In Human Action, Mises identifies a methodological dichotomy between the social and the natural sciences. This dichotomy is in how we use teleology and causality to explain different kinds of events.
These two terms are best explained by use of examples. When we throw a ball, for instance, we do not reason that it is guided in a teleological way by some mystical spirit or "prime mover." Instead we use the laws of mechanics and causality to examine the position, velocity, and forces acting on the ball, in order to predict the future position and velocity of the ball.
Honorable mention goes to Gary Galles for "Greedy-Bastard Economics" :In the inverse, one does not reason that there is some sort of direct, causal relation between traffic lights turning green, and bodies beginning to cross the road. These are individuals acting with purpose crossing the road, who, only when the lights turn green, reason that it is safe to cross and then proceed to do so. The reckless individual who is late for work may rush across the road regardless of what the traffic lights show. It is this insight — that humans act purposefully, or teleologically — from which Mises deduces his entire system of economics.
To act means to aim at achieving an end via a means. To act means to choose one mode of action out of all possible alternatives. Therefore, acting is a demonstration of preference. Of course, a person may make errors in his judgement, after which he realises that the state of affairs produced by acting in one way actually satisfies him less than some unrealised alternative would have.
This framework of action is amazingly general and can be used to explain all kinds of actions, even those normally considered outside the realm of "economics." Indeed the monk who shuns material riches and gives food to another man does so because he values feeding this man more highly than he does feeding himself. It is this type of subjective analysis that forms the root of good economic inquiry.
...greedy-bastard economics: rather than tracing their understanding of something they dislike back to its ultimate source, people only trace it back until they get to someone they can demonize as a greedy bastard. That is, scapegoats become what Frederic Bastiat called "what is seen," while the real cause remains "what is unseen." Unfortunately, that real cause is frequently the coercive hand of government, moving control of resources to itself, and the blame for the resulting consequences to others.
... [see litany of examples]
In reality, scarcity is the cause of many of the difficult choices individuals face. However, governments prefer to find "greedy-bastard" bogeymen to blame. This allows governments to play as saviors rather than as the parasites causing the problems in order to benefit favored constituencies at others' expense. But government has no power to eliminate scarcity.
Government, beyond its role of defending voluntary arrangements against force and fraud, only makes the effects of scarcity worse. It substitutes decisions by people with worse information and incentives, backed by the power of coercion, for decisions by people with better information and incentives. That is why it is actually government "solutions" that increase the influence of greedy bastards in society. After all, "greedy bastard" is an excellent description of someone who demands power over others without cost or their willing consent; and falsely blames others to gain it.
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