The Lessons of Public Choice Theory

Dr Mark Pennington, Reader in Public Choice Theory & Political Economy at Queen Mary, University of London discusses the lessons of Public Choice Theory at the annual Liberty Lectures.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Adam Smith Institute
• Dr Mark Pennington
• public choice theory
• Liberty Lectures

[mandygillio]

this guy was my lecturer at uni for Pol economy course. literally the BEST lecturer ever. i would sit in class and not write a thing yet come out knowing everything.

amazing guy .. would go to his lecturers about how the sky is blue thats how great he is.

[strippingzombie]

one hot lecturer. oh my.

[equsnarnd]

This is excellent and I am grateful that someone has picked up this mantle of Public Choice Theory and is carrying it forward. There has been a vacuum in analysis of 'government action.'

[AndroidPolitician]

@zalida100

It's not the "illusion of democracy", it's a lack thereof. For instance, during the run-up to the Iraq War a majority only favored an invasion only if the UN approved (it didn't) and that's along with a smaller group that completely opposed invasion of any kind.

Well the democratic thing to do would of been not to invade.

[zalida100]

@CurtHowland "..WW1 as the end of civilization.." is pretty much what he says in the book too. Yes.

He describes, very well, the illusion that democracy is the means by which people think they have control of themselves and hence they are fooled into thinking that they are the state & so they are willing to fight wars etc etc.

Dam!..I should've known. I suggest a book, and you throw one right back at me! Now I've got 2 books to read. I guess you're winning - haha (cool)

[CurtHowland]

@zalida100 I haven't read it, I've read -about- it, and watched the YouTube presentations Hoppe has done, as well as the audio of Hoppe on Mises. org when the book came out.

Try his "WW1 as the end of civilization", it also points out how things have gotten worse in the world since "democracy" came to be the dominant government buzz-word.

[zalida100]

@CurtHowland "..lack of imagination as well.." Yes, if a slave figures a cheaper way to do something, he has no incentive to tell his owner about it.

"..he couldn't free slaves -yet.." And I thought he was supposed to be smart - heheh. (of course lots of things were different then. In many ways I think people were smarter than today).

I've started Hoppe's book - Democracy - the god that failed. Have you read it? I'm lovin it.

[CurtHowland]

@zalida100 While free labor is more productive than slave labor, if for no other reason than not having to pay guards, there was a serious lack of imagination as well.

Jefferson freed a slave, and then the slave had to leave and go find work. He failed, and Jefferson thought he couldn't free slaves -yet-.

Maybe he just never thought of simply hiring them in place, changing their status from slaves to free employees while NOT making them leave, something easy to imagine now.