1st Edition
Government and Economic Growth in the 21st Century A Classical Liberal Response
This book offers an alternative view of the economy - and indeed, society - that does not rely on an ever-expanding government to address the problems which individuals typically face during their lives.
The book is a Classical Liberal response to the way leading economies have been (mis)managed in the last three decades and the principles and models that have guided such policies, particularly since the outbreak of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-09, which has resulted in enlarged government deficits and public debt, as well as more intrusive government regulation and virtually no economic growth. The book does not only criticise the current dominant view which favours ever-growing governments, but also puts forward an alternative set of policies and institutions compatible with long term growth in a free(er) economy. The book is structured around three major themes: (1) what classical liberalism is (or should be) and why it still matters; (2) how state-sponsored capitalism hinders the well-functioning of the market economy as well as being a bad recipe for economic growth and individual freedom; and (3) which are the essential Classical Liberal institutions necessary for a free market economy to flourish.
This volume will be accessible not only to specialists in the subject, but also to a well-informed audience interested in current economic issues, the role of government in the economy and how history, traditions, the political system and economics shape the institutions that help us to explain how markets function and their outcomes.
List of Figures
List of Tables
Authors’ bios
Preface (by Juan E. Castañeda)
Introduction: on the principles and policies to foster long term economic growth (by Juan E. Castañeda)
Part I. Classical Liberalism: a Re-statement
- Chapter 1: Classical Liberalism Today – What it Must Be. By Steve Davies (Institute of Economic Affairs)
- Chapter 2: Liberalism as an incomplete ethic. By Pedro Schwartz (Universidad Camilo Jose Cela)
- Chapter 3: Economics versus the Classical Liberal Tradition in Political Economy: An Epistemological Divide. By Martin Ricketts (University of Buckingham)
Part II. State-sponsored Capitalism: a Critique
- Chapter 4: On Industrial Policy. Back to Bananas. By Alberto Mingardi (IULM University)
- Chapter 5: State-Sponsored Capitalism and the Erosion of Liberal Democracy. By Aris Trantidis (Lincoln University)
- Chapter 6: The Missionary Theory of Industrial Policy: Lessons from the Covid 19 pandemic response. By Mark Pennington (King’s College London)
- Chapter 7: ‘Misinformation’ as Censorship Stratagem. By Daniel B. Klein (George Mason University)
Part III. Market Institutions and Economic Growth
- Chapter 8: Unfettered money. By Juan Castañeda (University of Buckingham)
- Chapter 9: Economic Growth and the Size of Government: Do the Drivers differ in Democracies vs. Authoritarian States? By Christian Bjørnskov (Aarhus University)
- Chapter 10: Classical Liberal Solutions to the ‘Productivity Puzzle’. By Julian Jessop (Independent Economist)
- Chapter 11: Liberalism and the Regulatory State. By Cento Veljanovski (Case Associates)
- Chapter 12: Minerva in the Low Countries: Order and Prosperity in a Free Society. By Geoffrey Wood (University of Buckingham) and Forrest Capie (Bayes Business School)
Biography
Juan E. Castañeda is Director of the Vinson Centre for the Public Understanding of Economics and Entrepreneurship and Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Buckingham, UK.
