Edmund Burke, Conservatism, and Free Markets

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In a recent piece by Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute, he discusses the turn against free markets by some conservatives.  This issue is part of the ever increasing divide among those who traditionally align with the conservative movement broadly speaking, and those that seem to succumb to the ever increasing role of government regulating the economy.

“Conservatism emphasizes the benefits of permanency, order, tradition, and strong and rooted communities,” states Gregg.  Thus, the disruptions in markets that we’ve experienced in recent years has jilted some free market traditionalists.

Enter Edmund Burke, as Gregg reminds us.  Burke is not one who is often touted when trying to defend conservative free market principles (at least from an economic perspective), but his defense of economic liberty is one that conservatives should reclaim.

Burke defended a limited role of government, one that functions only in the areas of providing public goods (defense, security, protection of property rights).  Also, he argued that the national government should stay out of local affairs, and welfare functions should be “undertaken by non-state entities.”

It seems that many conservatives today have forgotten these principles.  When trying to solve the most pressing economic (and social) problems of the day, conservatives quickly seek Federal government solutions.  They would do well to take a step back and (re)learn from this 18th Century Irish Statesmen.

New Solutions to the Knowledge Problem?

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In teaching my students the foundations of the capitalist system each fall, I often begin my course with Hayek’s most famous (and possibly most important) essay “The Use of Knowledge in Society.”  In this article, Hayek makes possibly the two most important points in understanding how and why free markets are the only means to efficiently allocate resources:

  1. It is impossible for any individual or group to possess complete knowledge of all the information necessary to determine how and where resources should be used.
  2. Yet, there must be some means in place to aggregate all this knowledge in order to then communicate how resources should be used.

So, all this dispersed knowledge is necessary to determine how resources should be used but there is no individual or group that can attain complete knowledge.

Some would argue that we simply need to employ smarter mathematical algorithms, use more computing power, and certainly we can determine the use of all resources.  That was the problem with the Soviet system, Stalin simply needed computers to determine how to manage his Marxist experiment.

Hayek goes on to explain that the knowledge needed is dispersed among millions and millions of individuals, and this knowledge is unique to people all over the world.  No individuals or computers could instantly and constantly gather the information needed to determine how many iPhones to produce each day, or how many acres of wheat to grow each year, or how many tons of steel to produce, or how many boxes of Cheerios to manufacture, etc.  Additionally, this knowledge is necessary to determine if copper should be used to produce pipes for plumbing or wiring for electronic components.

Thus, there are no “new” solutions to this knowledge problem that Hayek wrote about in 1945.  Even with all the computing power in the world, and all the sophisticated mathematical models a price system is the only means by which this dispersed knowledge, necessary to communicate how resources are to be used, is aggregated.  Free and unregulated prices are the only mechanism which can communicate the correct information to both producers and consumers throughout the world.

Hayek’s writing is as true today as it ever was.

Introducing “Free Enterprise Now”

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Free Enterprise Now is a unique curriculum that educates students about…

  • The value of the free enterprise system
  • The role entrepreneurs play in our society
  • The basics for starting a business, including what is covered in a business plan
  • The purposes in marketing a business
  • Ethical considerations that entrepreneurs and other business leaders face
  • The ways businesses and the government interact in a free enterprise system

This program can be used by teachers or families in public, private, or home school settings and there is a free curriculum guide available to anyone who registers.  Please visit the website linked above!

North Carolina and Small Business Friendliness

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Depending on the way it is measured, at least half of all workers are employed by small business and these firms account for two-thirds of all net new jobs. Thus, incentivizing the growth and proliferation of small businesses should be a key component of any state’s economic growth policy. Unfortunately, according to a new study by Thumbtack and the Kauffman Foundation North Carolina ranks the worst in the Southeast (Florida has the same ranking but beats North Carolina with many tax advantages).

The North Carolina legislature has made some improvements on easing some taxes and licensing, but many regulations and tax hurdles remain.  When each state that touches your border has a friendlier environment for small business development, there is cause for concern and those in Raleigh should take notice.

