Economics

Liberty, Prosperity, and the Unseen in Smith, Bastiat, and Hayek

ABSTRACT

This conference for younger scholars examined the foundation and working of the market through the writings of Adam Smith, Bastiat, and F. A. Hayek. We also examined the philosophical foundations for private property and the Anglo-American tradition of property rights, as well as the problems posed by common pool resources.

READING LIST

From Liberty Fund

Socialism and War

by By F. A. Hayek
Edited by Bruce Caldwell

In the essays in this volume Hayek contributed to economic knowledge in the context of socialism and war, while providing an intellectual defense of a free society. The connection between the two topics is illuminated through essays containing some of Hayek’s contributions to the socialist-calculation debate, writings pertaining to war,…

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The Theory of Moral Sentiments

by By Adam Smith
Edited by D. D. Raphael and A. L. Macfie

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith’s first and in his own mind most important work, outlines his view of proper conduct and the institutions and sentiments that make men virtuous. Here he develops his doctrine of the impartial spectator, whose hypothetical disinterested judgment we must use to distinguish right from…

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An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (vol. 1)

by By Adam Smith
Edited by R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner
William B. Todd, Textual Editor

First published in 1776, the year in which the American Revolution officially began, Smith’s Wealth of Nations sparked a revolution of its own. In it Smith analyzes the major elements of political economy, from market pricing and the division of labor to monetary, tax, trade, and other government policies that…

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An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (vol. 2)

by By Adam Smith
Edited by R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner
William B. Todd, Textual Editor

First published in 1776, the year in which the American Revolution officially began, Smith’s Wealth of Nations sparked a revolution of its own. In it Smith analyzes the major elements of political economy, from market pricing and the division of labor to monetary, tax, trade, and other government policies that…

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Additional Readings

Merrill, Thomas W. and Henry Smith, eds. Property: Principles and Policies. New York City: Foundation Press, 2007.

Bastiat, Frédéric. Selected Essays in Political Economy. Edited by George B. de Huszar. Translated by Seymour Cain. Irvington-on-Hudson, New York: Foundation for Economic Education, 1995.

Bastiat, Frédéric. Economic Sophisms [1845]. Translated by Arthur Goddard. Irvington-on-Hudson: Foundation for Economic Education, 1996.

Baumol, William J. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive." The Journal of Political Economy 98, no. 5 (October 1990): 893-921.

Hardin, Garrett. "The Tragedy of the Commons." Science 162, no. 3859 (December 1968): 1243-1248.

Hayek, F. A. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Hayek, F. A. Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Hayek, Friedrich A. Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Volume 2: The Mirage of Social Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Locke, John. Two Treatises of Government (Student Edition). Edited by Peter Laslett. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Marx, Karl. The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Edited by Dirk J. Struik. Translated by Martin Milligan. New York City: International Publishers, 1964.

Ostrom, Elinor. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Schmidtz, David and Elizabeth Willot. Environmental Ethics: What Really Works, What Really Matters, second edition. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2011.