Henry Simons is Not a Supporter of Free Enterprise
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: The Chicago School of Economics is seen far and wide as a freeenterprise stronghold. The research programs of many of its members are extolled as supportive of capitalism, even by otherwise knowledgeable commentators. 1 This article will show that such an evaluation cannot be supported, at least in the case of Henry Simons, 2 one of the most eminent practitioners of economics to be associated with the economics department of the University of Chicago. Perhaps the most disquieting aspect of Simons’s treatment of political economy is his insistence on labeling his views “libertarian.” It is bad enough that he promotes government intervention into the economy for a host of reasons, such as “coercive association, ” health, “equality, ” planning, and education. Such arguments are bad enough in
Author: Walter E. Block
Institution: Loyola University New Orleans
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7095958210