and Utopia helped establish the classical liberal or libertarian perspective as a viable alternative to redistributive egalitarian liberalism and to socialism. Despite many philosophers’ disagreements with Nozick’s arguments, those arguments could not be ignored.

Listen to the Essential Scholars Explained podcast with host Rosemarie Fike in conversation with the author, Dr. Aeon J. Skoble to discuss the work, life, and ideas of Robert Nozick.

Podcast

Podcast title and link

Robert Nozick Part 1: Why People Exist for Their Own Sake and Purposes

Podcast episode description

Dr. Aeon J. Skoble, Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University and author of The Essential Nozick, joins host Rosemarie Fike to talk about Nozick's somewhat unconventional rise to prominence in the field of philosophy, as well as discuss Nozick’s key insights on morality, individual rights, limited government and the free market.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/894898825701056/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/DphzSLfo_lE

Podcast title and link

Robert Nozick Part 2: An Examined Life

Podcast episode description

Dr. Aeon J. Skoble, Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University and author of The Essential Nozick, once again joins host Rosemarie Fike to discuss Nozick's perennial philosophical insights and how they might be applied today, including personal autonomy, the inherent morality in limited government, and even what a future society based on these core principles could look like.

FB link

https://www.facebook.com/FraserInstitute/videos/1396374201260599/

Youtube link

https://youtu.be/BA3f_sYIvBY

Explore the Book

Chapter title

Theory of Rights

Chapter summary

Nozick begins Anarchy, State, and Utopia with the claim “Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them (without violating their rights)” (p. ix). Incautious critics sometimes take this to mean that Nozick simply assumes rights and then proceeds from there, but he does have an argument for rights. For better or worse, this doesn’t appear until the third chapter of the book, but it is there. He understands rights as “moral side constraints upon what we may do” (p. 33). If there were no other beings, we would be free to do whatever we wanted to do, constrained only by the laws of physics.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

The Minimal State

Chapter summary

A robust theory of rights such as the one Nozick outlined poses a significant challenge to political philosophy. If people’s rights cannot be overridden, then most forms of government we’re familiar with lack moral legitimacy. This might imply the moral necessity of anarchism. While for some people, that sounds like a conclusion so obviously wrong it requires no answer, Nozick thinks it worth taking seriously. “The state” seems like it necessarily violates rights: rulers of various stripes lay down the law and force people to comply on pain of fine, imprisonment, or death. Some laws might map onto some people’s predispositions anyway, but the coercion is there nonetheless. For example, maybe I think it is prudent to wear a seat belt when driving and would do it even if there were no laws compelling it, but as it happens, there are laws compelling it, which means coercion is being deployed even if my choices are not in this instance coerced. I could not change my mind, and others who think differently are coerced already. And the state’s operations are financed coercively, via taxation. Since this, too, is coercive, individualist anarchists have a point which we cannot simply ignore: the state is coercive in its very nature, and this is morally problematic for anyone who takes rights seriously. So Nozick sees it as incumbent on himself to explain how some sort of state could be possible without violating people’s rights.

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Chapter pdf

essential-nozick-chapter-2.pdf79.74 KB

Chapter title

Entitlement Theory

Chapter summary

Having demonstrated in Part I of his book that the minimal state can be justified, Nozick set himself the task in Part II of showing that the minimal state “is the most that can be justified. Any state more extensive violates people’s rights” (p. 149). He turns first to arguments for more extensive state power that are based on a concept of distributive justice. He addresses this primarily by means of what he calls the “entitlement theory,” which also sets the stage for the application of his theory of rights to various other issues in political economy.

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Chapter pdf

essential-nozick-chapter-3.pdf68.57 KB

Chapter title

How Liberty Upsets Patterns

Chapter summary

In his development of the entitlement theory, Nozick had argued that just holdings do not come about because they fit a preconceived pattern, but because they are the result of people engaging in just processes. He then uses a clever and now very famous thought experiment to demonstrate why patterned, end-state conceptions of distributive justice are necessarily incompatible with individual freedom. This incompatibility turns out to reveal an internal incoherence in patterned theories. The thought experiment involves Wilt Chamberlain, a professional basketball player whose name, at the time of the book’s publication, would have been very familiar to readers. As I summarize the argument (pp. 160-164), feel free to mentally substitute the name of any well-known professional athlete today.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Liberal and Socialist Conceptions of Distributive Justice

