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Political Arithmetic: Simon Kuznets and the Empirical Tradition in Economics

Robert William Fogel, Enid M. Fogel, Mark Guglielmo, and Nathaniel Grotte

We take for granted today that the assessments, measurements, and forecasts of economists are crucial to the decision-making of governments and businesses alike. But less than a century ago that ... More

We take for granted today that the assessments, measurements, and forecasts of economists are crucial to the decision-making of governments and businesses alike. But less than a century ago that wasn't the case—economists simply did not have the necessary information or statistical tools to understand the ever more complicated modern economy. This book tells the story of economist Simon Kuznets, the founding of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the creation of the concept of GNP, which for the first time enabled us to measure the performance of entire economies. The book weaves together the many strands of political and economic thought and historical pressures that together created the demand for more detailed economic thinking—Progressive-era hopes for activist government, the production demands of World War I, Herbert Hoover's interest in business cycles as President Harding's commerce secretary, and the catastrophic economic failures of the Great Depression—and shows how, through trial and error, measurement and analysis, economists such as Kuznets rose to the occasion and in the process built a discipline whose knowledge could be put to practical use in everyday decision-making.Less

Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents

F. A. Hayek

Bruce Caldwell (ed.)

This book presents a study of social phenomena. How to best and most accurately study social interactions has long been debated intensely, and there are two main approaches: the positivists, who ... More

This book presents a study of social phenomena. How to best and most accurately study social interactions has long been debated intensely, and there are two main approaches: the positivists, who ignore intent and belief and draw on methods based in the sciences; and the nonpositivists, who argue that opinions and ideas drive action and are central to understanding social behavior. The author's opposition to the positivists and their claims to scientific rigor and certainty in the study of human behavior is a running theme of the book, which argues that the vast number of elements whose interactions create social structures and institutions make it unlikely that social science can predict precise outcomes. Instead, it contends, we should strive to simply understand the principles by which phenomena are produced. For this text, this modesty of aspirations went hand in hand with the author's concern over widespread enthusiasm for economic planning. As a result, these chapters are relevant to ongoing debates within the social sciences, and to discussion about the role government can and should play in the economy.Less

Wrong Turnings: How the Left Got Lost

Geoffrey M. Hodgson

The Left is deeply divided. Some Left parties have acquiesced with the ideology of neoliberalism and lost much of their distinctive identity. Others have embraced Left populism, offering seemingly ... More

The Left is deeply divided. Some Left parties have acquiesced with the ideology of neoliberalism and lost much of their distinctive identity. Others have embraced Left populism, offering seemingly simple solutions – such as public ownership and ‘democratic control’ – to complex politico-economic problems. This book explores the historical roots of the Left’s malaise. The very meaning of ‘Left’ has shifted radically from its origins in the French Revolution. Today, the term Left is associated with state intervention and public ownership, which is remote from its meaning in 1789. It is argued that the Left must rediscover its roots in the Enlightenment, and re-adopt vital Enlightenment values that it has abandoned. The Left has taken several wrong turnings. Utopian socialists addressed the problem of economic inequality but undermined pluralism and diversity in the name of harmony. Marxists adopted the idea of class struggle and abandoned universal human rights, with deadly consequences in twentieth-century practice. More recently, cultural relativists have condoned harmful practices and some on the Left have supported religious extremists that are seen to be struggling against "Western imperialism". This book addresses enduring modern themes concerning human rights, human liberty and human fulfilment. But while these topics have been discussed for millennia, some crucial terms in the language that we use to describe key positions in the struggle for emancipation have changed or fractured beyond recognition in the last two hundred years. The Left needs to consider the wrong turnings it has made in the past.Less