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The article delves into the enduring contributions of Don Lavoie, a scholar who made significant strides in Austrian economics and comparative economic systems. It highlights his pivotal role in resurrecting the debate on socialist central planning, emphasizing the importance of understanding the dynamic market process rather than being fixated on static equilibrium models.

When and why are illicit markets regarded as morally legitimate? We address this question in the context of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, where the moral legitimacy of commerce has waned since the collapse of the Soviet Union. We do so by analyzing the continued resiliency and robustness of illicit markets and their moral perception in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, where de facto private property rights have remained insecure in spite of de jure political and economic reform. Given the continuity of illicit markets across both periods, we argue twofold. First, what has remained constant in the moral nature of illicit markets across both periods has been the entrepreneurial drive to realize gains from trade by circumventing and evading a predatory state. Secondly, given this constancy in the form of illicit market exchange, we contend that changing moral attitudes toward commerce have resulted from the changing manifestation of illicit market exchange, in response to the predatory nature of the state. In both the Soviet and post-Soviet period, the state has remained a means to create monopoly privileges. However, whereas in the Soviet period, illicit markets served as a means to "grease the wheels" of commerce, economic transition in post-Soviet Russia corrupted the moral legitimacy of a market economy by transforming illicit markets into a means to "grease the palms" of government officials in the name of "privatization." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological advances associated with computing power and the prospect of artificial intelligence have renewed interest on the economic feasibility of socialism. The question of such feasibility turns on whether the problem of economic calculation has fundamentally changed. In spite of the prospect of what King and Petty (2021) refer to as "technosocialism," we argue that technological advances in computation cannot replace the competitive discovery process that takes place within the context of the market. We do so by situating the case for technosocialism in the context of the socialist calculation debate. Understood in these terms, technosocialism represents a restatement of the case for market socialism, which incorrectly framed the "solution" to economic calculation under socialism as one of computing data, rather than the discovery of context-specific knowledge that only emerges through the exchange of property rights. Therefore, the arguments put forth by Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek, and later Israel Kirzner and Don Lavoie, regarding the impossibility of economic calculation under socialism remains just as relevant today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some economists argue that ignorance, real-world complexities and market failures undermine the ability of self-regulating markets to operate in a way that approximates an efficient process. In more recent discussions, cognitive processes, in the form of various biases, have become the primary focus of analytical attention. This paper counters these claims. Instead of responding with a doubling down on the commitment to rational choice models, we argue that the individuals that populate our model are highly imperfect, as is the world in which they live. Economic agents are human actors, not computers. They possess beliefs and expectations, hopes and fears and formulate their purposes and plans accordingly. They strive to achieve their desired ends and do the best they can give the constraints they face. In the process of striving, people rely on institutions to cope with their ignorance, to manage uncertainty and risk and to figure out response strategies to achieve their goals. Our analysis emphasizes the filtering processes of alternative institutional arrangements that allow imperfect people to navigate the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carl Menger's Principles of Economics was published in 1871, and was a central text in the marginalist revolution in economic theory. From the beginning, however, it was recognised that Menger's "Austrian" brand of neoclassical economics stood out from the contributions of Jevons and Walras in the marginal revolution due to his emphasis on subjectivism, price formation through bargaining and exchange, the passage of time in production and exchange activity, and the evolution of institutions in addition to the focus on choice against constraints. In this paper, I attempt to trace out Menger's continuing influence on the contemporary Austrian School of economics in terms of methodology, analytical economics, and social philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economists well understand that the work of Friedrich Hayek contains important theoretical insights. It is less often acknowledged that his work contains testable predictions about the nature of market processes. Vernon Smith termed the most important one the 'Hayek hypothesis': that gains from trade can be realized in the presence of diffuse, decentralized information, and in the absence of price-taking behavior and centralized market direction. Vernon Smith tested this prediction by surveying data on laboratory experimental markets and found strong support. We extend Smith's work first by showing how subsequent theoretical advances provide a theoretical foundation for the Hayek Hypothesis. We then test the hypothesis using recent field experimental market data. Using field experiments allows us to test several other predictions from Hayek, such as that market experience increases the realized gains from trade. Generally speaking, we find support for Hayek's theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that among the class of scholars who are fortunate enough to will the Nobel Prize, James Buchanan clearly stands out. Although Buchanan is well known for his work in public finance, public choice, and constitutional political economy, even the most cursory knowledge of his career reveals that he was a scholar who was often out ofstep with the elite ofthe profession.

