Robust Political Economy
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Robust Political Economy
| Full title | Robust Political Economy: Classical Liberalism and the Future of Public Policy |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Pennington |
| Published | 2011 |
| Pages | 302 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Pennington judges institutions by how they perform under the two conditions that actually obtain — knowledge is dispersed and incomplete (the Hayekian problem), and people pursue their own purposes inside government as well as outside it (the public-choice problem). He runs the standard objections to classical liberalism through that test and argues each proposed remedy is less robust to ignorance and self-interest than the market process it would correct. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List (March 2026), under Public Choice Theory — the entry that states that section’s method most explicitly: the same sceptical standard applied to states and markets alike. Full transcription: The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
Connections
- Institutions — what the robustness test is applied to.
- Incentives — the public-choice half of the test.
- Government — the actor usually exempted from it.
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this came from.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.