LEARNING FROM CRISES? – SOME PHILOSOPHICAL AND POLITICO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS IN THE LIGHT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v18i1.711Abstract
As Boettke et al. (2007, p. 363) emphasize “Disasters, whether man-made or natural, represent a ‘natural experiment’ for social scientists”. They refer to a very famous quote from John Stuart Mill (1849, pp. 74–75) concerning the value of free economics for the recovery after crises:
“This perpetual consumption and reproduction of capital affords the explanation of what has so often excited wonder, the great rapidity with which countries recover from a state of devastation; the disappearance, in a short time, of all traces of the mischiefs done by earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and the ravages of war. An enemy lays waste a country by fire and sword, and destroys or carries away nearly all the moveable wealth existing in it; all the inhabitants are ruined, and yet, in a few years after, everything is much as it was before.”
References
Adam, D. (1983): “Planung in schlechtstrukturierten Entschei- dungssituationen mit Hilfe heuristischer Vorgehensweisen,” Betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis, Vol. 35, pp. 484–494. Alchian, A.A. (1950): “Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58, pp. 211–221.
Alesina, A. (2003): “The Size of Countries: Does it Matter?,” Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol. 1, pp. 301–316.
Alexy, R. (2000): “On the Structure of Legal Principles,” Ratio Juris,Vol. 13, pp. 294–304.
Ammon, A. (1911): Objekt und Grundbegriffe der theoretischen Nation- alökonomie. Wien: Deuticke
Armbruster, S., Klotzbücher, V. (2020): “Lost in Lockdown? COVID- 19, Social Distancing, and Mental Health in Germany,” Work- ing Paper Version of 05/23/20: DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17900.39043. Bagus, P., PEÑA-RAMOS, J.A., SÁNCHEZ-BAYÓN, A. (2021):
“COVID-19 and the Political Economy of Mass Hysteria,” Inter- national Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18(4), 1376.
BAGUS, P., POLLEIT, T. (2021): “Hayek und die Pandemie: Das irreführende Narrativ des Neo-Keynesianismus in der F.A.Z.,” Ludwig von Mises Institut Deutschland, 02/08/2021, https:// www.misesde.org/2021/02/hayek-und-die-pandemie-das-irre- fuehrende-narrativ-des-neo-keynesianismus-in-der-f-a-z/.
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) (2020): “Coronavirus: Run auf Schutz- masken - aber schützen die überhaupt?,” Bayerischer Rundfunk, ht t p s ://ww w.br.de/n ach r icht e n/bayern/c or on av i - rus-run-auf-schutzmasken-aber-schuetzen-die-ueber- haupt,RorwRH2.
Bender. J., Fritzen, F., Pergande, F. (2020): “Masken werden knapp,” Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (online). 04/26/20, https:// www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/schutzmasken-lager-bei- grosshaendlern-und-apotheken-leer-16742071.html?premium= 0xd1bdd3db3e692ec568a5b8ee440ad7a1&utm_campaign=GEP C%253Ds6&utm_content=buffer5e742&utm_medium=social& utm_source=facebook.com.
Boettke, P.J. (1999): “Is There an Intellectual Market Niche for Aus- trian Economics?,” The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 11, pp. 1–4.
Boettke, P.J., Chamlee-Wright, E., Gordon, P., Ikeda, S., Leeson, P.T., Sobel, R. (2007): “The Political, Economic, and Social Aspects of Katrina,” Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 74, pp. 363–376.
Boettke, P.J., Lopez, E.L. (2002): “Austrian Economics and Public Choice,” The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 15, pp. 111–119.
Braun, E., Erlei, M. (2014): “Über die Relevanz der Entstehungs- geschichte von Krisen,” Jahrbuch Normative und institutionelle Grundfragen der Ökonomik, Vol. 13, pp. 241–267.
Breidthardt, A. (2011): “German government wants nuclear exit by 2022 at latest,” Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ger- many-nuclear/german-government-wants-nuclear-exit-by- 2022-at-latest-idUSTRE74Q2P120110531.
Buchanan, J.M., Tullock, G. (1962): The Calculus of Consent . Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy. Ann Arbor: The Univer- sity of Michigan Press.
