[ This is a selection from “Driving the Market Process: ‘Alertness’ Versus Innovation and ‘Creative Destruction’” in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. The full article is here . ] Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of entrepreneurship significantly differs from that of Israel Kirzner. This is particularly apparent in Schumpeter’s argument that
Phelps’ critical paragraph on Austrian “overinvestment” theory does not seem to acknowledge that the market process takes place in real time, not in a diagram, nor does it address consumer time preference. It seems a pure production-oriented critique that leaves out the teleological purpose of production--consumption. Yet, he allows corporate
Don’t you just love the statement: “unemployment has risen because of falling employment...” The NBER staff has been brushing up on their Herbert Hooverisms.
I was unaware of the details of the Vietnamese catfish import barriers . All I knew of “basa” was that it didn’t have the musty taste of Louisiana catfish; and so, made a more tasty “blackened catfish” dinner than the real thing. No wonder the domestic catfish industry wants Vietnamese catfish kept out; it is cheaper and tastes better than
Paul Craig Roberts’ statement before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (9-25-03) poses an interesting challenge: “I suggest for your consideration that comparative advantage, which permits free trade to create gains for trading partners, has been undermined by the international mobility of factors of production. Instead of
Because the law of comparative advantage holds for any trade between two individuals, wherever they may be located geographically or politically, it is ultimately based on the fact that no two individuals are exactly alike. To move the argument to the level of the firm or region or country only complicates the analysis, it doesn’t change the
It is now, as the spring semester draws to a close and final exams lie graded on my desk, that I face the fruits of my long labors in Fundamentals of Economics. Despite my extensive dwelling on the basically cooperative nature of the market and the signal characteristic of government as being the legitimated possession and use of coercive power,
The NYT today published the letter of resignation of Jake DeSantis, Executive Vice President of the A.I.G. Financial Products division. He’s been working 10-14 hours a day for $1, but won’t work for a boss (Edward M. Liddy) who will roll over for political hacks like of Bernie Sanders. He will give his bonus to charity, rather than see it go back
A fascinating movement that has been swelling for weeks via the blogosphere is the “Not One Damn Dime” campaign. Here is one of a thousand postings of this. The idea is to withhold all spending on January 20, Inauguration Day, in protest against the Iraq War. The question is whether this is an effective campaign or whether people who oppose the
An email called “ A Day in the Life of Joe Republican “ is making the rounds via a thousand blogs. It is designed to illustrate how the middle class benefits enormously from big government and is too stupid to realize it. In response, I began the following alternative “Day in the Life”: Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with bottled
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.