<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1126" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Of course, that same public choice theory argues that contracting to private businesses is even more corrupt, since the extreme benefits to one firm versus the defused public interest means that democratic processes will be overwhelmed. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But maybe the Bechtel and Halliburton contracts are merely an exercise in proving the truth of their theories.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-- Nathan Newman</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=andie_nachgeborenen@yahoo.com href="mailto:andie_nachgeborenen@yahoo.com">andie nachgeborenen</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=lbo-talk@lbo-talk.org href="mailto:lbo-talk@lbo-talk.org">lbo-talk@lbo-talk.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, April 20, 2003 8:54 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [lbo-talk] neocon economists</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>The list Ian gives is mixed, but the big "economioc" theory that the neocons are into, insofar as they are into an economic theory, is actually not a theory abouty the economy but about the polity. It is called public choice theory, and applies neoclassical erconomics to goverrnment. The object is to show that govt is inefficicient because it is inevitably caputured bys pecial interrests, whether legislators seeking reelection, bureaucrats seeking power, labor unions seeking concessions, or employees who are lazy. (Never businesses seeking handouts and freebees!) For a quick overview of this steaming load of ideological horseshit, see Dan Farber and Phil Frickey, Law and Public Choice. Of the people listed below, Buchanan is a big public choice theorist. (Schumpeter, btw, is a genuinely great economist and indeed a great social thinker.) jks<BR><BR><B><I>Ian Murray <seamus2001@attbi.com></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>----- Original Message -----<BR>From: "Marta Russell" <AP888@LAFN.ORG><BR>To: <LBO-TALK@LBO-TALK.ORG><BR>Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 9:34 PM<BR>Subject: [lbo-talk] neocon economists<BR><BR><BR>> So we've covered the neocon politicos and philosophers, who are the<BR>> economists in tow?<BR>> marta<BR><BR><BR>============================<BR><BR>Some of their flacks hang out here:<BR><BR>http://www.aei.org/<BR><BR>http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/<BR><BR>http://www.heritage.org/<BR><BR><BR>Many neocons have a soft spot for Schumpeter, Friedman, James Buchanan,<BR>Thomas Sowell, George Gilder [not really and economist] and Mancur Olson.<BR>All of these economists, following James Madison and his experience of<BR>watching the Virginia legislature, abhorred what came to be known as rent<BR>seeking behavior [Schumpeter may have been the most tolerant/understanding<BR>of the lot]; b! ut it seems the Republican Party has gone dialectical on a<BR>free market nono and turned it into a full time strategy for channeling<BR>taxpayer dollars to their districts and the corps. that send them the<BR>checks. It's downright mercantilist in a way, which is why I think there's<BR>something to be said for Frederic Lane's and Charles Tilly's approach to<BR>protection rents/rackets. Alexander Hamilton would probably feel<BR>enthralled and repulsed...............<BR><BR>Ian<BR><BR>___________________________________<BR>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <P><BR> <HR SIZE=1> Do you Yahoo!?<BR><A href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/search/mailsig/*http://search.yahoo.com">The New Yahoo! Search</A> - Faster. Easier. Bingo.</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>