Comments on: Pigou as public choice economist, not a Pigouvian

By: Nicholas Gruen

Nicholas Gruen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:29:07 +0000

The point that Pigou makes is obvious and I have little doubt that Keynes would have conceded the point. Keynes was seeking to argue for new institutions and new approaches, and as such didn’t spend his time spelling out the minor caveats. Of course they’re not minor to us, after 60 years of further development, and after Keynes’ ideas (and some others) have left us with a more stable economy than characterised Keynes’ time, but if you look at the changes Keynes was seeking to bring about in public policy when he was writing the General Theory, they were minor details.

By: Ed M.

Ed M. — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:31:29 +0000

Someone should tell Makiw…

–Ed

By: Jay Wetmore

Jay Wetmore — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:28:22 +0000

Excellent post.

Since Pigouvian taxes are so frequently presented as a correction for externalities that may not be correctly priced by the market, or just to provide incentive for “good” behavior, I for one am interested in better understanding Pigou and the limitations of his theories.

As someone who is not familiar with his original works, it strikes me that Pigou’s theories, like those of Keynes, are most often used by those in power to justify their own desires for greater control and influence.

By: Recomendaciones « intelib

Recomendaciones « intelib — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:21:32 +0000

[...] Pigou as public choice economist, not a Pigouvian, by Lynne Kiesling [...]

By: David Zetland

David Zetland — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:09:13 +0000

Very nice background. I love those old guys — always way smarter than their “theories” would indicate. I hope that we beat politicians with this. Carbon taxes are better than cap and trade, but both will fail if the pols turn them into corruption machines.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:31:37 +0000

Really good stuff.