All Posts Tagged With: "knowledge problem"
Fortune 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 | 1 comment | ContinuedTGIF: Bad Regulation Drives Out Good
In 1969 economist Harold Demsetz identified an important flaw in much public policy analysis, the “Nirvana Fallacy.” We would do well to keep it in mind as we think about solutions to the current economic problems. The rest of TGIF is here.
10Apr2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Knowledge Problem, cont'd.
An occasional series exposing the “pretence of knowledge” of government officials.From Barack Obama’s inaugural address: The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids [...]
21Jan2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Knowledge Problem
The first in an occasional series exposing the “pretence of knowledge” of government officials.President Bush’s press secretary, Dana Perino, on the possible bailout of GM, Chrysler, and Ford: I don’t think that there’s any possible way that this president would agree to allow taxpayer financing to go toward firms that are not willing to make [...]
17Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedPrivatizing Airline Safety and Security
The events of 9/11 underscore the importance of improving the safety and security of air travel. The government’s response to the terrorist attacks employs a command-and-control approach. That approach ought to be questioned. After all, it was the Federal Aviation Administration’s system that failed on 9/11. Why should we expect additional controls to be more [...]
1Nov2002 | Paul A. Cleveland | 4 comments | ContinuedI, Government
I am government–the institution known the world over to all who pay taxes, get subsidies, and face regulation. Coercion is both my vocation and my avocation; it is in my very nature to compel others to do that which they otherwise would not do. My nature should then be of great concern to you as [...]
1Oct2002 | D.W. MacKenzie | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Price System as Can Opener
Both the subject matter and the choice between paradigms in economics contain interesting and perplexing problems. A key problem that we face in society, as F. A. Hayek pointed out as far back as 1945, is in making use of widely dispersed knowledge regarding available means in satisfying human wants. The key problem that we [...]
1Jan2002 | D.W. MacKenzie | 1 comment | ContinuedImperfect Knowledge
Three economists have won the Nobel Prize in economics for studying the “asymmetric” (uneven) distribution of information in markets. The winners are Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, George A. Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, and A. Michael Spence of Stanford University. As the prize committee and various commentators see it, Stiglitz, Akerlof, [...]
1Dec2001 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedEnergy Taxes and the Pretense of Knowledge
“The current net tax per gallon [of diesel fuel] is 13 percent of the price, while the environmental cost per gallon is 50 percent of price. The tax on this fuel could be raised substantially to promote its efficient use.” 1 Typically economists oppose excise taxes on the grounds that they distort market prices and [...]
1Oct2001 | Roy Cordato | 0 comments | ContinuedMarkets Need a Hidden Fist?
When I want to jump-start my Sunday by kicking up my blood pressure a few points, I head down the driveway for the Sunday New York Times. Some weeks it is the front page that does the trick, other weeks the op-ed page. Few Sundays have given me a more eye-popping, artery-clearing boost, however, than [...]
1Aug1999 | Andrew P. Morriss | 0 comments | ContinuedDynamics of the Mixed Economy: Toward a Theory of Interventionism by Sanford Ikeda
Routledge • 1997• xiv+296 pages • $69.95 Dr. Pasour is professor of agricultural and resource economics at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. In Dynamics of the Mixed Economy, a mixed economy is defined as any political-economic system that lies between the extremes of laissez-faire capitalism and pure collectivism. In a critique of interventionism published in [...]
1Nov1997 | E.C. Pasour Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedMises, Hayek, and the Market Process: An Introduction
Ms. Cuckovic is research coordinator at the Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb, Croatia. Dr. Prychitko is associate professor of economics at SUNY-Oswego. This article is adapted from the introduction to the Croatian-language edition of Mises, Hayek, and the Market Process, to be published later this year in Zagreb. Why Mises and Hayek? [...]
1Jan1997 | Nevenka Cuckovic | 1 comment | ContinuedConsumer Information and the Calculation Debate
Dr. Pasour is professor of agricultural and resource economics at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Government intervention has been common throughout the world over the past half century, whatever the type of political and economic system. In socialist countries such as the former Soviet Union and its satellites, government assumed primary responsibility for all economic [...]
1Dec1996 | E.C. Pasour Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedFrom Here to Economy: A Shortcut to Economic Literacy
The echoes of John Maynard Keynes still resonate across the intellectual and policy terrain traveled by economists. Thankfully, though, these echoes seem to be growing fainter with each passing year. From Here to Economy serves as an example of such developments. Author Todd Buchholz provides an interesting overview of the economics world, though his book [...]
1Feb1996 | Raymond J. Keating | 0 comments | ContinuedWhite Magic
Mr. Read is President o[ the Foundation for Economic Education. Each person tends to satisfy his desires along the lines of least resistance. Those who really believe outright thievery or spoliation (political plunder) to be immoral are thereby bound to reject such so-called easy means to their ends. Why? They recognize that any injustice done [...]
1Feb1956 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued-
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