Classical Liberalism And International Economic Order

This study links classical liberalism to questions of international economic order. The author outlines classical liberalism as applied to domestic economic order and surveys the classical liberal tradition from the Scottish Enlightenment to modern thinkers like Knight and Hayek. He brings together the insights of thinkers in this tradition to provide an overview of classical liberalism and international economic order.

This book makes an innovative link between classical liberalism and questions of international economic order. The author begins with an outline of classical liberalism as applied to domestic economic order. He then surveys the classical liberal tradition from the Scottish Enlightenment to modern thinkers like Knight, Hayekn and Viner. Finally, he brings together the insights of thinkers in this tradition to provide a synthetic overview of classical liberalism and international economic order. The author's deployment of classical liberalism strikes a different note to other 'liberal' interpretations in economics and political science. In particular, classical liberalism points to the domestic preconditions of international order, and advocates unilateral liberalisation in the context of an institutional competition between states.

Reviving the Invisible Hand is an uncompromising call for a global return to a classical liberal economic order, free of interference from governments and international organizations. Arguing for a revival of the invisible hand of free international trade and global capital, eminent economist Deepak Lal vigorously defends the view that statist attempts to ameliorate the impact of markets threaten global economic progress and stability. And in an unusual move, he not only defends globalization economically, but also answers the cultural and moral objections of antiglobalizers. Taking a broad cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach, Lal argues that there are two groups opposed to globalization: cultural nationalists who oppose not capitalism but Westernization, and "new dirigistes" who oppose not Westernization but capitalism. In response, Lal contends that capitalism doesn't have to lead to Westernization, as the examples of Japan, China, and India show, and that "new dirigiste" complaints have more to do with the demoralization of their societies than with the capitalist instruments of prosperity. Lal bases his case on a historical account of the rise of capitalism and globalization in the first two liberal international economic orders: the nineteenth-century British, and the post-World War II American. Arguing that the "new dirigisme" is the thin edge of a wedge that could return the world to excessive economic intervention by states and international organizations, Lal does not shrink from controversial stands such as advocating the abolishment of these organizations and defending the existence of child labor in the Third World.

With the collapse of communist totalitarianism, the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union face political instability and an uncertain economic future. The people of the region are struggling to emulate the success of the West by moving toward Western-style democracy and markets. The essays in this volume address the liberal transition currently underway. Some of them explore the models offered by political theorists to guide the course of reforms. Some discuss obstacles to change posed by existing attitudes, institutions and cultural traditions. Some examine the nature of liberalism itself, and consider whether democratic politics and free-market economics can coexist without undermining one another. Some offer alternatives to specific Western institutions, arguing that in certain cases it would be unwise for the East to follow the West. Addressing the issues from a variety of perspectives, the contributors to this volume offer valuable insights into the nature of liberalism and the problems facing liberal reformers today.

This primer aims to provide a straightforward introduction to the principles, personalities and key developments in classical liberalism. It is designed for students and lay readers who may understand the general concepts of social, political and economic freedom, but who would like a systematic presentation of its essential elements.

This book calls for a reappraisal of liberalism in IR theory. Based on the first comprehensive analysis of the ideas by David Hume, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek and a new perspective on Adam Smith and international relations, the analysis shows that classical liberalism differs substantially from other forms of liberalism.

This is Mises's classic statement in defense of a free society, one of the last statements of the old liberal school and a text from which we can continue to learn. It has been the conscience of a global movement for liberty for 80 years. This edition, from the Mises Institute, features a new foreword by Thomas Woods. It first appeared in 1927, as a followup to both his devastating 1922 book showing that socialism would fail, and his 1926 book on interventionism. It was written to address the burning question: if not socialism, and if not fascism or interventionism, what form of social arrangements are most conducive to human flourishing? Mises's answer is summed up in the title, by which he meant classical liberalism. Mises did more than restate classical doctrine. He gave a thoroughly modern defense of freedom, one that corrected the errors of the old liberal school by rooting the idea of liberty in the institution of private property (a subject on which the classical school was sometimes unclear). Here is the grand contribution of this volume. "The program of liberalism, therefore, if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property, that is, private ownership of the means of production... All the other demands of liberalism result from this fundamental demand." But there are other insights too. He shows that political decentralization and secession are the best means to peace and political liberty. As for religion, he recommends the complete separation of church and state. On immigration, he favors the freedom of movement. On culture, he praised the political virtue of tolerance. On education: state involvement must end, and completely. He deals frankly with the nationalities problem, and provides a stirring defense of rationalism as the essential foundation of liberal political order. He discusses political strategy, and the relationship of liberalism to special-interest politics. In some ways, this is the most political of Mises's treatises, and also one of the most inspiring books ever written on the idea of liberty. It remains the book that can set the world on fire for freedom, which is probably why it has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

A distinctive perspective on governance: the building blocks -- Classical liberalism : delineating its theory of governance -- Function, structure, and process at the private-public interface -- Dynamic governance : the polycentrism process and knowledge processes -- Public choice and public administration : the confluence -- Public administration and public choice : charting the field -- Public choice, public administration, and self-governance : the Ostromian confluence -- Heterogeneity, coproduction, and polycentric governance : the Ostroms' public choice institutionalism revisited -- Framing the applied level : themes, issue areas, and cases -- Metropolitan governance : polycentric solutions for complex problems -- Independent regulatory agencies and their reform : an exercise in institutional imagination -- Polycentric stakeholder analysis : corporate governance and corporate social responsibility -- Conclusions: governance and public management : a vindication of the classical-liberal perspective?