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The Newsroom was a 25-episode television series created by Aaron Sorkin that ran for three seasons on HBO, from 2012 to 2014. This essay explores the inter-relations and tensions in the three worlds of journalism, business, and... more
The Newsroom was a 25-episode television series created by Aaron Sorkin that ran for three seasons on HBO, from 2012 to 2014. This essay explores the inter-relations and tensions in the three worlds of journalism, business, and Government, and analyzes the similarities and differences between the entrepreneurs and free enterprise values as they are perceived idealistically and showed in the TV series and in the real economic world.
¿De qué manera se han alejado las relaciones entre el liberalismo y la Iglesia Católica? ¿Cómo se han enfrentado ambos pensamientos a lo largo del tiempo y cuál es su futuro? El autor plantea estas preguntas y reflexiona sobre el papel de... more
¿De qué manera se han alejado las relaciones entre el liberalismo y la Iglesia Católica? ¿Cómo se han enfrentado ambos pensamientos a lo largo del tiempo y cuál es su futuro? El autor plantea estas preguntas y reflexiona sobre el papel de la religión frente a la libertad de los ciudadanos.
Amilcare Puviani (1854–1907), a distinguished member of the Italian “scuola di scienza delle finanze,” of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, was the first to show that the state creates fiscal illusions through both... more
Amilcare Puviani (1854–1907), a distinguished member of the Italian “scuola di scienza delle finanze,” of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, was the first to show that the state creates fiscal illusions through both taxes and expenditures. He was much appreciated by James Buchanan and the Public Choice School. This essay presents Puviani’s theory of fiscal illusion, and then considers his analysis of Adam Smith and taxation in The Wealth of Nations. Puviani appears to be ultimately right in his assessment, because Smith fell short of the possibilities of analyzing the state as a bilateral result from the interactions between power and its subjects, and of combining objective reality and subjective considerations.
Tantas veces hemos repetido aquello de dad al César lo que es del César que olvidamos que esa frase la pronuncia Nuestro Señor Jesucristo cuando pide a los fariseos que le muestren la moneda en la que se pagaban los impuestos, y le... more
Tantas veces hemos repetido aquello de dad al César lo que es del César que olvidamos que esa frase la pronuncia Nuestro Señor Jesucristo cuando pide a los fariseos que le muestren la moneda en la que se pagaban los impuestos, y le entregan un denario, que tenía la imagen del poder político. Ya entonces. Mientras reflexionamos sobre qué pasa y qué puede pasar con el dinero, y nos maravillamos ante sus cambios, perdemos de vista su constancia más notable: el dinero lleva miles de años siendo del César sin cesar.
Nota necrológica sobre William D. Grampp, historiador de la economía y del liberalismo.
In recent years studies have appeared that highlighted Adam Smith’s interventionist recommendations. These opinions are not new. The exceptions to liberalism in Smith’s thought were pointed out by Jacob Viner in 1927. Even before Viner,... more
In recent years studies have appeared that highlighted Adam Smith’s interventionist recommendations. These opinions are not new. The exceptions to liberalism in Smith’s thought were pointed out by Jacob Viner in 1927. Even before Viner, there were economists who condemned the exaggeratedly liberal portrayal of Smith. But one thing is to stand aside from extreme viewpoints, and another not to have a clear orientation: the thesis of this article is that Adam Smith was in balance a liberal. To prove it, the interventionist and liberal aspects of Smith are contrasted, and his writings are situated in context to sort out the contradictions, and to define him as a moderate liberal.
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This article argues that Thomas Piketty’s best-seller "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" presents a distorted picture of Jane Austen’s novels. The English writer recognized that the society of her time was much more dynamic and mobile... more
This article argues that Thomas Piketty’s best-seller "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" presents a distorted picture of Jane Austen’s novels. The English writer recognized that the society of her time was much more dynamic and mobile than Piketty suggests. Piketty also ignores Adam Smith, who is present in Jane Austen’s works through a key principle of his theory of conduct and economic growth: human beings do not strive to be equal but to be better.