Chapter summary

Nozick’s general critique of patterned theories of distributive justice leads him to a specific consideration of one of the most well-known and influential of such theories, John Rawls’ 1971 A Theory of Justice, the now-canonical argument for mitigated economic liberty and redistribution. Nozick begins by praising the book, which he calls “a powerful, deep, subtle, wide-ranging, systematic work in political and moral philosophy which has not seen its like since the writings of John Stuart Mill, if then” (p. 183). And he also notes its influence, already huge in 1974 when Anarchy, State, and Utopia was published, and larger today: “Political philosophers now must either work within Rawls’ theory or explain why not” (p. 183). This encomium does not seem like mere formal politeness towards a colleague, but rather as very genuine admiration. Nevertheless, Nozick then proceeds to explain why he rejects the Rawlsian framework.

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Chapter pdf

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Chapter title

Redistribution and the Growth of the State

Chapter summary

The discussion of redistributivist arguments leaves Nozick in a position of having demonstrated that while the minimal state can be justified over the objection of individualist anarchists, no more extensive state can be. But he anticipates objections that the minimal state would be “frail and insubstantial” (p. 276). He addresses this sort of objection with a thought-experiment about the growth of the state which reveals how the subtle expansion of government power inevitably leads to rights violations.

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Chapter pdf

essential-nozick-chapter-6.pdf70.47 KB

Chapter title

A Framework for Utopia

Chapter summary

Having demonstrated that the minimal state is justified but that only the minimal state is justified, Nozick also wants to show that the minimal state is morally inspiring, a positive good. He begins this discussion by considering what “utopia” might even mean. He says that it is “impossible simultaneously and continually to realize all social and political goods,” but that the idea is nonetheless worth investigating (p. 297). Why would it be impossible? Because everyone is different. “The world, or all those I can imagine, which I would most prefer to live in, will not be precisely the one you would choose” (p. 298). But underlying this problem, indeed what makes it a problem in the first place, is the idea that society consists of multiple people who have to have some way of living together. So utopia would have to be the best possible world that all could live in. The requirements of social living have to be reconciled with the fact of human pluralism and diversity.

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Chapter pdf

essential-nozick-chapter-7.pdf72.16 KB

Scholar's Full Name

Robert Nozick

Videos

Title and Link

Who was Robert Nozick?

Video description

Robert Nozick was a Harvard philosophy professor best known for his contributions to political philosophy. Educated at Columbia and Princeton, Nozick would go on to become a Fulbright Scholar at Oxford, and he was honoured as the President of the American Philosophical Association. His most famous work, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, published in 1975, won the National Book Award. Throughout his career, Nozick was influential and his work rejuvenated classical liberalism as a serious philosophical idea. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Income Inequality & the Role of Choice

Video description

Is it ever acceptable that some people should have a much higher income than others? And is it wrong for the government to redistribute income from those who earn more to people who earn less? Harvard political philosopher Robert Nozick thought so, and argued that by only looking at peoples' incomes at one point in time, we are not taking into account the free choices people might have made in their lives that have led to these different levels of income. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Income Redistribution is Incompatible with Liberty

Video description

Some people argue that government should redistribute income from people with higher incomes to those with lower incomes as a way of improving society. But Harvard political philosopher Robert Nozick argued that no matter what kind of redistribution pattern the government established, it would be forced to constantly violate peoples' rights in order to maintain it. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

The Minimal State

Video description

How can a government justifiably exist without violating the rights of citizens? This is a fundamental question that Harvard political philosopher Robert Nozick sought to answer when he devised the Minimal State. Nozick argued that only when government is limited to protecting peoples' rights (by providing policing services, for example) can the state exist without violating the rights of its citizens. Watch this video to learn more.

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Title and Link

Democracy Not Sufficient For Freedom

Video description

Just because you live in a democracy does not mean your rights are protected. There are countless recent examples of democratically elected governments violating the rights of its citizens. That's why Harvard political philosopher Robert Nozick argued that the state's only purpose should be protecting the rights of its citizens. Watch this video to learn more.

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A Framework For Society

Video description

Unlike many political ideologies that promote one perfect society within which everyone must live, Harvard political philosopher Robert Nozick argued for a framework that would allow for countless perfect societies within which people could willingly choose to live—and leave—if they wanted. Nozick recognized that because people are so different, and have such different preferences, there would never be one type of society that would be perfect for everyone. Watch this video to learn more.

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Book PDF

essential-robert-nozick.pdf1.48 MB

Kindle link

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08L72V9FZ

iBooks link

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1535872910

Book link

https://essentialscholars.myshopify.com/

Listed below are links to other websites and resources where you can learn more about Robert Nozick, his written works, his lectures, and interviews.