The Progressives’ Agenda for North Carolina

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As the North Carolina legislative session came to a close yesterday, Forbes recently wrote a summary of the progressive agenda within the Moral Monday crowd for the Tarheel state.  It seems that those protesting in Raleigh, not only want the state legislature to provide a laundry list of government programs for North Carolinians, but also have little regard for bankrupting the state.  The list of demands includes expanding Medicaid, state subsidized child care for all, and state-provided health insurance for all, which would require an almost ten-fold increase in the state corporate income tax.

The difficulties with this policy agenda are numerous, but the most troublesome reality of the Moral Monday protestors’ demands is the faith in government solutions to complicated economic and social issues.  I use “issues” purposely because once we start to call all these resources needs “problems” we open the door to a grand plan for top-down government solutions (and faith that this top-down approach will solve all “problems”).

A fundamental shift is needed, among both the protestors and the policy-makers they seek to influence, in their perspective on the nature what government can and cannot accomplish.  Additionally, economic growth in the state is the only means whereby workers can receive they resources needed to provide for their families and where firms can continue to invest in opportunities for future growth.  Commanding more tax revenue from North Carolina businesses with higher state income tax (on top of one of the highest federal income tax rates in the world), will drive firms to other states further hampering both the state economy and the state budget.

If the recent economic downturn has taught us anything, it should be clear that economic stability (growing firms and subsequent job growth and positive investment opportunities) are not guaranteed by government policy but are the result of profitable incentives and market-driven change.  Let’s set a policy agenda that results in stimulating economic opportunity instead of simply finding ways to extract resources from firms forcing them to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Inequality and Polarization

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French economist Thomas Piketty has a new book that has captured the headlines.  He calls for a global tax on wealth to “solve” the problem of inequality brought about by capitalism.

Ben Domenech provides advice on how to approach the inequality issue that so many argue is simply an income problem that can be handled with more forced transfers.

Mobility and Income (Inequality part two)

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Matthew O’Brien of the Atlantic reviews a recent study by a group of Harvard and UC Berkley economists on intergenerational mobility in the United States.  The core finding from this research is that the ability for someone to move up the social scale in the United States (i.e. moving from the bottom twenty percent of households to the top twenty percent), is geographically limiting (and especially limiting in the South).  Specifically O’Brien summarizes:

“Kids born into the bottom 20 percent of households, for example, have a 12.9 percent chance of reaching the top 20 percent if they live in San Jose. That’s about as high as it is in the highest mobility countries. But kids born in Charlotte only have a 4.4 percent chance of moving from the bottom to the top 20 percent. That’s worse than any developed country we have numbers for.”

Thus, what matters for future income potential is not only where your family lands on the economic spectrum, but also where your family is living.  This may seem obvious due to the varying economic conditions around the country; but, tax differences, schools, labor markets, manufacturing jobs, etc., do not appear to make a significant difference.  So what does matter?

Again, O’Brien highlights several points the researchers find that help explain the geographic mobility differences across states and regions and one point stands out:

“Family Structure. Forget race, forget jobs, forget schools, forget churches, forget neighborhoods, and forget the top 1—or maybe 10—percent. Nothing matters more for moving up than who raises you. Or, in econospeak, nothing correlates with upward mobility more than the number of single parents, divorcees, and married couples. The cliché is true: Kids do best in stable, two-parent homes.”

I recently wrote about the economic costs of the changing family structure in North Carolina.  It’s no surprise that kids have the best future possibilities if they remain in traditional two-parent families.  Statewide divorce rates certainly don’t explain all the difference in mobility between San Jose and Charlotte, but North Carolina’s divorce rate is 25% higher than the rate in California.  O’Brien rightly notes that redistribution policies will not solve the economic mobility problem faced by many North Carolinians, but it is also not simply about better schools or more jobs or an increase in the minimum wage.  Policymakers would do well to address issues that impact family structure, like education and incentives for marriage and the importance of raising children in a traditional family structure.  This leads to less crime, less mental illness, and greater academic achievement, which are all key variables in economic mobility.