Archive for Stephen Davies
Stephen Davies is a program officer with the Institute for Humane Studies.
Dangerous Historical Myths
One of the most powerful influences on human affairs is historical myth—beliefs about the past that are simply wrong. Some historical myths have far-reaching and baleful effects because they shape the way people understand not only the past but also the present, leading them to make harmful or even dangerous decisions. This seems to be [...]
5Jan2010 | Stephen Davies | 6 comments | ContinuedA Family of Heroes
In any major city, particularly a capital, the great majority of statues and memorials pay tribute to monarchs and presidents, priests, generals, and statesmen. This reflects the way history is commonly understood and taught: as the story of the achievements of those associated with political power, government, and war. Memorials to the historical figures associated [...]
23Sep2009 | Stephen Davies | 5 comments | ContinuedFortune Tellers and Planners, Public and Private
Above all we should remember that government is no wiser and in many ways less well informed than private actors.
21May2009 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | ContinuedBailing Out the Big Three Repeats Britain’s Mistake
A major reason for any kind of historical writing is to provide guidance for the present. As we read an account of the past, we may see similarities to the present and (we may hope) avoid repeating the same kinds of mistakes. In this sense historiography forms part of the collective memory of a society [...]
28Feb2009 | Stephen Davies | 3 comments | ContinuedHistorical Reputations
In an election year it is useful to try to remove oneself from the hubbub of daily campaign news and advertisements and to imagine how the candidates will be viewed by historians. This is not a simple exercise, and the attempt will reveal a number of widespread attitudes that affect our view of both past [...]
1Nov2008 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Recurring Crisis
Recently the governor of the Bank of England announced that the “nice” times had come to an end. (In the Bank’s lexicon, NICE = “Non-Inflationary Constant Expansion”). This news will not come as any shock to the many Americans who have had their homes repossessed recently, but it does appear to have startled many of [...]
1Jul2008 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | ContinuedMigration, Markets, and Governments
One of the hottest political topics today on both sides of the Atlantic is immigration. What, though, do we mean by this and what light does history cast on our present concerns and anxieties?
Migration, the movement and resettlement of people, is one of the universals of history. In some periods it happens on a relatively [...]
The Real Argument about Government
A lot of contemporary political debate centers on how big government should be. The debate tends to have two main features.
First, it uses measures such as government spending as a proportion of GDP or the share of total income taken in taxation. Figures such as these show a dramatic rise in the size of government [...]
Time to Revive Individualism?
One problem facing people who broadly favor smaller, limited government; private property; and free exchange is what to call themselves. Historically the word “liberal” was the answer and still is in many parts of continental Europe. However, in the Anglophone world, particularly the United States, the word has now come to refer to those who [...]
1Sep2007 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | ContinuedTrade and Diversity
Trade is one of the oldest of human institutions, and trading relationships are among the most fundamental of all human relationships. Indeed, we may say that networks of peaceful exchange form the skeleton of all complex human societies. One of the most striking features of trade throughout human history is how it connects people who [...]
1May2007 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | ContinuedA Different Story
In the days when there was still a pretense that the public school system was actually concerned with education, one of the main elements of instruction was to make sure that pupils could remember a series of important historical dates and their significance. It was thought that everyone should know why dates such as 1492, [...]
1Jan2007 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | ContinuedAlways Think of Incentives
While visiting FEE a few years ago, I was lucky enough to hear a talk by the “armchair economist,” Professor Steven Landsburg. In it he remarked that most of economics could be summarized in just two sentences: “Resources are scarce” and “People respond to incentives.” These two apparently simple and obvious observations are in fact [...]
1Oct2006 | Stephen Davies | 2 comments | ContinuedThe History of “Underdevelopment”
Perhaps the most important feature of the modern world is its sustained, intensive economic growth. This produces most of the other distinctive features of modernity. Although there were earlier episodes of such economic efflorescence (to use Jack Goldstones term), it was only with the industrial revolution of late eighteenth-century Britain that it became a permanent and prominent feature of the world economy. Following the advent of this transformative process, questions soon arose elsewhere. The first was that of how to achieve the same kind of growth and dynamism. Soon this led to further questions: why other parts of the world did not show these qualities and why their attempts to do so ended in failure.
1Jun2006 | Stephen Davies | 0 comments | Continued-
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