Wednesday, June 29, 2011

An MP Talks Sense - shock!

Steve Baker MP speaks, 29 June, (HERE):

“Political economy and the crisis”

“I had the great pleasure last night of speaking to the Economic Research Council on the subject of Political Economy and the Crisis. I argued that:

• Economics should become political economy, embracing the problem of knowledge in the social sciences, morality (think Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments) and public choice theory, in particular.
• Classical liberalism is the most robust political economy.
• The Austrian School offers important insights, particularly into business cycles and capital theory.
• The Austrian School predicted and intellectually survived the crisis.
• That reality is, or should be, a challenge to the contemporary paradigm.
• The implications for financial reform are profound.

We had a lively Q&A covering subjects from the Chinese socio-economic model to the residual role of the state. We agreed that we must not seek a rational reconstruction of society and we left outstanding the key challenge: to determine how to reform the financial system to deliver a free-market monetary regime.

My slides are available as a PDF HERE: For related reading, please see our primer (HERE): and this article (HERE): on the need for a paradigm shift in economics.

[Published on Lost Legacy under Cobden Centre ‘ShareThis’ request.]

[Steve Baker is a professional engineer with a background in the Royal Air Force and entrepreneurial software businesses. Among other things, he has worked with major banks and regulators internationally. His personal and political website is at stevebaker.info. Steve is MP for Wycombe.]

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