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ADAM SMITH LIVES!


A HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT BLOG


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 * November 2009
 * October 2009
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 * December 2007
 * November 2007
 * October 2007
 * September 2007
 * August 2007
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BOOKS OF INTEREST

 * Sandra J. Peart & David M. Levy: The "Vanity of the Philosopher" : From
   Equality to Hierarchy in Post-Classical Economics


HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT JOURNALS

 * European Journal of the History of Economic Thought
   Eds. José Luís Cardoso, Gilbert Faccarello, Heinz D. Kurz, Antoine E. Murphy
 * Journal of the History of Economic Thought
   Co-editors, Marcel Boumans and Evelyn Forget
 * History of Political Economy
   Ed. Craufurd D. W. Goodwin, Associate Eds. Neil De Marchi, E. Roy Weintraub

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NOVEMBER 11, 2009


ECONOMISTS AS LEADERS -- SESSION AT INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSOCIATION IN
PRAGUE

We often think of leaders in the political dimension.  Sometimes we think about
leaders in the space of ideas.  Too rarely we appreciate that economists have
been leaders in both dimensions.  This session considers 4 such episodes: 

1) resistance to Hitler in WWII.  "One brave student" helped Walter Eucken
survive the concentration camps.  This paper explores his leadership role in the
creation of the post war German economic order which has turned sixty this
year.  Author: Ekkehard Kohler (Walter Eucken Institute).

2) Chile and Pinochet.  This paper introduces the relationship between economist
and society as a species of the Socratic problem.  It looks at the teachers'
reputation and standing while focusing on the role of Chicago economists as
advisors to General Pinochet. Author:  Eric Schliesser (Leiden)

3) Hayek and the founding of the Mont Pelerin Society.  Before the MPS is
established, social Darwinists who favoured eugenics had great influence in the
American individualist movement; afterwards they have little.  We argue that
this is largely due to Hayek's leadership. Authors: David M. Levy (GMU) and
Sandra J. Peart (Jepson School of Leadership Studies)

4) Czechoslovaia after the fall of Communism.  This paper investigates how
economic experts shaped economic, political and social outcomes in
Czechoslovakia.  Authors: Dalibor Rohak (Oxford), Pavol Hardos (Central European
University).

November 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


NOVEMBER 10, 2009


CFP -- STOREP

I would add to this CFP that I attended STOREP 2 years ago and thoroughly
enjoyed it.  Gave a talk on Hayek on J. S. Mill entitled "Did Mill Ruin
Classical Liberalism?". 

____

The 7th Annual Conference of the Italian Association for the History of
Political Economy (STOREP) will be hosted by the Department of Sociology and
Social Research and the Department of Economics of the University of Trento from
May 30th to June 1st 2010. The special theme of the conference is: The shifting
boundaries between public and private in economics. As with past STOREP
conferences, proposals of sessions or submissions of papers concerning any other
aspect of the history of economic thought are also welcome. Paper abstracts of
no more than 200 words or a brief ( 400 words) description of theme, motivation,
authors and paper titles for a session should be submitted to:
segretario@storep.org. The deadline for submissions is January 31st, 2010. The
Scientific Committee will send notice of acceptance or rejection within February
20th, 2010. Completed papers will be due by May 10th, 2010. Call for paper and
further information are available at http://events.unitn.it/en/storep2010





November 10, 2009 in History of Economic Thought Conferences | Permalink |
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OCTOBER 16, 2009


SELF INTEREST, ALTRUISM AND MORALITY -- UNDERGRADUATE ETHICS SYMPOSIUM

The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University is sponsoring an
Undergraduate Ethics Symposium April 8-10, 2010.  This conference is shaped
around a series of workshops in which students present to one another their best
work on a subject of ethical concern.  I write to invite you to encourage your
faculty to bring this event to the attention of their students.  A Call for
Essays and Creative Writing Projects is attached, and a tentative schedule for
the symposium, which will be frequently updated, is available on our website:
http://prindleinstitute.depauw.edu/programs/ethics_symposium.asp. Let me say at
the outset that we hope to receive thoughtful and insightful essays and creative
writing works which explore, analyze and examine ethical issues in a variety of
ways.  While writings on all areas of ethical concern are welcome, we encourage
submissions focusing on Self-Interest, Altruism and Morality:  Evolutionary,
Religious and Philosophical Perspectives.

