Political Entrepreneurs

The Economic Engine of Political Change

2014 Public Choice Society Meetings

February 12th, 2014 by Edward Lopez

I am pleased to announce the conference program for the 2014 Public Choice Society meetings. As many of you know, the Society was founded by James M. Buchanan, Gordon Tullock, Mancur Olson, Vincent Ostrom, and others whose life work was dedicated to understanding human interaction in non-market exchange.

Last year the Society celebrated its 50th Anniversary by returning to one of its favorite venues, the historic Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. This year, we have the pleasure of returning to Charleston, South Carolina, and our first visit to the Francis Marion Hotel.

The Society has experienced a surge of interest among established and emerging scholars. This year’s program features well over 300 papers and about 280 presenters. Highlights include our four plenary speakers: Dani Rodrik on ideas, Sam Peltzman on the socialist revival, James Gwartney on the public choice revolution in economics education, and Chris Coyne on government failure in humanitarian aid. There are also special sessions to commemorate the contributions of Charles K. Rowley and Gordon Tullock, and panel discussions of important new books.

It’s been a privilege to serve as President of the Society these past two years. At the end of the 2014 conference, I’ll step into the role as Secretary/Treasurer. Along with the existing Past Presidents and our newly created board of Directors, my new role will allow us to establish continuity and institutional memory for the coming years and decades. The outlook for the Public Choice Society is strong. Here’s to the next 50 years!

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.189, ch.7)

The most successful entrepreneurs know what they do well, they know the market and the opportunities within it, and they choose those activities that create the most value. This is true in economic as well as political markets.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.178, ch.7)

[W]hen the right elements come together at the right time and place and overwhelm the status quo, it is because special people make it happen. We call them political entrepreneurs.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.176. ch.7)

While we started this book with Danny Biasone saving basketball, we end it with Norman Borlaug saving a billion lives. These stories are not that different. Both faced vested interests, which were reinforced by popular beliefs that things should be a certain way—that is, until a better idea came along.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.174, ch.6)

Because there was a general belief that homeownership was a good thing, politicians found the public with open arms.... Everybody was winning—except Alfred Marshall, whose supply and demand curves were difficult to see through the haze of excitement at the time, and except Friedrich Hayek, whose competition as a discovery procedure was befuddled... In short, once politicians started getting credit for homeownership rates, the housing market was doomed.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.166, ch.6)

Everyone responded rationally to the incentives before them. In short, the rules that guided homeownership changed over time, which in turn changed the incentives of these actors. And bad things happened.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.153, ch.6)

They understood the economics. The ideas had already won in ... the regulatory agency itself. All that remained to be overcome were some vested interests and a handful of madmen in authority.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.146, ch.6)

If the idea for auctions of spectrum use rights had been part of the public debate since at least 1959, why didn’t the relevant institutions change sooner? What interests stood in the way?

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.121, ch.5)

When an academic scribbler comes up with a new idea, it has to resonate well with widely shared beliefs, which in turn must overcome the vested interests at the table. Many forces come together to explain political change, even though it may seem like coincidence of time and place.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.120, ch.5)

It’s the rules of the political game that deserve our focus, not politicians’ personalities or party affiliations.

From the Pages of Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers (p.119, ch.5)

In short, ideas are a type of higher-order capital in society. Like a society that is poor in capital and therefore produces little consumer value, a society that is poor in ideas and institutions will have bad incentives and therefore few of the desirable outcomes that people want.

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