In TCS Daily, Arnold Kling looks at the continued popularity of John Kenneth Galbraith amongst leftwing economists, despite how antiquated his theories are:
The role of entrepreneurs is one of those issues that divides people politically. If you value entrepreneurship, then it is difficult to be a statist. If you are a statist, then it is difficult to value entrepreneurship.
John Kenneth Galbraith represents the quintessential statist. If we were literally stuck on 1968, then Galbraith’s The New Industrial State would still be on the best-seller list. In that work, Galbraith correctly pointed out that bureaucratic organizations are averse to risk and uncertainty. However, nearly every other major thesis in his book was wrong. Yet his view of the economy, like much of the conventional wisdom of 1968, has remained embedded in the folk beliefs of the Left.
Read the whole thing.
In another economic-related essay in TCS today, Meg Kreikemeier looks at a wide range of data pointing to robust economic growth and asks, “where were the glowing headlines about the economy“?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member