Re: What to call "Econ-Libertarians"?
Paul Torelli (paulto@uclink4.Berkeley.EDU)
Mon, 20 Oct 1997 13:49:08 -0700
Robin Hanson wrote:
>
> But I think what distinguishes me most from most libertarians is that,
> as an economist, I am very
> comfortable with the standard economist's "Pareto" criteria for
> preferring one social institution
> to another: we seek institutions whose consequences make most everyone
> better off according to
> their own estimation. In contrast, a great many libertarians seem to
> focus on natural rights of
> ownership and the a priori immorality of violating a "non-coersion"
> principle. As I can make no
> sense of this alternative style of analysis, I don't have much to talk
> about at a fundamental level
> (though we can of course talk at more tactical levels).
>
> I know David Friedman shares my economic style of analysis, but I seem
> to find very few others.
> Is there a name given to people like me, or should I just make up the
> phrase "econ-libertarian"?
I am not sure that "econ-libertarian" is the best phrase describing
those who prefer libertarian institutions on (Pareto) efficiency
grounds--it might be a bit too restrictive. There are some--perhaps
many--libertarians who prefer to defend their beliefs on generally
utilitarian grounds. Of course, "econ-libertarians" fall under that
category, but there are also others who are not very knowledgeable about
economics who might fall under that category as well--for example,
people who are familiar with history and the state's role is producing
human misery over the centuries. So a phrase like "utili-libertarian"
might be preferable, though I am not sure if you would want to be lumped
with other utilitarian libertarians who are unfamiliar with economics.
As for myself, I would basically consider myself an "econ-libertarian"
as you described, but I think it might be beneficial to lump myself with
all other utilitarian libertarians.
Also, one other issue is whether or not "econ-libertarian" or
"utili-libertarian" should be used to describe how people defend their
libertarian beliefs or how people actually believe. For example, there
may be some libertarians (though I cannot think of any right now) who
believe very strongly in a natural rights theory along the lines of
Rothbard or Rand, but who realize that arguing for libertarian
institutions on these grounds is not very effective--so they argue for
libertarian institutions on utilitarian grounds.
Paul