Chamlee-Wright, E., Storr, V.H. (2010a): “Expectations of govern- ment’s response to disaster,” Public Choice, Vol. 144, pp. 253–274. Chamlee-Wright, E., Storr, V.H. (2010b): “The role of social entrepre- neurship in post-Katrina community recovery,” International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, Vol. 2, pp. 149–164.
Chan, H.F., Ferguson, N., Savage, D.A., Stadelmann, D., Torgler, B. (2020): “Is Science Able to Perform Under Pressure? Insights from COVID-19,” CREMA Working Paper No . 2020-07, http:// www.crema-research.ch/papers/2020-07.pdf.
Coibion, O., Gorodnichenko, Y., Weber, M. (2020): “Labor markets during the Covid-19 crisis: A preliminary view,” Covid Econom- ics no. 21, pp. 40–54.
Cowen, T. (2003): “Entrepreneurship, Austrian Economics, and the Quarrel Between Philosophy and Poetry,” The Review of Aus- trian Economics, Vol. 16, pp. 5–23.
Daumann, F. (2018): “A Model Based on the Theory of Evolution as a Means of Explaining the Political Process in Democracies,” International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research, Vol. 6, pp. 31–43.
Daumann, F., Follert, F. (2020): “COVID-19 and Rent Seeking Com- petition Some Insights from Germany,” New Perspectives on Political Economy, Vol. 16 (1-2), pp. 52–69.
De Jouvenel, B. (1972): Über die Staatsgewalt: Die Naturgeschichte ihres Wachstums. Freiburg: Rombach.
Downs, A. (1957): An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.
Drucker, P.F. (1985): Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Ekelund, R.B., Thornton, M. (2020): “Rent seeking as an evolving process: the case of the Ancien Régime,” Public Choice, Vol. 182, pp. 139–155.
Emrich, E., Follert, F. (2019): “Totgesagte leben länger! Einige Anmerkungen zum homo oeconomicus als Methode,” Wirtschaftspolitische Blätter, Vol. 66, pp. 337–347.
Esser, H. (1998): “Die Optimierung der Orientierung,” in Beat Sit- ter-Liver, B. and Pio Caroni (eds), Der Mensch – Ein Egoist?: für und wider die Ausbreitung des methodischen Utilitarismus in den Kulturwissenschaften, pp. 135–155. Freiburg: Universit¨tsverlag
Follert, F. (2020a): “Gastbeitrag: Wissenschaft, Medien und Politik aus ökonomischer Perspektive,” Wirtschaftliche Freiheit – das ord- nungspolitische Journal 04/23/20, http://wirtschaftlichefreiheit. de/wordpress/?p=26796#more-26796.
— (2020b): “Improving the Relationship between Citizens and Pol- iticians: Some Economic Remarks from an Agency-Theoretical Perspective,” Munich Social Science Review, New Series, Vol. 3, pp. 171–184.
Follert, F., Daumann, F. (2020): “Gefahrenwahrnehmung und poli- tische Entscheidungen,” Wirtschaftliche Freiheit – das ordnung- spolitische Journal 04/09/2020, http://wirtschaftlichefreiheit.de/ wordpress/?p=27031.
Follert, F., Naumann, C., Thieme, L. (2020): “Between Scientific Publication and Public Perception: Some Economic Remarks on the Allocation of Time in Science,” International Journal of Eco- nomics and Management Sciences, Vol. 9(5), pp. 1–7.
Gleißner, W. (2020): “Wie robust ist Deutschland? Erkenntnisse aus der Corona-Krise,” Wirtschaftliche Freiheit – das ordnungspoli- tische Journal 05/25/20, http://wirtschaftlichefreiheit.de/word- press/?p=27154.
Gleißner, W., Follert, F., Daumann, F., Leibbrand, F. (2021): “EU’s Ordering of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses: Political Decision-Mak- ing under Uncertainty,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18(4), 2169.
von Hayek, F.A. (1945): «The Use of Knowledge in Society», The American Economic Review, Vol. 35, pp. 519–530.