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Latin American populism may enter into a new transformation in order to achieve more stability and will not seek that transformation in the more aggressively antiliberal alternatives such as Chavism and even less in dusty Castrism. It is... more
Latin American populism may enter into a new transformation
in order to achieve more stability and will not seek that transformation in
the more aggressively antiliberal alternatives such as Chavism and even less in dusty Castrism. It is likely that Latin American politics will embrace the welfare state.
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The economic and institutional analysis of capitalism can be illustrated through John Ford's Westerns. This article focuses on six classics by Ford that show the move toward modern order, the creation of a new society, and the rule of... more
The economic and institutional analysis of capitalism can be illustrated through John Ford's Westerns. This article focuses on six classics by Ford that show the move toward modern order, the creation of a new society, and the rule of law. Economic features are pervading, from property rights and contracts to markets, money, and trade. Ford has been depicted as a radical critic of capitalism, but his views prove to be more subtle, and they present the ingredients of capitalism in a prepolitical world, a world with private settlers aiming to build new communities in a hostile environment, frequently with no political institutions apart from the Army and where civil society—or pre–civil society—dominated.
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Notwithstanding a near consensus among economists, we maintain that the disdained Bastiat was not only a good political scientist but also a fine economist. A review of his ideas on method, economic order, law, value, distribution, and... more
Notwithstanding a near consensus among economists, we maintain that the disdained Bastiat was not only a good political scientist but also a fine economist. A review of his ideas on method, economic order, law, value, distribution, and money proves that the “conspiracy of silence” against him is unwarranted.
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There are good reasons to doubt the classical liberalism of "On Liberty", the most celebrated text ever written in favor of liberty. I explore its contradictions, and show that "On Liberty" provides ammunition both for and against liberty.
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The fortunes and misfortunes of Shylock and Antonio are pervaded with economic and legal ideas. Both characters tend to overlap and confuse in several dimensions–the most celebrated one is to believe that the Jew is the merchant–and are... more
The fortunes and misfortunes of Shylock and Antonio are pervaded with economic and legal ideas. Both characters tend to overlap and confuse in several dimensions–the most celebrated one is to believe that the Jew is the merchant–and are alternatively victim and victimizer. The analysis of the play focusing in money and contract, economics and the law, market and morality, allows us to delve into the nuances of one of the most engaging characters in the history of literature and to ponder the classical liberal message of justice and charity
Socialism and liberalism had in the beginning, along with the defense of civil and political rights, other points in common, such as full support for the gold standard and for the free movement of people, commodities, and capital. This... more
Socialism and liberalism had in the beginning, along with the defense of civil and political rights, other points in common, such as full support for the gold standard and for the free movement of people, commodities, and capital. This article studies an important protagonist in the origins of Argentine and Latin American socialism, Juan B. Justo, who was active in the International and was the author of the first Spanish translation of Capital. His thought is an interesting mixture of doctrines, where liberalism plays an outstanding role.
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This essay maintains that interventionism is immoral, and highlights the apparent paradox in the fact that the social State generates envy, which is the most anti-social of all passions.
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The Asturian economist Álvaro Flórez Estrada (1766–1853) has earned the title of “the most relevant theorist of liberalism” in nineteenth-century Spain by espousing liberal—even “extremely liberal”—ideas “that nobody questions”. His views... more
The Asturian economist Álvaro Flórez Estrada (1766–1853) has earned the title of “the most relevant theorist of liberalism” in nineteenth-century Spain by espousing liberal—even “extremely liberal”—ideas “that nobody questions”. His views on land property are treated as if they were a mere exception with no impact on his classical-liberal framework. In this essay, I explore the limitations in Flórez’s liberal analyses, especially those contained in his most important work, Curso de economía política, first published in London in 1828.
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El humanismo cristiano se expresa de forma articulada en la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia. Mi tesis es que, a pesar de sus indiscutibles avances en el reconocimiento de la libertad de mercado, dicha doctrina, tal como aparece en su... more
El humanismo cristiano se expresa de forma articulada en la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia. Mi tesis es que, a pesar de sus indiscutibles avances en el reconocimiento de la libertad de mercado, dicha doctrina, tal como aparece en su versión más renovada en la Centesimus Annus, comparte la tensa ambivalencia del intervencionismo económico más o menos moderado que ha prevalecido durante el siglo XX, porque defiende la libertad pero también justifica su limitación. Este ensayo intentará probar dicha ambigüedad recorriendo con detalle la encíclica que a propósito del centenario de la Rerum Novarum publicó Juan Pablo II en 1991.
