“What Libertarianism Means Today” |History News Network

July 20, 2015 / Debbie / 2 Comments

In Richard Striner’s final post on the history of Libertarianism, he examines the influence of Ayn Rand and Friedrich Hayek. Then he briefly examines the rise of the current movement in the U.S. from Barry Goldwater to the present. In conclusion, he questions the viability of the rigid libertarian worldview that is based on an extreme form of individualism: “We prize our own liberty, true, and we will obviously struggle to defend it —— fiercely if we must —— when it is threatened. But to elevate government above all other possible threats to our liberty is hard to do when push comes to shove. When a natural disaster devastates the region in which we are living and reduces our homes to a shambles —— what then? If vicious thugs invade our homes, what instincts take over as we rush to respond to the invasion? Do we immediately think of warning all the agents of government to watch their step and avoid messing with us? Or do we call 911 and hope the agents of government arrive just as quickly as they can?”

Leif Parsons, The New York Times

Was Austerity Responsible for the American Revolution?

May 23, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

In The New York Review of Books, Steve Pincus argues that George III’s austerity policies were responsible for the Revolution. He writes,

“Today, we tend to regard the practice of using government spending to stimulate economic growth as an invention of John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s. But already in the eighteenth century, self-styled Patriots, followers of Pitt on both sides of the Atlantic, argued that what the British Empire needed if it was to recover from the fiscal crisis was not austerity but an economic stimulus. In the midst of the crisis one journalist wrote that Pitt and the Patriots believed that the burgeoning debt could be reduced by increasing ‘the national stock,’ or Gross National Product, whereas Prime Minister Grenville believed ‘that an hundred and forty millions of debt is to be paid by saving of pence and farthings.’” To read the entire article go here:

1776: The Revolt Against Austerity by Steve Pincus | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books.

Lewis Walpole Library, Farmington, Connecticut
“Detail from The Great Financier, or British Economy for the Years 1763, 1764, 1765, showing British Prime Minister George Grenville holding a balance in which debt outweighs savings, 1765”

Book Review: Ron Briley’s Review of John Merriman’s “Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune” HNN

May 19, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

The history of the Paris Commune is little known in the United States, but this history is not only riveting it has important lessons to offer. In 1871 the working class of Paris seized control of the government in Paris. However, the short-lived rule of the Communards ended with the massacre of approximately 15,000 to 20,000 by the French army. John Merriman recounts this tragedy in Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune. In his review of this book, Ron Briley sees this book as “provid[ing] an opportunity for contemporary readers to revisit the Commune and consider its legacy—for global capitalism has failed to provide the ending of history and dawning of a new age of prosperity following the collapse of the Soviet Union.” Read the entire review here:

History News Network | Review of John Merriman’s “Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune”

Economics and history: Economic history is dead; long live economic history? | The Economist

April 15, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

There is an interesting article in The Economist arguing that economic history is valuable “and should be—very much alive.” Read the entire article:

Economics and history: Economic history is dead; long live economic history? | The Economist.

Three Lessons from the French Revolution European Policymakers Should Keep in Mind | History News Network

March 8, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

We don’t usually think about learning economic lessons from the French Revolution, but Rebecca L. Spang offers some interesting lessons from this unlikely source. As she explains: “The moment has come to diversify our analogy portfolio.” For her lessons go here:

History News Network | 3 Lessons from the French Revolution European Policymakers Should Keep in Mind.

History News Network | The Myth of the Rational Actor

February 27, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

Isn’t it time that we get rid of this crazy myth! Susan J. Matt thinks that historians can help undermine this myth. She says: “It is time we recognize that rationality is an elusive quantity, defined and redefined by social habit and market forces, and that rational man is a chimera. His purported behavior has not held steady across the centuries, nor has his personality. Yet economists have clung to this abstraction because he is a convenient factor in their equations. Robert Heilbroner remarked, “Mathematics has given economics rigor, but alas, also mortis.” To breathe new life into their studies, economists should create a new homo economicus—one who acts on more than self- interest and whose emotions change over time. Such a creature may not fit into math equations as easily as the rational actor did, but he will more accurately reflect how and why individuals make the economic choices they do.”

History News Network | The Myth of the Rational Actor.

Is Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century just a rehash of Marx’s Das Kapital?

August 13, 2014 / Debbie / 2 Comments

When Thomas Piketty’s book Capital hit U.S. markets this year the response was both surprising and predictable. Surprising because a 700 page tome on economics became a bestseller! On the other hand the responses were predictable. The book received adulation from the Left and disgust from the Right. The polarizing effect of this book is immediately evident if one glances at the ratings of the book on Amazon.com. Out of 718 reviews 406 are 5 star reviews and 175 are 1 star reviews (viewed on June 26, 2014). Interestingly, the mean-spirted nature of the reviews was just as newsworthy as the book itself.

So I decided to take a look for myself. Like many comments on the internet, they were “nasty, brutish, and short,” to borrow Hobbes’ famous phrase. I only managed to make it about half way through the reviews, wishing that I had stopped sooner. The repetitive and spiteful nature of the reviews were making me nauseous. Here is just a sampling of some of the titles:

“Das Kapital Re-do”

“It’s Still Socialism/Communism/Facism[sic]”

“Don’t let this Marxist fool you.”

“Serious marx bull &&&&.”

“This book is nothing but re-hashed socialist BS”

“Das Kapital , by Karl Marx – has already been written , this is the same ideology !”

“Marxist propaganda”

“Piketty’s book would be better titled “The Communist Manifesto Lite”’

“Communist Propaganda at it finest”

“MARX Reincarnated”

“Karl Marx would love this book”

“Save your time and read Karl Marx’s Das Kapital instead”

“Communist Manifesto of the 20th century”

“Say Hello to the new Karl Marx”

“Karl Marx redux”

The content of these reviews didn’t add much to these titles (other than to flaunt the failures of socialism and demonize Piketty and liberals). The basic theme of these reviews was that Piketty’s book deserves a 1 star because it is pure Marxism.[1]