|Peter Boettke|
One of my favorite books in development economics is Reuven Brenner's Labyrinths of Prosperity (U of Michigan, 1994). A critical idea in Brenner's book is that economic development is a consequence of institutional and policy environments that enable and encourage individuals to "bet on their ideas" and to "find the financing" to bring those bets to life. There are unique institutional configurations that enable and encourage risk assessment and risk taking. Macroeconomic management of the economy, Brenner argues, results in the decline in nations, while private property and a free market economy lead to wealth creation and generalized prosperity. The financial reforms that are being proposed may very well "fix" some problems, but the cost may very well be the vibrant financial markets that enable and encourage the "betting on ideas" and the "finding of finance" to bring those bets to life.
After listening to the various talking heads on Sunday explain the need for financial reform, and the injustice of Goldman-Sachs, it is important to get someone speaking sense like Reuven Brenner is capable of. I'll spring for airfare from Canada to get him down here, if others will get him an audience with President Obama and his economic team.
I purchased this book after reading and rereading his great article in Cato Policy Report. May/June 1998: http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v20n3/econgrowth.pdf
I have handed this article out to many hundreds of students at various economics seminars.
Plus the first page has a nice picture of Walter Williams, P.T. Bauer, Steve Hanke, and James Dorn...
Posted by: Greg Rehmke | April 26, 2010 at 11:58 PM
Brenner would be talking to a brick wall. US (& other) govt(s) have their scape goat for the crisis (i.e., the market). The whole atmosphere in govt circles at the moment (and maybe even within the general public) is that free market economics caused this and only state intervention can prevent it happening again.
Maybe after 10 years of econo-mic stagnation with rising unemployment and rising inflation people will begin to change their mind. But a talk by this guy will (unfortunately) achieve little.
Posted by: Zastor | April 27, 2010 at 07:32 AM
Has Brenner actually talked about the current crisis?
Posted by: Mario Rizzo | April 27, 2010 at 09:06 AM
Brenner has written several articles in First Things magazine. A search of their website will find them.
Posted by: FC | April 27, 2010 at 09:18 AM
He wrote a bit back in Sept 2008 about the crisis which can be found on the National Post website. Here is a link to his articles posted there:
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fpcomment/archive/tags/Reuven+Brenner/default.aspx
I recently read his newest book "A World of Chance" which is excellent.
Posted by: ERIC | April 27, 2010 at 02:24 PM
Vibrant financial markets are the problem!
Wall Street is mostly a creature of the macroeconomics Brenner disdains. Without the policy-induced booms and busts, there would be plenty of capital for individuals to "bet on their ideas". Government-back-stopped investment banks behaving like hedge funds on the taxpayer dime have given capitalism a pretty bad rep lately. Free market supporters need to do a better job of persuading the public that this form of "Capitolism" doesn't represent the free market. But Wall Street, in its present form, deserves its bric-bats.
Posted by: leo | April 27, 2010 at 08:45 PM
Government-back-stopped investment banks behaving like hedge funds on the taxpayer dime have given capitalism a pretty bad rep lately.
Posted by: topills.com review | December 19, 2010 at 08:50 AM