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John D. Mueller Subscribe

John D. Mueller is the Lehrman Institute Fellow in Economics at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and the author of Redeeming Economics: Rediscovering the Missing Element (2014).

September 6, 2018|Industrial Policy, manufacturing, Peter L. Singer, reserve currency, William Bonvillain

The Cause and Mechanisms of American De-Industrialization

by John D. Mueller|

Zahovaev K/Shutterstock.com.
Understanding De-Industrialization means looking at indirect causes like the place of the U.S. Dollar in the global economy.

July 8, 2013|Adam Smith, Classical Economics, Factions, Federalist 10, History of Economic Analysis, James Madison, Joseph Schumpeter, Neoclassical Economics, Public Choice, Wealth of Nations

An American Theory of Public Choice

by John D. Mueller|

“Public choice,” of course, is just a highfalutin circumlocution for “politics.” But the name is usually applied to the leading neoclassical version articulated by James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock in The Calculus of Consent.

This theory has a number of obvious attractions for libertarians, which I will briefly describe. Unfortunately, because its drawbacks outweigh these attractions, it needs to be replaced by an updated version of what might be called the Founders’ older “theory of American public choice.”

The problem is by no means peculiar to the theory of public choice, but rather is a general one apparent in all branches of neoclassical economic theory. This requires some explanation.

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July 2, 2013|Aquinas, Aristotle, Augustine, fiscal policy, Freakonomics, Public Choice, Redeeming Economics, Scholasticism

Rediscovering the Missing Element of the ‘Dismal Science’

by John D. Mueller|

This next Liberty Law Talk is with John Mueller, author of Redeeming Economics. Modern economic thought focuses on production, exchange, and consumption. Much of Mueller's focus, however, is on final distribution, or the notion that a great deal of our economic activity is really about providing benefits or gifts to those we love. Mueller returns to Aristotle to articulate why this missing element is so important for understanding economics. In his Politics, Aristotle described the economy by using a household model oikos, the root of our word economics, where agents distribute goods to increase the flourishing of family members and…

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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