A literary criticism of the book "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises is presented. Topics discussed include work in economics and political economy in the twentieth century; approach of the great classical political economists than with the scientific texts of early neoclassical economics; and antieconomics arguments that emerged in the social sciences and the humanities from antiquity to modernity.

The article discusses about the new generation of critical theorists, seeking to poke holes in the history of economic theory and liberal political economy. Topics discussed include demonstrating the inherent inefficiency, instability and immorality of the capitalist system; an intellectual crisis in the fields of intellectual history and the discipline of history; and abandoning of the disciplines of history and intellectual history.

The article discusses Stephen Margolis who is a product of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Ph.D. program that was focused on market processes and how the institutional framework of property rights, contract law and the ordinary business of politics influences that market process.It states that Margolis' contributions to economics and political economy deserve recognition.

The article explores economist Gordon Tullock’s approach to political economy. Topics discussed include arguement that there were important links between his approach to economics and the approach advanced by Ludwig von Mises; opinion that Tullock and Ludwig von Mises understood homo economicus broadly as homo ajyens, or acting man, for whom choice is open-ended; and Tullock’s first book, "The Politics of Bureaucracy."

The article discusses the need of addressing the challenges for liberalism in the 21st century. It states that liberalism has faced a serious problem from ideas emerging from a new generation of socialists on the left and from conservative movements on the right, and mentions the supposed populist threat to a free and peaceful society. It notes that liberal espouses virtues of openness, of acceptance, and of toleration, and cites populist critique of the establishment.

Policing in America has made a drastic transformation over the midtwentieth century. Local police agencies today are more federally funded, they "dress" like the military, they police more federal initiatives, and the constitutional and fiscal boundaries between local police and the federal government have been blurred. At the same time, conflicts between communities and the police have intensified and the trust between the two has diminished. Our paper investigates the transformation of local policing in a federal system. We analyze how the decisions of policymakers and agencies at the federal level can alter the choice set and associated payoffs faced by local police departments, and how that changes the nature of local policing services. We then discuss how this framework can be used to understand the transformation of U.S. local policing in the twentieth century by illustrating this intervention and providing preliminary analysis of the breakdown of community-orientated policing. Specifically, we outline the expansions of the civil asset forfeiture program, program 1033 and related procedures, and direct federal grants and discuss the incentives of local police to pursue federal initiatives, independent of the desires of the local population that they serve. These programs soften the budget constraints of state and local police and thereby shift police attention to their new funders--the federal government. Through the changes in the financing process, the federal government can create, on the margin, more federally-focused local law enforcement agencies rather than community-focused law enforcement agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Russian Revolution wherein revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks toppled the Provisional Government and set out to implement full socialism. Topics covered include the Soviet experience with socialism from 1917 to 1992, how socialism's attempt to abolish private property and the market economy, led to its failure, and analysis of Soviet economic performance.

This article introduces Buchanan's comment on Tiebout's "A Pure Theory of Local Public Expenditures". It helps us to understand the nature of the relationship between Buchanan and Tiebout. Usually, it is claimed that Buchanan modelled Tiebout's insights, that there exists a Buchanan-Tiebout hypothesis, and that Buchanan in 1965 complemented what Tiebout had written in 1956. We show that Buchanan could not have written "An Economic Theory of Clubs" as a complement of "A Pure Theory of Local Public Expenditures". He disagreed with Tiebout's ideas on mobility because he saw mobility as a cause of inefficiencies and not a cause of homogeneity in groups. This is what we show by putting Buchanan's comment on Tiebout into historical perspective. It appears that Buchanan interpreted Tiebout 1956 from the perspective of his works on fiscal federalism from the early 1950s. We show that there is a continuity between Buchanan's work from the early 1950s and his works in the early 1970s; and Buchanan's way of reading Tiebout is part of it. Hence, when he wrote "An Economic Theory of Clubs", Buchanan was convinced that Tiebout was wrong and that he was offering an alternative framework for public economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides insights into the economic state in the advent and rise of technology. The author expresses optimism over economic growth and its influence on social order and capitalism. Views on the concept of economic policy and its association with wealth and prosperity are expressed. Political economist James Buchanan is acknowledged for his ideas on economic pessimism and optimism.