The students whose works are accepted for the symposium will benefit from the
critiques and comments of their peers in the seminar, and also from the visiting
scholar or creative writer who will direct the workshop.  Our goal is that each
student who participates in the Symposium will have a polished piece of writing
which s/he can then submit in a portfolio, a graduate school application, or a
job application.

This is an honors symposium, and those students whose works are received by the
February 1 deadline and accepted for inclusion in the conference program by
panels of DePauw faculty members will have all of their expenses paid for the
conference.  DePauw will cover travel expenses (up to $400), lodging and food
for each conference participant.  The group will be relatively small; we hope to
have 20-30 students from a variety of colleges and universities.  The seminars
in which the works will be discussed will consist of seven to ten students each.

We would greatly appreciate your posting the attached Call for Essays and
Creative Writing Projects, sharing this information with interested colleagues
and, especially, encouraging students at your university to submit their work to
us at the Ethics Institute.

Sincerely,

Martha Rainbolt

Coordinator, Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics

 

 

October 16, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


OCTOBER 14, 2009


VISITING SCHOLAR POSITION

The Jepson School of Leadership Studies is accepting applications for the
position of the Zuzana Simoniova Visiting Scholar in Leadership and Ethics for
2010-11. This program, made possible by a generous gift from the Ukrop family,
is designed to give visiting scholars the opportunity to develop courses, to
design programs, or to conduct research. Visiting scholars may be new Ph.D.s or
experienced scholars who hold a Ph. D. in an academic area related to the study
of leadership and ethics.  Scholars from newly formed democracies are encouraged
to apply.  Applicants should explain in a cover letter how their research,
teaching and future plans relate to the scholarship that they would pursue as a
visitor at Jepson.

The Visiting Scholar will be in residence at the University of Richmond in order
to pursue his or her own advanced research related to leadership and ethics. 
Successful applicants will receive a research stipend. Candidates should apply
at https://www.urjobs.org/.


October 14, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


OCTOBER 13, 2009


CALL FOR PAPERS -- ADAM SMITH REVIEW ON THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM

 

Is there a future for the robust sort of capitalism favoured by Adam Smith or
have we reached a limit to Anglo-American capitalism as the engine of human
betterment?  Over the last few decades scholars from many points of view have
found the basis for a uniquely defensible position in Smith's work.  It is
therefore appropriate that the Adam Smith Review proposes a symposium devoted to
the theme: "Is Anglo-American capitalism passing away?"  We are particularly
interested in contributions that view current economic events through a lens
informed by Smith's teaching on institutions, money and economic growth.  Please
send proposals and suggestions for contributions to Sandra J. Peart, Dean,
Jepson School of Leadership Studies (speart@richmond.edu) by October 15, 2009;
full papers to be submitted for refereeing by January 15, 2010.


The Adam Smith Review  http://www.adamsmithreview.org/  is a refereed scholarly
review published by Routledge and sponsored by the International Adam Smith
Society.  http://www.adamsmithsociety.net/  In recent years the ASR has taken
its place at the center of Smith scholarship in the world, with an international
editorial board comprised of the most eminent scholars thinking and writing
about Adam Smith.  The ASR provides a unique forum for vigorous debate and the
highest standards of scholarship on all aspects of Smith's work, his place in
history, and the significance of his thought for the modern world.  It aims to
facilitate discussion among scholars working from different disciplinary and
theoretical perspectives -- a resource for Smith scholarship in the widest
sense.  

