Austrian Welfare Economics: a Critical Approach

• Autorzy: Igor Wysocki , Dawid Megger
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

It seemed that since Rothbard's 2008 [1956] exquisite Toward a Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics, one can make a case for the free market based on some modified concept of efficiency. Rothbard famously argued that being equipped with the notions of Pareto-superior moves and demonstrated preference suffices for the above purpose. Our agenda in the present paper is purely negative. First, we face the challenge - in our opinion, inadequately addressed in Austrian literature so far - of sharply defining Pareto-superior moves; to wit, how to evaluate whether a Pareto-superior move occurs; or, more specifically, what is the standard of comparison which would allow us to determine whether a given action constitutes a Pareto-superior move or not. Thus, we sieve out any approaches to social welfare that would be either trivial and therefore uninteresting and the ones that would be irreconcilable with fundamental Austrian premises e.g., ordinal value scales and therefore non-aggregation of utility, etc.. As a result, we seemingly end up with what might constitute a specifically Austrian view on welfare, which non-surprisingly coincides with the actual positions taken by contemporary prominent Austrians themselves for instance, see: Gordon, 1993; Herbener, 1997; Block 1995. Yet, the main thrust of our paper is to argue that this very position cannot withstand criticism, for it either makes an intuitively wrong prediction as we demonstrate in our thought experiment or it vitiates the argument for the free market from the concept of Pareto-efficiency. (original abstract)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Welfare economics; Austrian School; Ownership

PL

Ekonomia dobrobytu; Austriacka szkoła ekonomii; Prawo własności

• Czasopismo: Ekonomia - Wroclaw Economic Review
• Rocznik: 2019
• Numer: tom 25, nr 1
• Strony: 73--80

Twórcy

autor

Igor Wysocki

autor

Dawid Megger

• Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu

Bibliografia

• Block, W. E. (1995). Ethics, efficiency, Coasean property rights and psychic income: A reply to Demsetz. Review of Austrian Economics, 8(2), 61-125.
• Block, W. E. (2009a). Rejoinder to Machaj on indifference. New Perspectives on Political Economy, 5(1), 65-71.
• Block, W. E. (2009b). Rejoinder to Hoppe on indifference. The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 12(1), 52-59.
• Block, W. E. (2013). Legalize Blackmail, New Orleans: Straylight Publishing, LLC.
• Block, W. E., Barnett, W. (2010). Rejoinder to Hoppe on in difference, once again. Reason Papers, 32, 141-154.
• Block, W. E., Barnett, W. (2012). Transitivy and the Money Pump. The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 15(2), 237-251.
• Gordon, D. (1993). Toward a deconstruction of utility and welfare economics. The Review of Austrian Economics, 6(2), 99-112.
• Herbener, J. M. (1997). The Pareto rule and welfare economics. The Review of Austrian Economics, 10(1), 79-106.
• Herbener, J. M. (2008). In defense of Rothbardian welfare economics. New Perspectives on Political Economy, 4(1), 53-78.
• Nozick, R. (1999) [1974]. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Oxford, UK, Cambridge, USA: Blackwell.
• O'Neill, B. (2010). Choice and indifference: A critique of the strict preference approach. The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 13(1), 71-98.
• Rothbard, M. N. (2008) [1956]. Toward a reconstruction of utility and welfare economics. In M.Senn-holz (ed.), On Freedom and Free Enterprise: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises (224-262). Auburn: The Ludwig von Mises Institute.
• Wiśniewski, J. B. (2013). Non-excludability, externalities, and entrepreneurship: An overview of the Austrian theory of common goods. Journal of Prices & Markets, 1(1), 57-68.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.19195/2084-4093.25.1.5