The Contractionary Phase Of The Interventionist Process
A theory of interventionism should address the dynamics of state contraction. These dynamics, however, are in most respects symmetrical to those found in the expansionary phase, and to the extent that the symmetry is exact or nearly so, I need not dwell on them. Thus, in very general terms, as the level of intervention into the catallaxy eases, property rights become more coherent and stable, prices become less distorted with respect to expectations and objective data, and entrepreneurial...
The Challenge Of The Mixed Economy
In 1920 Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist and social theorist, predicted the inevitable failure of collectivist central planning.1 Since then the inevitable has come to pass. Yet the collapse of really existing communism represents both a vindication of and a challenge to Austrian political economy, of which Mises was perhaps the leading modern exponent. That is, while recent events seem to have borne out Mises's prognosis, they present at the same time the challenge of explaining 1 why...
The Economic Theory Of Regulation And Public Choice
Narrowly defined, the economic analysis of regulation refers to the use of neoclassical economic theory12 to examine the positiveand normative effects of specific kinds of government-imposed constraints on economic activity with respect to particular markets in the economy. Traditional regulation economics is concerned with tracing the effects, for example, of legal constraints on rates of return on capital in public utilities, of controls on prices or entry conditions in particular industries,...
Limitations of a neoclassical approach to political economy
Obviously, the choice of theoretical framework is important. If public choice, or more generally political economy, is the application of economics to political science, it would certainly matter which paradigm of economic theory one applies. The postulate of self-interest in its rigorous form, utility maximization, is part of the paradigm of neoclassical economics, whose foundations consist of equilibrium analysis, optimization, and perfect knowledge.25 One need not limit the economic...