 

October 13, 2009 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)


SEPTEMBER 26, 2009


IMPARTIALITY

For Smith, impartiality is the means by which we come to know and do what's
right. Since we all wish to be praiseworthy, we'll at least try for impartiality
and so come to do what deserves praise. Here's a key passage on this

> The man who is conscious to himself that he has exactly observed those
> measures of conduct which experience informs him are generally agreeable,
> reflects with satisfaction on the propriety of his own behaviour. When he
> views it in the light in which the impartial spectator would view it, he
> thoroughly enters into all the motives which influenced it. He looks back upon
> every part of it with pleasure and approbation, and though mankind should
> never be acquainted with what he has done, he regards himself, not so much
> according to the light in which they actually regard him, as according to that
> in which they would regard him if they were better informed. He anticipates
> the applause and admiration which in this case would be bestowed upon him, and
> he applauds and admires himself by sympathy with sentiments, which do not
> indeed actually take place, but which the ignorance of the public alone
> hinders from taking place, which he knows are the natural and ordinary effects
> of such conduct, which his imagination strongly connects with it, and which he
> has acquired a habit of conceiving as something that naturally and in
> propriety ought to follow from it.

How does it go wrong?  Suppose we come to believe we are exceptional especially
in our moral judgment.  We see ourselves as somehow superior to the rest,
deserving of praise for that reason; the impartial spectator no longer
summarizes what's "generally agreeable"; we make exceptions; we break rules and
norms that we, mistakenly, believe are made for the rest but not for us. 
Smith's impartial spectator requires that we see ourselves as no more -- or less
-- than the rest of humanity.

September 26, 2009 in Analytical Egalitarianism | Permalink | TrackBack (0)


SEPTEMBER 22, 2009


SMITH ON THE ORIGIN OF AMBITION

Reading for my class today, TMS part 1. 

The chapter on ambition begins with the lovely passage:

It is because mankind are disposed to sympathize with more entirely with our joy
than with our sorrow, that we make parade of our riches, and conceal our
poverty.  Nothing is so mortifying as to be obliged to expose our distress to
the view of the public, and to feel, that though our situation is open to the
eyes of all mankind, no mortal conceives for us the half of what we suffer. 
Nay, it is chiefly from this regard to the sentiments of mankind, that we pursue
riches and avoid poverty.  For to what purpose is all the toil and bustle of
this world?  what is the end of of avarice and ambition, of the pursuit of
wealth, of power, and preheminence?  Is it to supply the necessities of nature? 
The wages of the meanest labourer can supply them. ... To be observed, to be
attended to, to be taken notice of with sympathy, complacency, and approbation,
are all the advantages which we can propose to derive from it.  It is the
vanity, not the ease, or the pleasure, which interests us.  But vanity is always
founded upon the belief of our being the object of attention and approbation.



One wonders if these sentiments have been eroded over time?  It seems -- but I'm
not entirely sure -- that whatever mortification and suffering Smith describes
has been mitigated over time as has their motivational force.  If so, the
question is why would the judgment of the impartial spectator have changed over
time?



September 22, 2009 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)


SEPTEMBER 21, 2009


CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT (FROM SDAE -- STEVE HORWITZ)

The 2009 FEE Prizes in Austrian Economics

The Society for the Development of Austrian
Economics is pleased to announce that nominations
are now open for the 2009 Foundation for Economic
Education Prizes for the best book and the best
article recently published in Austrian economics.
The following conditions apply:

1. Authors nominated must be members in good
standing with the SDAE (check the Society's
website at
<http://it.stlawu.edu/sdae/>http://it.stlawu.edu/sdae/
for information on how to join).

2. The books and articles nominated must have
been published between January 1, 2007 and August 31, 2009.

3. Nominated articles should be emailed as an
attachment or its URL sent to Christopher Coyne –
<mailto:chris.coyne@mail.wvu.edu.>chris.coyne@mail.wvu.edu.

4. Nominations for the book prize should include
the title and all other relevant information
(publisher, date of publication, ISBN #) and be
sent to the above email address. Those nominating
books need not send copies.  Edited volumes and
short monographs are not eligible for the award.