— (1952): The Sensory Order – On the Foundations of Theoretical Psy- chology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
— (1967): “The Theory of Complex Phenomena,” in F.A. von Hayek, Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, pp. 22–42. London: Routledge.
— (1969): “Rechtsordnung und Handelnsordnung,” in F.A. von Hayek, Freiburger Studien, pp. 161–198. Tübingen: Mohr.
— (1972): Die Theorie komplexer Phänomene. Tübingen: Mohr.
— (1973): Law, Legislation and Liberty . Vol . 1: Rules and Order. Lon- don: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
— (1975): “Die Anmaßung von Wissen,” ORDO – Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, Vol. 26, pp. 12–21.
— (1976): “Die Verwertung von Wissen in der Gesellschaft,” In
F.A. von Hayek, Individualismus und wirtschaftliche Ordnung, 2nd ed., pp. 103–121. Salzburg: Neugebauer.
— (1979): Law, Legislation and Liberty . Vol . 3: The Political Order of a Free People. London: Routledge.
Hempel, C.G., Oppenheim, P. (1948): “Studies in the Logic of Expla- nation,” Philosophy of Science, Vol. 15, pp. 135–175.
Hillgruber, A. (1972): Bismarcks Außenpolitik, 2nd ed., Freiburg: Rom- bach.
Homann, K., Suchanek, A. (2005): Ökonomik, 2nd ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Hoppe, H.H. (2007): Economic Science and the Austrian Method.
Auburn (AL): Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Huerta de Soto, J. (2009): The Theory of Dynamic Efficiency, New York (NY): Routledge.
Hume, D. (1902): Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principals of morals, 2nd ed. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
Ikeda, S. (2003): “How Compatible are Public Choice and Austrian Political Economy?,” The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 16, pp. 63–75.
James, R.G., Wessely, S. (2020): “The psychological effects of quar- antining a city,” BMJ (online): DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m313.
Jordan, S. (2005): Einführung in das Geschichtsstudium. Stuttgart: Rec- lam.
— (2016): Theorien und Methoden der Geschichtswissenschaft, 3rd ed.
Paderborn: Schöningh.
Kirchgässner, G. (2013): Homo Oeconomicus, 4th ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Kirzner, I.M. (1973): Competition and Entrepreneurship. Chicago: Uni- versity of Chicago Press.
— (1997): “Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 35, pp. 60–85.
Knight. F.H. (1921): Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., The Riverside Press.
Kolmer, L. (2008): Geschichtstheorien. Wien: UTB.
Koselleck, R. (1989): “Historia Magistra Vitae. Über die Auflösung des Topos im Horizont neuzeitlich bewegter Geschichte”, in Reinhart Koselleck (ed), Vergangene Zukunft . Zur Semantik geschichtlicher Zeiten, Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
Krueger, A.O. (1974): “The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society,” American Economic Review, Vol. 64, pp. 291–303.
Lachmann, L.M. (1977): Capital, Expectations, and the Market Econ- omy – Essays on the Theory of the Market Economy . Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel.
Lorenz, E.N. (1993): The Essence of Chaos. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
MacIntyre, C.R., Chughtai, A.A. (2015): “Facemasks for the preven- tion of infection in healthcare and community settings”, BMJ (online). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.h694.
Marquart, A., Bagus, P. (2017): Wir schaffen das Alleine; München: FBV.
Mauss, M. (1966): The Gift. London: Cohen & West Ltd.
Menger, C. (2007): Principles of Economics, Auburn, AL: Mises Insti- tute.
Meran, J. (1979): “Individualismus oder Kollektivismus? Versuch einer Rekonstruktion eines sozialwissenschaftlichen Grundla- genstreits,” Zeitschrift für allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie, Vol. 10, pp. 35–53.
Mill, J.S. (1848): Principles of Political Economy. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.
Von Mises, L. (1920): “Die Wirtschaftsrechnung im sozialistischen Gemeinwesen,” Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft, Vol. 47, pp. 86–121.
— (1922): Die Gemeinwirtschaft – Untersuchungen über den Sozialis- mus. Jena: Gustav Fischer.
— (1928): “Bemerkungen zum Grundproblem der subjektivis- tischen Wertlehre,” Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, Vol. 59, pp. 156–169.