En este trabajo se examina la organización del mercado de los libros y se entra en el debate de la introducción del sistema de precio neto, propiciado y llevado a cabo por Macmillan con los "Principios de Economía", de A. Marshall,... more
En este trabajo se examina la organización del mercado de los libros y se entra en el debate de la introducción del sistema de precio neto, propiciado y llevado a cabo por Macmillan con los "Principios de Economía", de A. Marshall, recordando los argumentos esgrimidos en aquel momento, examinando la repercusión de dicha regulación
sobre las ventas y presentado las consideraciones del propio Marshall sobre el sistema.
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Juan Hipolito Vieytes (1762–1815)was a hero of the May 1810 Revolution in Buenos Aires and one of the early economists in the River Plate area. Although Robert Sidney Smith dismissed Vieytes as a very minor figure in Spanish economic... more
Juan Hipolito Vieytes (1762–1815)was a hero of the May 1810 Revolution in Buenos Aires and one of the early economists in the River Plate area. Although Robert Sidney Smith dismissed Vieytes as a very minor figure in Spanish economic thought, this article attempts to show that Vieytes, an entrepreneur and journalist and only self-taught in political economy, was an early
Ver "Sobre una presentación de las curvas de indiferencia".
In 1821, John Bowring published, probably with only his own additions, a manuscript of Bentham's under the title of Observations on the restrictive and prohibitory commercial system: especially with a reference to the Decree of the... more
In 1821, John Bowring published, probably with only his own additions, a manuscript of Bentham's under the title of Observations on the restrictive and prohibitory commercial system: especially with a reference to the Decree of the Spanish Cortes of July 1820. It seems likely that Bentham's text was originally conceived as an appendix to a work that Bentham never published, ‘Rid Yourselves of Ultramaria’, a commentary on Spanish colonization.

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Review article on the books: Sebastian Edwards, «The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism», Princeton University Press. 2023. Alan Bollard, «Economists in the Cold War: How a Handful of... more
Review article on the books:
Sebastian Edwards, «The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism», Princeton University Press. 2023.
Alan Bollard, «Economists in the Cold War: How a Handful of Economists Fought the Battle of Ideas», Oxford University Press, 2023.
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Un libro deficiente en análisis y reiterativo en propaganda. Un hilo conductor es la ficción de que hemos vivido un período de excesiva libertad y predominio del mercado libre, cuya consecuencia fue la crisis.
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... Randall Parker es un estudio-so de la Depresion, quiza el hecho mas influyente para la historia de la teoria y la politica economicas del si ... Samuelson confiesa que se hizo intervencionista en esos anos, porque la crisis y el paro... more
... Randall Parker es un estudio-so de la Depresion, quiza el hecho mas influyente para la historia de la teoria y la politica economicas del si ... Samuelson confiesa que se hizo intervencionista en esos anos, porque la crisis y el paro demostraban, segun el, que el mercado fallaba. ...
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... La rebelion lidera-da por Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, Tupac Amaru, en la primera mitad de 1781, se saldo con decenas de miles de ... El volumen de Hatton y William-son corresponde a una de las sesiones B del ultimo Congreso... more
... La rebelion lidera-da por Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, Tupac Amaru, en la primera mitad de 1781, se saldo con decenas de miles de ... El volumen de Hatton y William-son corresponde a una de las sesiones B del ultimo Congreso Internacional de Historia Economica que se ...
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... Jessua, en cambio, la sigue a raja-tabla. ... Jessua ocupa una docena de paginas, en efecto, a explicar el Treatise on Money, la obra que Keynes publico en dos volumenes en 1930 ya la que atribuyo importancia, al reves que sus... more
... Jessua, en cambio, la sigue a raja-tabla. ... Jessua ocupa una docena de paginas, en efecto, a explicar el Treatise on Money, la obra que Keynes publico en dos volumenes en 1930 ya la que atribuyo importancia, al reves que sus continuadores, que se concen-traron en el mas ...