(This is an essay about Tom Sowell’s Knowledge and Decisions. I prepared it for a panel discussion at the Hoover Tom Sowell celebration, which will necessarily be much shorter.
And thankfully, good economists have abandoned the "grand conceit" and now study the planner problem under information constraints. Our profession is dismal, but we're not entirely stupid. Thanks for being a great teacher!
Absolutely wonderful at length article! I noticed that you pointed out how much of a UCLA School economist Thomas Sowell was and I was so relieved to read that, I got so fed up that no other scholars seemed to notice that, that I, a non scholar wrote an article on Medium about it:
The answer I usually get to this kind of argument is that people cannot be relied upon to gather and use information to make rational decisions in their own interest. The consequence is that decisions must be made for them. By “experts” I guess.
"and the outbreak of WWII. In understanding similar phenomena, I refer to the nursery rhyme of the old lady and the fly. She eats a spider to catch the fly, a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, and so on until she swallows a horse, and dies. Of course."
Looks like the lady got two spiders and two flies; probably not what was meant
"Structuring sequential decisions offers suggestions for reform. On my mind, the Administrative Procedures act specifies cost-benefit analysis (often ignored) and extensive public comment before a regulation is implemented. Afterward, however, these evaluations and decisions are fixed indefinitely time. "
"... In my mind"
"...Afterward, however, these evaluations and decisions are fixed indefinitely time. " Maybe "...fixed for an indefinite time"...
Interesting, I was expecting to hear arguments for why Sowell is wrong from a comment of this length rather than assertions that he is.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
Typo in "Hayek undeoes a grand conceit:"
Tour de force! Not just Tom, but you.
The most approriate quote from Hayek (The Use of Knowledge in Society) is, “we must look
at the price system ... as a mechanism for communicating information if we want to understand its real function”.
And thankfully, good economists have abandoned the "grand conceit" and now study the planner problem under information constraints. Our profession is dismal, but we're not entirely stupid. Thanks for being a great teacher!
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
Excellent essay. Thoughtful and fair.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
Thomas Sowell is the Oracle of contemporary Political Economy. He's layed the groundwork for the next great Doctor
Absolutely wonderful at length article! I noticed that you pointed out how much of a UCLA School economist Thomas Sowell was and I was so relieved to read that, I got so fed up that no other scholars seemed to notice that, that I, a non scholar wrote an article on Medium about it:
https://medium.com/@spencerantoniomarlenstarr/thomas-sowell-should-be-recognized-as-a-member-of-the-ucla-school-of-economics-9983a030e665
What an excellent article! Many thanks.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
The answer I usually get to this kind of argument is that people cannot be relied upon to gather and use information to make rational decisions in their own interest. The consequence is that decisions must be made for them. By “experts” I guess.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
You might consider "The Projects: A New History of Public Housing" by Howard A. Husock for another example of 'fixing a problem' by fiat.
"...can threaten the arbitrary persecution to coerce companies..." Remove the 'the'?
"and the outbreak of WWII. In understanding similar phenomena, I refer to the nursery rhyme of the old lady and the fly. She eats a spider to catch the fly, a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, and so on until she swallows a horse, and dies. Of course."
Looks like the lady got two spiders and two flies; probably not what was meant
"but pilots are trained to recognize a sequence of events and get off the ramp early."
Mixing your metaphors. A better wording would be: "... and break the chain of events early"
"Structuring sequential decisions offers suggestions for reform. On my mind, the Administrative Procedures act specifies cost-benefit analysis (often ignored) and extensive public comment before a regulation is implemented. Afterward, however, these evaluations and decisions are fixed indefinitely time. "
"... In my mind"
"...Afterward, however, these evaluations and decisions are fixed indefinitely time. " Maybe "...fixed for an indefinite time"...
"... We live in a grad information processing machine,.." typo - 'grad' should be 'grand'
Great paper. Took me a while to get all the way through it, but worth the time ;)
Thanks for the typos, Frank! Good to see you here.