— (1957a): “Die Wahrheit über den Interventionismus,” Monats- blätter für freiheitliche Wirtschaftspolitik, Vol. 3, pp. 599–607.
— (1957b): Theory and History . An Interpreation of Social and Eco- nomic Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press.
— (1949): Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, The Scholar’s Ed., Auburn, AL: Mises Institute [1998].
Molavi Vasséi, A. (2021): “Hayek und die Pandemie”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 02/05/2021, https://www.faz.net/aktuell/ wirtschaft/hayek-und-die-pandemie-17181692.html.
Pennington, M. (2020): “Hayek on complexity, uncertainty and pandemic response,” The Review of Austrian Economics, doi: 10.1007/s11138-020-00522-9.
Polanyi, M. (1958): Personal Knowledge . Towards a post-critical philoso- phy . Chicago (IL): The University of Chicago Press.
Popper, K.R. (1969): “Die Logik der Sozialwissenschaften,” in The- odor W. Adorno et al., Der Positivismusstreit in der deutschen Sozi- ologie, 103–123. Neuwied, Berlin: Luchterhand.
— (1953): The Poverty of Historicism. London/New York: Routledge, Kegan Paul.
Raffelhüschen, B. (2020): «Verhältnismäßigkeit in der Pandemie: Geht das?», Wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Studium, Vol. 49(10), pp. 33–39.
Rapp, D.J. (2015): “Boom and Bust: The Role of Business Valuation in the Recent Financial Crisis,” in Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada (ed.), PAPERS & PROCEEDINGS of the Third Annual International Conference of Prices & Markets 2014, pp. 86–93, Toronto.
Rapp, D.J., Olbrich. M, Venitz, C. (2018): “Subjectivity, Arbitrari- ness, Austrian Value Theory, And a Reply to Leithner,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 21, pp. 60–70.
Ritsert, J. (1976): “Methodischer Individualismus oder Totalitätsbe- zug?,” in Jürgen Ritsert (ed), Zur Wissenschaftslogik einer kri- tischen Soziologie, pp. 84–112 Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
Rothbard, M.N. (2009): Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Eco- nomic Principles with Power and Market: Government and the Econ- omy . 2nd ed. Auburn (AL): Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Schaltegger, C.A. (2020): “Überfordert Corona den Föderalismus. Erfahrungen aus der Schweiz,” Wirtschaftliche Freiheit – dasordnungspolitische Journal 05/18/20, http://wirtschaftlichefrei- heit.de/wordpress/?p=27330.
Schnabl, G., Hoffmann, A. (2008): “Monetary Policy, Vagabonding Liquidity and Bursting Bubbles in New and Emerging Markets: An Overinvestment View,” The World Economy, Vol. 31, pp. 1226–1252.
Schumpeter, J.A. (1934): The Theory of Economic Development. Cam- bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
— (1998): Das Wesen und der Hauptinhalt der theoretischen Nation- alökonomie, 3rd ed. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot.
Sellin, V. (2008): Einführung in die Geschichtswissenschaft, 2nd ed. Göt- tingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Slovic, P., (1987): “Perception of Risk,” Science, Vol. 236, pp. 280–285. Sjöberg, L. (2000): “Factors of Risk Perception,” Risk Analysis, Vol.
, pp. 1–11.
Spahn, J. (2020): Interview: https://www.bundesgesundheitsmin- isterium.de/presse/interviews/interviews/zeit-260320.html.
Tollison, R.D. (1982): “Rent Seeking. A Survey,” Kyklos, Vol. 35, pp.
–602.
Tullock, G. (1967): Towards a Mathematics of Politics . Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Vanberg, V. (1975): Die zwei Soziologien: Individualismus und Kollek- tivismus in der Sozialtheorie. Tübingen: Mohr.
Watkins, J.W.N. (1952): “Ideal Types and Historical Explanation,”
The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 3, pp. 22–43.
Weber, M. (1904): “Die ‘Objektivität‘ sozialwissenschaftlicher und sozialpolitischer Erkenntnis,” Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, Vol. 19, pp. 22–87.
— (1968), Economy and Society. Berkeley, Los Angeles, & London: University of California Press [1978].