The current public debt crises in Western democratic countries provide an important illustration of what Adam Smith had described as the "juggling trick"--namely deficit increases, accumulation of debt, and debasement of currency--that all governments resort to when confronted with public bankruptcy. In this paper, we utilize the discussion on the public sector growth to illuminate the puzzle in political economy regarding effective government constraints, or questions of how to "tame leviathan." We argue that altering the institutional structures to be more polycentric would contain important self-generating mechanisms to tame leviathan. Specifically, we point to the role of hard budget constraints and the role of competition in polycentric institutions for generating incentives compatible for reducing the size of government. Furthermore, we argue that public debt can be reduced by decentralizing money because it would eliminate the federal government's option of monetizing its debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the history of modern independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Topics highlighted include an assessment of how the agency is still under the influence of the politics despite gaining independence, the 1951 accord between the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve which contributed to the introduction of the modern Federal Reserve System, and the tenure of Federal Reserve chairperson from William Martin to Ben Bernanke.

In this paper we revisit the case for methodological individualism for the positive analysis of political economy. We argue that the basis of methodological individualism implies neither a necessary commitment to atomistic reductionism in explaining social phenomena nor philosophical individualism resulting in a laissez-faire policy. The point of engaging in spontaneous order analysis on methodologically individualist grounds is not to make precise predictions per se, but instead to render the purposive actions of individuals and the meaning of such actions intelligible. Once individuals can be understood as purposive actors whose social interactions generate patterns of institutions, such as language, money and law, which coordinate their self-interest, then the mystery of how self-interest coincides with social cooperation under the division of labor, i.e. Paris getting fed, can be understood through the consistent and persistent application of the economic way of thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the issues that are being faced by liberalism that were identified by economist James Buchanan such as justice, vision, and liberty and responsibility. It talks about the egalitarian behavior of participants and the need for behavioral symmetry in a political economy. The basis for the issues which are the essays "The Potential and Limits of Socially Organized Humankind," "The Soul of Classical Liberalism" and "Afraid to Be Free" are also evaluated.

Abstract: Deirdre McCloskey''s Bourgeois Dignity (2010) represents another breakthrough work in her career, and the second volume in a multi-volume work on the economic and intellectual history of western civilization. In a sense, the subtitle of the book explains well what this volume is all about – why economics cannot explain the modern world. An important modifier would be –modern economics cannot explain the modern world – because much of what McCloskey argues is the resurrection of an older argument that was associated with classical liberal political economists from Smith, Bastiat, Mises, Hayek and Friedman. Fundamentally, she reasserts the power of ideas to shape the world. McCloskey''s narrative is simple and compelling – materialist stories (whether technological, genetic, or institutional) do not work; incentive based stories do not provide a complete picture of why some countries grew rich while others remained poor, let alone for the exact timing for the divergence in the wealth and poverty of nations with the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century. McCloskey proposes that incentive based explanations must reside within a broader narrative that addresses values and beliefs, as well as institutions, technologies, and material conditions. In doing so, McCloskey paves the way for a true behavioral approach to a political and economic inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, the author discusses the impact of economic crises on the state intervention. He mentions that state intervention refers to discretionary acts by government to intervene in the market economy which in turn violates the general operating rules of social interaction. He further discusses the ideas that demand state intervention including externality environmentalism, the resurgence of Keynesianism, and behavioural economics.

Abstract: James M. Buchanan has argued that the primary role that the economist plays in society is a pedagogical one. The job of the economist is to teach students the principles of economics, most notably an understanding of spontaneous order and the role of the price system in generating that order within the market. The didactic purpose is simply to teach students so they may in fact become informed participants within the democratic process of collective choice. It is in our job as teachers of the basic principles of economic science, and not as pure researchers, let alone as policy experts who act as saviors, that justifies the public expenditure on the discipline. Economics to Buchanan is a ‘prophylactic against popular fallacies’ and not a tool of social control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses institutional design and ideas-driven social change from the view of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom. It cites that institutional design, articulated by ideas, is the process with which institutions are drafted and adopted by a society. It states that there are three institutional levels of ideas associated to institutional design such as operational, public choice, and constitutional. Among the implications for instiutional design include reflexivity, fallability, and error.

The article argues that Ostroms' institutionalism has a dimension that is complex and profound enough to deserve to be considered a 'social theory' or a 'social philosophy.' The article pivots around the thesis that the 'social philosophy' behind the Bloomington School's research agenda has in fact two facets that may or may not be consistent with each other. The article describes the main features of the two facets, offers a brief overview of the development of these ideas, and clarifies their relationship to Public Choice theory and alternative visions of public goods analysis, public administration, and governance. The argument goes further to raise the provocative question whether the two 'social philosophies' involved in the approach undertaken by Elinor Ostrom and Vincent Ostrom are necessarily and inseparably connected with the rest of their research program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peter L. Berger’s work offers his readers a window into the human drama in all its dimension: political, economic and social. He invites his readers to think intensely, endlessly, and shamelessly about the doings of man. Through a comparative analysis of Invitation to Sociology this paper discusses Berger’s contributions to the sciences of man in terms of methodological individualism, the theory of unintended consequences, spontaneous sociability, institutional analysis, and freedom. In so doing, I hope to show that Berger’s work demonstrates the intellectual power of spontaneous order analysis and the link between the humanistic project in sociology and our understanding of the human condition in general and the freedom of the individual in society in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the global financial crisis which began in 2008. It focuses on the question of whether this economic disaster represents a failure of efficient market theory, or whether it is the result of economic policies which ignored efficient market theory. A brief overview of economic history is presented, focusing on issues such as free markets, efficiency, and pricing. The view that markets are self-regulating is contrasted with the view that market failures can and should be corrected by government regulations. An argument is presented that government efforts to ameliorate financial disasters typically do more harm than good.