Nozick on Rights, Justice, and Government
Aeon J. Skoble explores Nozick’s theory and moral rationale for taking people’s rights seriously. What does a utopia actually look like?

Robert Nozick, Philosopher of Liberty
A brief history detailing how Nozick’s work and presence in academia emerged during and somewhat in response to the mainstream rise of popular socialist ideas and his contemporary, John Rawls.

Robert Nozick’s Political Philosophy
A detailed breakdown of Nozick’s life, influences, and philosophical ideas (such as the Minimal State versus Individualist Anarchism).

Robert Nozick from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An explanation/timeline of Nozick’s work and theories relevant to political philosophy, as well as the metaphysical and notions of objective reality.

Robert Nozick from Questia.com
A list of books and articles by and/or related to Nozick and his work.

Robert Nozick from The Information Philosopher
Notes and excerpts from Nozick’s work related to his notions of Free Will, Choice and Determination, and Epistemology.

How Nozick Became a Libertarian
A brief historical note detailing how Nozick began as a social democrat at the beginning of his graduate studies at Princeton to a figurehead of the Libertarian movement in his later academic career.

Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism? A CATO Policy Report (1998)
A philosophical and practical examination of why academics and intellectuals seem to overwhelmingly denounce capitalism and free-market liberal ideas in favour of socialist ideology.

Robert Nozick’s Final Interview
A transcribed interview between Nozick and Julian Sanchez, discussing his popularized ideas, voluntary choices, ethics and libertarianism, and evolutionary morality.

Robert Nozick Interview 1990
A rare, nearly hour-long interview with Robert Nozick. Interviewed by Michael Toms from New Dimensions Radio. Interview date: November 30, 1990.

Robert Nozick and the Good Fight
An article by David Kelley (from March 2002) discussing Nozick in the context of economic theory, Rand, and the overarching influence of a socialist society that would contradict the actions of consenting adults.

Robert Nozick on Austrian Economics
An article by David Gordon breaking down Nozick’s relationship to the Austrian school, including his criticisms of it.

Exotic Journeys: A Tourist's Guide to Philosophy
A site comparing the interactions of several popular philosophy contemporaries, with this particular section dedicated to Rawls and Nozick. Covers their differing and intersecting positions on principle and justice.

Moral Complications and Moral Structures
A PDF of the scholarly text by Nozick, provided by the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Robert Nozick, Libertarianism, And Utopia
A response to critiques of Nozick’s work, as part of the “Critiques of Libertarianism” series.

Nozick, Libertarianism, and Thought Experiments
A defense of Nozick’s work, including some of Nozick’s own words.

Anarchy, State, and Robert Nozick
Transcription of the Libertarian Tradition podcast episode "Robert Nozick."

Nozick—An Appreciation
Account of author’s time meeting Nozick, and personal takeaways where his character was indicative of his philosophical teachings.

Authors

Author's Name

Aeon J. Skoble

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Author Bio

Aeon J. Skoble is a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute and a professor of philosophy at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. Widely regarded for his innovative methods of teaching economic key concepts and the philosophy behind markets and voluntary exchange, Professor Skoble has frequently lectured and written for the US-based Institute for Humane Studies, Cato Institute, and the Foundation for Economic Education. He is the author of Deleting the State: An Argument about Government (Open Court, 2008), the editor of Reading Rasmussen and Den Uyl: Critical Essays on Norms of Liberty (Lexington Books, 2008), and co-editor of Political Philosophy: Essential Selections (Prentice-Hall, 1999) and Reality, Reason, and Rights (Lexington Books, 2011).

He is also the co-editor of The Simpsons and Philosophy and three other books on film and television. Skoble received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and his MA and PhD from Temple University.

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Robert Nozick was a professor of philosophy at Harvard University who is most famous for his contributions to political philosophy. His 1974 book Anarchy, State, and Utopia helped establish the classical liberal or libertarian perspective as a viable alternative to redistributive egalitarian liberalism and to socialism. Despite many philosophers’ disagreements with Nozick’s arguments, those arguments could not be ignored.

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Essential Scholars

Women of Liberty

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Natural Law

Thomas Aquinas

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Enlightenment

Baruch Spinoza

Immanuel Kant

Montesquieu

The Enlightenment period

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Ronald Coase

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UCLA School of Economics

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James Buchanan

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John Stuart Mill

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David Hume

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Austrian Economics

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Robert Nozick

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