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Via Soros-funded INET (The Institute for New Economic Thinking), are economists abandoning Keynesian orthodoxy in favor of an Austrian examination of actual behavior?

July 11th, 2011 No comments

I just recently stumbled upon INET.

According to award-winning business and energy journalist Anthony Harrington:

It is now widely believed that the 2008-09 global crash discredited the classical economic model of efficient markets beyond repair and that what is needed is a new vision. In fact the financier George Soros believes this so strongly that he has almost single-handedly funded a new body, The Institute for New Economic Thinking, or iNet, the governing board of which includes the Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. 

Though its chief funder George Soros remains confused, this new group appears to have recognized the bankruptcy of current mainstream economic thinking and to be moving in productive directions. I was encouraged by the following interview, for example:,

Domenico Delli Gatti – Microfoundations for the Vision of Minsky

They also listened at their inaugural conference at King’s College, Cambridge last year to this good paper on Hayek and Keynes by Bruce Caldwell.

Of course, they could use some help from Austrians; otherwise, this effort could very easily turn into re-hashed arguments for government intervention.

Here’s the aggregate blog feed of the participating New Thinkers. Below, a video by some of the founding economists:

YouTube: What is the Institute for New Economic Thinking?

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZgD1DCNq4:550:0]

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Peter Boettke also comments on "how the strong bonds of friends, family and good neighbors help rebuild communities after disaster strikes"

July 5th, 2011 No comments

I have blogged any number of times on the importance of communities, and on how governments and statist corporations are undermining them. Is anyone at LvMI paying attention to the importance of actually cultivating and supporting voluntary society (as opposed to simply fighting government) and anyone thinks that corporations are key players in statism?

On June 13, I noted that Interesting new research shows that THE key to disaster recovery is the strength of the local community (‘social capital’), NOT Government action . I referred to political scientist Daniel P. Aldrich.

In his short July 4 post, Friends and Neighbors Living in Caring Communities, Peter Boettke also shines a spotlight on the importance of informal society. Boettke refers to a July 4 piece at NPR, The Key To Disaster Survival? Friends And Neighbors, that refers prominently both to Daniel Aldrich and to Emily Chamlee-Wright and her extensive research on Katrina (which Boettke says is “fundamental for anyone hoping to understanding this issue”).

Another important and noted voice is Rebecca Solnit, whose writing I intend to cover more;

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