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Teaching economics, appreciating spontaneous order, and economics as a public science

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  • Boettke, Peter

Abstract

James M. Buchanan has argued that the primary role that the economist plays in society is a pedagogical one. The job of the economist is to teach students the principles of economics, most notably an understanding of spontaneous order and the role of the price system in generating that order within the market. The didactic purpose is simply to teach students so they may in fact become informed participants within the democratic process of collective choice. It is in our job as teachers of the basic principles of economic science, and not as pure researchers, let alone as policy experts who act as saviors, that justifies the public expenditure on the discipline. Economics to Buchanan is a ‘prophylactic against popular fallacies’ and not a tool of social control.

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  • Boettke, Peter, 2011. "Teaching economics, appreciating spontaneous order, and economics as a public science," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 265-274.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:80:y:2011:i:2:p:265-274
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.06.029
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter J. Boettke & Christopher J. Coyne & Peter T. Leeson, 2015. "Institutional stickiness and the New Development Economics," Chapters, in: Laura E. Grube & Virgil Henry Storr (ed.), Culture and Economic Action, chapter 6, pages 123-146, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Peter Leeson & J. Subrick, 2006. "Robust political economy," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 19(2), pages 107-111, June.
    3. James M. Buchanan, 1954. "Social Choice, Democracy, and Free Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(2), pages 114-114.
    4. Boettke, Peter, 2011. "Institutional transition and the problem of credible commitment," MPRA Paper 32089, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Richard E. Wagner, 2004. "Public Choice as an Academic Enterprise," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 55-74, January.
    6. Dani Rodrik, 2007. "Introductiion to One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth," Introductory Chapters, in: One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth, Princeton University Press.
    7. Buchanan, James M. & Vanberg, Viktor J., 1991. "The Market as a Creative Process," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 167-186, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alain Marciano, 2023. "Teaching economics, defending the free market and justifying government intervention: The ABCs of Buchanan’s political economy," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 441-460, September.
    2. Alain Marciano, 2020. "Buchanan, Popular Myths, and the Social Responsibility of Economists," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(4), pages 1613-1629, April.
    3. Richard Wagner, 2012. "Remembering Bill Niskanen: pursuing economics as a public science in the service of liberty," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 1-7, October.
    4. Peter J. Boettke & Rosolino A. Candela, 2015. "Rivalry, Polycentricism, and Institutional Evolution," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: New Thinking in Austrian Political Economy, volume 19, pages 1-19, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    5. Régis Servant, 2010. "La recherche de bonnes règles sociales: objet de science et de choix démocratique ? Le cas de Friedrich Hayek," Post-Print hal-00641440, HAL.
    6. Régis Servant, 2010. "La recherche de bonnes règles sociales : objet de science ou de choix démocratique ? Le cas de Friedrich Hayek," Post-Print hal-03498010, HAL.
    7. Michael David Thomas, 2019. "Reapplying behavioral symmetry: public choice and choice architecture," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 11-25, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    James M. Buchanan; Economic education; Price system; Exchange; Collective choice; Spontaneous order;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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