All Posts Tagged With: "nirvana fallacy"
Is a Nation Something That Can Be Built?
In the wake of both the collapse of the Soviet empire and the more recent U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have seen a lively debate on nation-building. Many people who are ordinarily skeptical about the power of the U.S. government as a force for good, either at home or around the world, have [...]
25May2011 | Steven Horwitz | 10 comments | ContinuedFrustrating Michael Moore
If Michael Moore would study a little political economy he might turn into a potent champion of individual liberty. As we see in Moore’s new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore is offended by some truly offensive things: banks engaging in wild speculation without concern for the risk, taxpayer bailouts for banks and other businesses, [...]
1Jan2010 | Sheldon Richman | 6 comments | ContinuedBad Regulation Drives Out Good
In 1969 economist Harold Demsetz identified a flaw in much public policy analysis, the “Nirvana Fallacy”: “The view that now pervades much public policy economics implicitly presents the relevant choice as between an ideal norm and an existing ‘imperfect’ institutional arrangement. This nirvana approach differs considerably from a comparative institution approach in which the relevant choice [...]
17Jun2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedEscape from Reality
Financial journalist and Freeman contributor Chidem Kurdas has an excellent post at ThinkMarkets taking up a theme near and dear to my heart: the Nivana Fallacy inherent in the call for new regulation. This is the sly trick of comparing real-world markets — with some of the imperfections of the human beings who actuate them [...]
13May2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | 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 | ContinuedBook Review: The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement by Robert J. Samuelson
Times Books • 1995 • 293 pages • $25.00 Dr. DiLorenzo is professor of economics at Loyola College in Maryland. The Good Life and Its Discontents, by journalist Robert J. Samuelson (no relation to the economist Paul Samuelson), is a well-written exposition of some of the failures of interventionist economic policy over the past 50 [...]
1Jan1997 | Thomas J. DiLorenzo | 0 comments | Continued-
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