The article discusses the different level of forgiveness in the newly formed concept of democracy which is apart from the democratic concept during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This different level of forgiveness was best demonstrated by a widow of one victim in the planned bombing, one of the notorious operatives of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, to Eugene de Kock. Kock was the leader of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. According to the author, the dramatic act of forgiveness of the widow to Kock can be described as an act of profound practicality.

Este artículo presenta una visión crítica de las pretensiones cientificistas de la economía como ciencia social. Los economistas, argumenta, han dejado de ser los filósofos humildes que fueron algún día y se han convertidos en los sacerdotes supremos de la sociedad moderna. Esta metamorfosis se ha realizado de la mano de las doctrinas keynesianas de control de la demanda, de los análisis costo-beneficio y del debate en torno al socialismo de mercado, aspectos que han tenido consecuencias económicas nefastas. Para que la economía recupere su "alma", los economistas deberían volver a su rol original de filósofos humildes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the three areas in which economists in the 20th century sought to justify an expanded role for economists as social engineers. This is in line with the argument of Robert Nelson, citing the reasons why economists are given a privileged position in the policy arena. Accordingly, Keynesian demand management, the practice of cost-benefit analysis by regulation and lawyers, and the debate over market socialism are what made these economists extended to scientific pretension.

Abstract: The basic thesis in The Road to Serfdom is that the lure of socialist ideology has the unintended and undesirable consequence of economic depravation and political tyranny when countries follow its policy agenda. Socialist planning requires economic planners to assume a level of responsibility for economic life in a country which is both cumbersome to the point of impossible, and powerful beyond any reasonable limit that could be safely trusted to any one individual or group of individuals. The papers in this symposium provide a critical reading of the Hayek''s thesis on socialism. While many strong points are made in the discussion, the critical reading of Hayek offered must ultimately be judged unsatisfactory. The issues of choice and consequences are not addressed, and as a result the basic argument presented in The Road to Serfdom is never adequately engaged. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is an exercise in the archeology of knowledge that seeks to understand the intellectual precursors to the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. This perspective reveals that the research agenda of the Ostroms draws significantly from the ideas and themes developed in the first half of the 20th century by Knight, Mises, and Hayek. In so doing, we argue, they usefully deploy and expand the economic way of thinking beyond its traditional boundaries while avoiding most of the criticisms of economic imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of the rule of law on human capabilities. Amartya Sen has argued and provided evidence that improvements in economic development do not necessarily lead to human capabilities. Human capabilities are defined as non-monetary factors that improve well-being such as life expectancy, infant mortality, malnutrition, environmental factors, and education. We estimate the impact of the rule of law on human capabilities by using an instrumental variables approach. We instrument the level of development with an index for the rule of law. There is little theoretical reason to expect the rule of law to directly impact human capabilities. We then use the predicted values of development to determine if the economic development is positively correlated with human capabilities. We find that there is a positive relationship between and most measures of human capabilities. We find no such relationship when examining environmental factors that is likely the result of the small number of observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Searle has argued against the viability of strong versions of artificial intelligence. His most well-known counter-example is the Chinese Room thought experiment where he stressed that syntax is not semantics. We reason by analogy to highlight previously unnoticed similarities between Searle and F.A. Hayek's critique of socialist planning. We extend their insights to explain the failure of many reforms in Eastern Europe in the 1990's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on Kevin Dowd's article `Money and the Market: What Role for Government?' about money and markets in economic reform of the ex-communist countries in Europe published in a 1993 issue of `The CATO Journal.' Failure of the Perestroika; Centrality of money; Monetary regimes and credibility; Requisites of liberalization.

Presents an introduction to the June 2005 issue of the "Journal of Economic & Organization."

Presents an obituary for Don Lavoie, professor of Economics in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, who died with pancreatic cancer in November 2001 in Virginia.