5. All nominations must be received no later than October 19, 2009.

6. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Each prize comes with a cash award of $500 thanks
to the generous support of the Foundation for
Economic Education. Winners will be announced at
the annual banquet of the SDAE, this year in San
Antonio, TX in conjunction with the Southern
Economic Association meetings from November 21 – 23, 2009.

Questions may be directed to Chris Coyne or by replying back to me.

Steve Horwitz
SDAE Secretary




September 21, 2009 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)


BACK AGAIN -- DETERMINED TO CONTINUE (!) AND THINKING ABOUT TRANSPARENCY

On my on again off again issue -- I plead the increased expectations related to
being a dean of a School!  I do intend to return to this blog site
systematically again.  I'm teaching Competition, Cooperation and Choice this
semester and we're reading Smith (Adam - TMS and WoN) and Smith (Vernon) plus a
few people in between.  So far it's really good fun in large measure because
students from the Jepson School (LST) and the Robins School (Ecn) are so good.


David Levy and I are working on the role of experts and expertise in social
science.  We're much concerned of late -- in the light of the financial meltdown
and various successful ponzi schemes -- with the ethical foundation of
transparency.  In our view, transparency is part and parcel with fair play.  The
basic idea is that transparency rules out unfair information advantages, i.e.,
secrecy.  So, no one has an information advantage over anyone else. Lack of
fairness comes into play when someone thinks there is no informational advantage
but there really is one.  This disconnect between belief and reality opens up
the possibility of exploitation.

So why post this here?  Our conceptualization harks back to Adam Smith.  It's
also got a very Knightian feel, with the emphasis on fair play.

How might it work?  If something is common knowledge then it is transparent.  It
is common knowledge that the formula for Coke is a trade secret so the way we’re
using the word, the fact of the secret is then transparent.  What violates
transparency?  The false belief that something is not a secret. If people
believed Coke's formula were known to all, that would violate transparency; if
people believe that the methods and conditions for testing a drug were known to
all when they were not widely known -- this would violate transparency.  Since
people trust drugs on the advice of experts, the fact of transparency is really
important. This is especially important in the light of the sort of middling
experts we have as a result of the division of labour.  Some folks do the
research on a drug.  Results are published in a journal.  A physician prescribes
it.  A consumer takes it.  Do we have transparency -- as we've described it --
all along the way? 




September 21, 2009 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)


DECEMBER 20, 2007


HOPE CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

The annual /History of Political Economy/ Conference -- this year on the topic
"Robert Solow and the Development of Growth Economics" -- will be held 25-27
April 2008 at Duke University.  Further information, including the tentative
program, can be found on the Duke History of Economy Group website
(http://econ.duke.edu/HOPE), following the links to HOPE Conferences and then to
the 2008 conference or, directly, to the HOPE 2008 website
http://econ.duke.edu/HOPE/HOPEconference2008OpenAccess/HOPE2008master.htm

Mauro Boianovsky <mboianovsky@gmail.com>
Kevin Hoover <kd.hoover@duke.edu>
    Organizers

December 20, 2007 in History of Economic Thought Conferences | Permalink |
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RESOURCES

 * Searchable, extensive database of works in the History of Econ Ideas
   (ECONLIB)
 * History of Economic Thought Website (New School)
 * History Of Economics Society
 * McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought
 * Summer Institute for the HET
 * ANU - History of Economic Thought Society of Australia
 * ECHE - European Conferences on the History of Economics
 * JSHET - Japanese Society for HET
 * The Economists' Papers Project at Duke University
 * Economists' Portraits


RECENT POSTS

 * Economists as leaders -- session at International Leadership Association in
   Prague
 * CFP -- Storep
 * Self interest, altruism and morality -- Undergraduate Ethics Symposium
 * visiting scholar position
 * Call for papers -- Adam Smith Review on the future of capitalism
 * impartiality
 * Smith on the origin of ambition
 * contest announcement (from SDAE -- Steve Horwitz)
 * back again -- determined to continue (!) and thinking about transparency
 * HOPE conference announcement